https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 05 Apr 2026 09:26:38 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2487203 Tue, 08 Mar 2016 09:27:30 +0000 Mrs D 2487203@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not in it yet - but my induction is scheduled for tomorrow...here is our plan:</p> <p>1) Baby Sister is bringing her a special gift<br /> 2) DD1 is staying in Daycare full time<br /> 3) Our plan is to keep evenings as "normal" as possible...DD1 gets home from DC around 5-515...can goes to bed at 7...so we just need to try to keep those 2 hours as stable as possible. We have talked about making it so nursing time is dinner time...when DD1 wont miss the interaction much.<br /> 4) When baby needs something - saying "hold on I'm with your big sister" as much as possible (as someone else mentioned) so she hears it both ways.<br /> 5) small gifts - just little tokens...these will not be given when baby gets a gift (I dont want to teach my daughter that just bc her sister gets a gift she does) but rather when she does something good or has a good day. A total bonus unrelated to sister getting gifts.<br /> 6) Encouraging family and visitors to make a big deal out of DD1 as well as the new LO<br /> 7) Special Mommy/Me and Daddy/Me time where we'll take her to do some of her fav things</p> <p>Again...not in it yet...but these are my plans. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2487152 Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:56:33 +0000 KayKay 2487152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the biggest thing for us (DD1 was 2.5 when DD2 was born) was making sure she still got lots of attention. So she continued going to her preschool 3 days/week, which both helped with routine AND gave her some *star* power as they asked about her sister a lot, she brought in a picture to show everyone, etc. And since DH works a lot, we had my mom come stay with us for 5 weeks -- PLUS it was over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when we had other family in town. Even if I had to be with the baby, there were lots of other people to play with her, take her to do things, and just, in general, give her lots of attention. Or someone else could stay with the baby while I took DD1.</p> <p>By the time the support died down -- around 6 weeks -- I had a better handle on taking care of the newborn and was more used to 2. So I felt comfortable going to things that were special to DD1 where DD2 could just sleep in the carseat or sling. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2487068 Tue, 08 Mar 2016 07:28:39 +0000 ValentineMommy 2487068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We talked about it a lot with our 2 year old (he was 2.5 when his brother was born) and read a lot of books about it. </p> <p>We tried to make it something really special for HIM, telling him his role as a big brother and trying to make it sound fun for him to get excited about. </p> <p>Also, the advice I was given from my grandmother was to really try to focus on the older child after the baby is born. Babies have small specific needs (eating, sleeping, diaper changes) in the beginning. Take care of those, and then focus attention on your older child. That helped us a lot to stave off jealousy.</p> <p>We also made sure to get DS1 involved. "Can you bring me the wipes?", "Can you help me comb the babys hair?", "Can you pick out an outfit for him to wear?"....things like that, made DS1 feel included and helpful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486564 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 15:15:30 +0000 Kelley_lovelikecrazy 2486564@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>OH and I'm always telling the baby "hang on, I'm with your big sister!" So my oldest isn't always hearing that. The baby will be sound asleep in her car seat and I'll say "hold on baby, I'm going to get your big sister out first." Then my oldest doesn't feel as bad about getting told the same thing later when the baby is crying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486556 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 15:13:23 +0000 Kelley_lovelikecrazy 2486556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are only 4 weeks in, but it's been going really well! Dani tiger episode was huge. She really got it and wants to be the big helper. And doesn't panic when her sister is crying.</p> <p>Giving her attention helped too. So making sure visitors acknowledge her and family plays with her. Opening all baby presents away from her (she'd get sad when it wasn't for her). And having a little box of toys just for her when I'm with the baby and no one is here to play with her. She only gets those toys then and they are all play by yourself, no mess toys. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486494 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:49:01 +0000 Foodnerd81 2486494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@charlotte: I was SO happy to see that new episode of Daniel Tiger!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486421 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:12:23 +0000 charlotte 2486421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son has been amazing with our new baby. He was 2.5 when she was born. Things I think helped:<br /> -lots of help at the beginning<br /> -daily morning toddler school<br /> -not visiting in the hospital. Personal preference but DS is very close to me and I thought he would freak out having to visit for a short time and then leave me and baby together and go away for another day.<br /> -more recently, new Daniel Tiger episodes where he helps take care of the baby and stays quiet during her nap. :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486317 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 12:57:35 +0000 Truth Bombs 2486317@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Letting older LO help as much as possible. Never saying no when she wants to hold the baby/play with the baby (I didn't want to ever discourage positive interactions). Also, I ended up on bed rest for the last few weeks of my pregnancy and so my hubs was basically solo parenting older LO. I think that turned out to be a huge blessing because she got used to daddy taking care of her for the most part so that wasn't a shock when baby brother came along and mama had to focus on caring for him. Also, my dad stayed with us for three weeks which was amazeballs. He cooked, cleaned, and played with older LO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486288 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 12:25:47 +0000 cat620 