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@SweetCaroline: I’m following! My son will be 4.5 when baby comes in May

So far my main plan is to minimize disruption tohis routine and schedule as much as possible. I’m keeping him in his same room/toddler bed and he will be going to preschool and his activities without hopefully any changes

We have talked a lot about the baby, he says he wants to shares his toys and play with the baby . He got a little upset when I said the baby wouldn’t be big enough to play with right away. I’m planning on getting some books from the library soon. I think there is also a Daniel tiger episode with baby sister coming we may watch

My kids are 4 years 9 months apart. We just talked about it a lot. I didn't even buy any books! Baby brother was born 5 days before Christmas so everyone was home for a couple weeks (though we did send him to daycare maybe 3-4 times between when he was born and New Year's). After the holidays he went back full time.

We prepped him by telling him babies cry a lot because that is how they communicate, they don't do much right after they are born, they are very fragile so we need to be gentle, etc.

He did great when baby came home! I also didn't expect him to be my helper. If he wanted to help, great. If not, that was ok too.

Work on the concept of "wait" and "be patient" and "take turns"..... this isn't a cycnical answer, it's an honest answer, it's the only thing that went well with my son, haha. While waiting he would sit on the couch or bed and fold his hands, sometimes sing a song to pass the time.

Our two are 4 years 3 months apart. We didn't really do anything apart from talk it up (DS was very excited to meet his new sister). One recommendation I followed was not to make any big changes 2-3 months before the baby arrives. We made sure that all the changes to his room etc. were finished by then, so he had time to get used to it before the biggest disruption. The "baby" gave him a gift when he met her in the hospital, too (although he was onto us and knew it came from us). I really love this age gap - it's been perfect for us!

@magnolia: My mom was always telling him he will be a great helper and I would always have to add "if he wants to". Although now that they are both older he does help out more, mostly just watching the toddler while I cook dinner and yelling at me when he is getting into something haha.

@DesertDreams88: this too! I wish we had worked on this a little more before the baby came. Especially those nights I was solo parenting and all the baby wanted to do was nurse...

I just had our second last week. DS will be 5 the end of May. These are the things we did with varying levels of success.

- I made a ring chain tear-off thingy. He would tear off a ring every Saturday and on the inside it say “XX Weeks. Our baby is the size of a...” - DS looked forward to tearing off the rings every week and got a kick out of the veggie comparisons. I also think it helped but somewhat of a timeframe on things.

- We got the book “Babies Don’t Eat Pizza.” It’s a good book for older siblings. It goes into a lot more details on what is happening and what to expect. - DS only asked to read it a couple times so it wasnt a favorite but he did seem to retain the information because he would ask relevant questions.

- We took DS to an elective 3D ultrasound. - This was a total flop. He couldn’t have cared less. He was interested for like 30 seconds and spent the rest of the time on DH’s phone.

- We did the hospital sibling baby class. - They got out the fake babies and got to change and hold and feed them. I think this made the whole thing real for him. He was soooooo serious.

Otherwise we just did lots of talking about what was going to happen and things he could expect. So far things have been going well. He’s an observer by nature so he prefers to take her in from afar but he loves to check her out when she’s in the swing and report back the status of her eyes (open or closed).

DS1 was just about 4 when DS2 was born this past September. We mainly just talked about it with him every so often and got a few books. One Special Day and There’s Going to be a Baby were favourites. As I went through the hand me down baby stuff I got some bottles and tiny diapers and sleepers out for him to put on his doll. As DW’s belly grew he would come and talk to the baby and say goodnight and he would touch her stomach when baby was kicking. We showed him ultrasound pictures but he didn’t care ha. A few weeks before baby brother came we went to the store to pick out a stuffie for him and he helped us put together the crib and do stuff in the baby’s room. He’s a big helper kid so he did like taking diapers to the trash and showing toys to the baby once he came.

He started school the day DW went into labour! It was a Thursday and after we dropped him off she started having contractions. I picked him up and we had dinner and then things started ramping up so when I put him to bed I told him that baby was coming and grandma would be coming to stay. Tried to keep it exciting and fun even though it was hectic. We had a few simple scripts we had repeated to him: when the baby is ready, mommies will go to the hospital and the doctor will help him be born, grandma will be here to stay with you, etc. I don’t actually remember what his reaction was! We kept him home the next day since baby was born at 1 am and it was just too much to get grandparents to get him ready and take him to the second day of school since he cried the first day. Besides that change in routine, we just spent the weekend together and back to full time school on the Monday. He did absolutely amazing with all the transitions that happened this year.

I would say we just kept it casual and didn’t go crazy emphasizing it. It was still a bit abstract until DW started showing. Also be prepared for questions about how the baby will come out if you haven’t handled that before

@SweetCaroline: aww that’s hilarious! I was also thinking about making him a photo book with lots of pictures of him as a baby to present day so he can see how he was once little too. We will see if we get around to it

All these suggestions are awesome

My DD was 3.5 when her little brother was born and 5.5 when little sister was born and she handled big sister duties like a champ. Some things we did first time:

1)our hospital had a “super sibling” class. It was super cute. We went one Saturday and they had some activities to teach them how to help with new baby. They showed them how to swaddle and how to change a diaper with a baby doll. They also explained some safety tips. They showed them around the labor and delivery room and the nursery area so the kids could see where the baby would be born. And then it ended with a free ice cream at the hospital cafeteria

2)I love these books and I teared up reading with her:
“You were the first” by Patricia Maclaclan and “Hello in there: a big sisters guide to waiting” by Jo Witek

3)baby brought big sister a Vtech Camera to take pics of her at the hospital. My DD also made everyone who came to visit the baby take a pic and it was a good way to get her involved.