Hellobee Boards

@maddyz: thanks, we’ll look into those! We have a couple others, and def the DT episode I nursed DS2 up until I was 24 weeks because I wanted there to be a healthy break between nursing babies. He was done anyways (my supply tanked!) which made it easy to wean, so I was lucky there!

@Mrs. Champagne: thanks! I forgot about the “helpers” tip!

@nwm: We tried to make time for just DS1 with no baby around...and I tried to never blame anything on the baby. So even if he's crying I won't say "DS2 needs me" but make a different excuse, so that DS1 wasnt ever resenting the new baby for anything. We also read lots of big brother books in the couple months before DS2 was born. And kept everything as normal as possible for awhile after DS2 was born. We actually left DS1 in his crib for a couple months after DS2 was here (I can't believe he let us keep him in his crib until he was 2.5! ) and didn't potty train until well after we'd all settled in. We did a lot of talking about what it was going to be like (mostly, how grandma would be staying with him while we were in the hospital...he'd go to dr appts with me so knew what the hospital was and mostly just thought I was going to get suckers, since he always got one after appts ) and how the baby would be little and cry a lot bla bla bla. I always tried to channel my inner Janet Lansbury and acknowledge his feelings and make time for him, even if it is just 2 min. So instead of saying "DS2 is eating right now", I'd say something like "You are upset bc you really want to play with me. I know it's hard to wait, but as soon as im done giving DS2 milk then I will sit on the floor and play”. And as @Mrs. Champagne said, even little things like asking DS1 to bring a pacifier or "being in charge" of the wipes or something was good for him. I also used a couple twists of language sothat instead of saying how lucky DS1 is to have a little brother, I always say "DS2 is so lucky to have you as a big brother" and "he just loves you so much" or "he only smiles like that at you" so DS1 knows he's still special too.

Sorry, that was a novel you’ll find what works for your and your LO, but it’s good to have a couple tools in your belt to use! Janet Lansbury has several articles on welcoming a new sibling, and they were super helpful, too!