2486288@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am a SAHM, so I didn't send my oldest to daycare or preschool when his brother was born. I can definitely see how keeping their routine is helpful, so it was probably hard on my son when his routine was being with me all the time, and then I started giving a lot of my time to his little brother. What helped was being patient with him and taking time when his brother was sleeping to spend one-on-one time playing together. His grandparents would take him one morning a week, so he got lots of attention during that time. It's impossible to know how your child will adjust to having a sibling, and sometimes, even if you do everything you can to make a smooth transition, they will still act out and be angry or sad. My son had some rough times in the beginning, but over time, he got much better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486281 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 12:22:37 +0000 Applesandbananas 2486281@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Interesting!! LO will be in preschool, which has an attendance policy, as if he were in kindergarten, so we won't have a choice! It's a four day, full day program, so he will be home with us for one day a week! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486271 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 12:14:50 +0000 Anagram 2486271@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think a lot of this is just so dependent on your kiddo's personality, but generally our older LO has adjusted beautifully to having a little sister, and we didn't do any prepping about what would change when the baby arrives. Someone gave us 1 big sister book and it was in our rotation for bedtime stories, but we didn't emphasize it in any way.</p> <p>And we didn't keep LO1 in daycare while I was on maternity leave. That was just for us to save money, and because our daycare allows us to do that. She was home the whole first 6 weeks after I had LO2, and then I sometimes used my husband's back-up care to put her at Bright Horizons on Wednesdays, so I could go to a new mom's group. I think that actually helped her adjust to the new baby, because she didn't feel like I was sending her away in favor of keeping the baby with me. But it's definitely harder on the mom to keep both kids at home, haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486250 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:59:00 +0000 LulaBee 2486250@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For my 3 year old, talking about it helped. Just trying to prepare her for what was to come- baby will drink from mommy's boobs, baby will cry, mommy and daddy will have to give a lot of attention to baby. Also, the Daniel Tiger episode where he has a baby sister. And I second sending older kid to daycare- keeping their routine helps! We started talking to her as soon as I found out I was pregnant, not intense conversations every day but just reminders here and there that life was going to be very different for her. And it has, but it's also been so wonderful and she has adjusted so well. She's a huge help and is in LOVE with her little sister. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486249 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:58:26 +0000 Adira 2486249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare. Keeping Xander going to daycare full-time and keeping up with his routine was definitely key. And the first 6-8 weeks were still a struggle. Also grandparents! Or anyone really that could come visit and give Xander some individual attention. That helped a TON. We talked about the baby a bit (and ready books) once I was really showing and Xander understood there was a baby in my belly, but I don't think it fully understood what that meant. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486236 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:47:42 +0000 Foodnerd81 2486236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have no great advice since we are in the midst of a rough transition. I can tell what would have helped but is impossible- if C wasn't getting sick all the time! I have a hard time knowing what is her being cranky because of the transition and what's her being sick. Just diagnosed with her second ear infection since G was born 2.5 months ago. So maybe just not having a winter baby will help! </p> <p>@sslm: c likes to point at my boobs and say, "she's drinking milk from your nipples!" I def never said it quite like that to her. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486231 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:41:50 +0000 cascademom 2486231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare. Keeping him in daycare while the youngest was at home helped with the transition. He knew that mommy and baby were home. For him, just being around the baby helped him with the concept of the whole thing. He helped change diapers, read to the baby, and do tummy time (by putting paper on the baby's head). At 3 years old, he got the concept pretty well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486227 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:36:47 +0000 sslm 2486227@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following! This morning I told my DD that her baby brother would drink milk from "mommy's boobies" and she said "gross"... soooo I am thinking it's time we start preparing her for everything!! She's the same age as your son and we have 8 weeks left til due date! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-helped-the-most-with-the-transition-from-1-2-or-more#post-2486212 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:19:31 +0000 Applesandbananas 2486212@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lots of questions about this! :silly: </p> <p>What do you feel like had the most (positive) impact on your LO's transition to being a big sibling? </p> <p>Was it your LO's personality? Reading books about being a big sibling? Watching their favorite characters getting little siblings? Taking a sibling class? Talking about what to expect (if so, when did you start talking about it? What did you say?) Keeping your older LO in their routine? Having your partner take over bedtime or other routines in advance? Having a ton of help in the early days? Luck? Something else?</p> <p>We are 6 months out and haven't talked much about the new baby with LO. He's almost 3 and while I think he will have some level of understanding, because we are 6m out, we don't really want to start the conversation yet since 6m is a bazillion years in toddler time! </p> <p>Curious to hear what was helpful for others!! :happy: </p>