2nd baby due in just over 2 weeks.. what should I be doing?

JonathanA

One thing we did when we had our second child was to buy a little 'gift' from the new arrival for his older sister. When I took our little girl to the hospital to see her mummy and her new brother, her brother had the gift waiting in his cot for her. It served two purposes - first it distracted her whilst everyone focused on the new baby and second it got her off to a good start with her little brother (she'd wanted a sister). Our little girl was 3 at the time and was really into playing with 'Betty Spaghetti', which by some coincidence was exactly what her new brother had got for her!!

Hope it goes well for you, relax & sleep now - it could be any day now, so make the most of the time you have got just the 3 of you.

*Louise*

^^We done the 'gift from the new baby' as well - works well.

immoral_angeluk wrote:

That's the trouble our little girl is nearly 22 months and doesn't really understand. She knows what a baby is, and we've got her a dolly and have taught her how to give it a bottle, but other than that she doesn't understand so I'm a bit worried about how she'll react. She's never been clingy or anything like that at all and I've not been able to pick her up as much because I have SPD so she's not been 'babied' so to speak... but I'm scared that she'll hate the new baby!

The best thing to do - when you get visitors...make sure they pay attention to your oldest child first, before looking at the baby - then she won't feel pushed out.

Most of my family brought a small gift for my eldest as well (just small things - sweets, a car, etc)

If she does start wanting babied - some kids start wanting bottles etc again, perfectly normal... don't deny her or she will feel second best - just make it into a game, then introduce something more fun that only a 'big girl' can do.

And enjoy the feeling of being organised - and make the most of the rest while you can

Good luck with the birth

cjalynch

I had my second baby nine months ago when No1 son was 18 months old and clueless about the impact of a sibling!

As long as you are organised, get some rest as it is amazing how quickly you forget the exhausting nights with a newborn.
Further to other posts it was recommended to me that the first time your little one sees the new arrival, it is not in your arms (feelings of rejection...) and also that when you arrive home form the hospital, that you are not carrying baby as you walk through the door and that you immediately make a BIG fuss of your older child so that they know their importance to you.

I was very aware of how young my first child was when No2 came along and how much things were going to change with two around, so spent some time before the birth making some little memories of being with just my first-born (early morning cuddles and quality time for just the two of us)

Best of luck and hope the birth goes well!

crispeater

dd was 26mths when ds arrived and she was fine when she came to visit me in hospital the 1st time but she didnt want to come and see me again. i was heartbroken. when i got home she still didnt speak to me for days i had even brought her a lovely present from her new brother which she happily played with lol

all i can say is try and prepare lo as much as possible. sit down and rest with your dd oooh and i hope you have one of those handy milk dispensers. mine was an absolute godsend!! i even used it when i went to bed to save me walking up 2 flights of stairs in the middle of the night half asleep lol

goodluck with the birth

Leilasmum

This thread is so useful! I'm 36 weeks pregnant with 2nd, dd is nearly 19 months and I keep thinking I should be doing something else. Have I prepared enough, have I got everything? I'm really tired now, can't imagine how I'm going to be soon!!
Good luck with everything, keep us posted!

Forreal

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!

skylight

Chill and Rest!!!!!