How We’re Prepping Our Daughter for Baby Brother’s Arrival
We are preparing to welcome a new addition to our family & since Mackenzie is currently an only child we are doing our best to get her ready for her baby brother’s arrival. This is definitely not my area of expertise, but I’m hoping some of the things we are doing now will help when he’s actually here (I’ll do another post once he’s here about what’s working & what didn’t work so great!)
Books- we have a few books that we are reading with Mackenzie that will help her understand that a new baby is coming!
The Baby is Here! (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood)
You’re a Big Sister (here’s the Big Brother version)
Dolls- having a baby doll to model what you’ll be doing once there’s a real baby around can help your older child. It’s helpful to show them that you’ll have to change diapers & feed the baby. These are things you can do during play time!
Shows- there are so many shows out that show a new baby arriving home. Here are just a few I found on the streaming services we have:
Bubble Guppies on Paramount Plus
Doc McStuffins on Disney+ (episode that discusses adoption S3 E21, bringing baby home S3 E25)
Ready for Preschool on Disney+ (short 2 minute song about having a new sibling S2 E24)
Talking about baby brother- once my belly started getting big I pointed it out & would tell Mackenzie that baby brother is inside. She’ll give my belly kisses & hugs & it’s the sweetest thing!
Pick out a gift to give baby brother once he’s here- this one is going to be tough for her to understand, but we’re going to do our best to explain to her that we’re picking out a gift to give to baby brother. A stuffed animal is always a good idea & a local toy store carries a TON of jelly cat stuffed animals so that’s what I’m thinking we’ll go with!
A few things Greg & I are doing before baby arrives:
- We moved the recliner out of Mackenzie’s room because we’re planning to use it for baby brother (we replaced it with a pretty cool tent so she’s been fine with the change). I didn’t want to leave it in her room until just before baby brother arrives because I didn’t want it to feel like we were giving something of her’s to her brother. Think about anything you may have like this & try to make the change well before new sibling arrives because the last thing you want to do is give the older sibling a reason to resent the new baby right away!
- Something I’m going to put together before baby brother arrives is a basket of stuff to keep Mackenzie occupied while I’m feeding or changing baby brother’s diaper.
- Greg and I will also be picking out something like a stuffed animal to give Mackenzie from baby brother!
What are some of your tips for preparing older siblings for a new baby to arrive? Please leave me ALL your tips.