Hellobee Boards

How old is your LO? I was so nervous about the transition but one month in and it's been smooth sailing! I had a planned c section so LO1 was brought to the hospital about 3 pm (c section was at 9 am) to give me a chance for the spinal to wear off. First meeting was great! He kissed and hugged her. He came to the hospital twice more. Each time he seemed a little more stressed about it, but I think it was the hospital rather than the baby. Plus, grandma had him and he always does the "I love grandma more" thing when she is around. I was nervous about going home because he seemed to be getting increasingly upset. We went home first and had baby in her swing when he arrived so that we could say hello and play with LO1 a bit before he noticed the baby. He noticed her on his own and wanted to kiss her. He really has showed no signs of jealousy in this first month. We didn't do a gift because he's so young, but I do hear it helps if your LO is older. I did buy him an infant doll about one month ahead so I could introduce the idea of a "baby" to him.

Good luck with the transition. It's definitely nerve-wracking in the lead up

My kids are 21 months apart

-How long after birth did they meet? I had L (#2) Tuesday morning but because J (#1) was sick he did not visit in the hospital. We came home Wednesday morning and J was waiting (with my in laws) at the door to meet her.

-Did LO1 come after family to meet LO2 or before? NA
-Did LO1 come to the hospital multiple times or just once? NA

-What did you expect and how did it end up going? I thought there would be more jealousy but there isn't any. I think it's because they are so close in age and at 2 months PP I don't think J even remembers life with out his little sister.

-Did you get LO1 a present from LO2? Nope. Our families/close friends did bring J a small present so it didn't look like L was the only one getting gifts.

-if so, what was it? He got coloring books/markers, play doh toys, books, LP cars and a couple big brother shirts.

I don't have LO 2 yet , but whenever I had a new sibling and I came to the hospital to meet the baby, my parents had a new doll for me to take home. The nurses would swaddle it up and place it in the bassinet and it always felt special that I had my own "baby". I have 3 younger sisters and remember getting my dolls well. I will do the same for my kids!

I'm so curious about this. DS's will be 15 months apart, and I worry about DS1 having no context for whats happening....

LO1 was there within an hour of me having LO2. I wish we had made it out of the delivery room and into the room we were staying in bc it was a little chaotic with trying to get packed up, just having delivered, needing to nurse LO2 and comforting LO1 but my mom was super antsy to come over and introduce them. Ideally I would have waited at least a couple hours.

LO1 had moments of shyness and moments of curiousness. I tried to make sure I had time when I was just holding LO1 and times where I held them both. LO1 seemed a lot more sure of herself the next day when she came over and my mom did a good job of telling her about mommy and the baby. But she still needed reassurance for awhile. LO1 came over a few times in the 2 days I was there, we live really close by to the hospital and sometimes stayed just a short time and sometimes stayed an hour or so.e

We got LO1 a few presents but they weren't really from the baby. She got a baby doll that looked like a newborn that had diapers and stuff with it so she could take care of her baby and a couple little toys like stickers to play with at the hospital.

-How long after birth did they meet?
2 days after when we came home from the hospital.

-Did LO1 come after family to meet LO2 or before?
She didn't come to the hospital.

-Did LO1 come to the hospital multiple times or just once?
0

-What did you expect and how did it end up going?
I wasn't sure what to expect, but what happened exceeded my expectations. LO1 was so fascinated and excited to meet LO2 and displayed no jealousy or fear! She just wanted to be by his side and touch him.

-Did you get LO1 a present from LO2?
Yes

-if so, what was it?
A stuffed panda bear (but she didn't care about it and would've been fine without a present... she was just staring at her lil brother and intrigued by him the whole time - she kept wanting to caress and touch him. One of the first things she did was offer him some of the grapes she happened to be eating when we walked through the door).

I've read somewhere that it might be a good idea to bring LO1 and LO2 home from the hospital together to make the transition easier? We didn't do that.

Eta: Kids are 26 months apart.

My kids are 13.5 months apart so DS was still pretty young when DD was born.

-How long after birth did they meet?
She was born just after midnight and MIL brought DS by to meet her at around 8:30am the next morning.

-Did LO1 come after family to meet LO2 or before?
Before family. The one thing that I stood really firm on was the fact that I wanted him to be the first person to meet her (other than DH and I). Obviously he's still too little to know how special that was but it was really important to me.

-Did LO1 come to the hospital multiple times or just once?
He came twice. He came the first morning after she was born and then DD and I ended up staying an extra night. DH had gone home to sleep with DS at our house on the second night so when they woke up the next morning they came to the hospital together. He stayed about 2 hours that time.

-What did you expect and how did it end up going?
I didn't really expect much because DS was so young but it went really well! When he first came he was kind of unsure to see his mommy and daddy with the other baby but we made sure to pay special attention to him and he did really well. He was OBSESSED with babies at the time so that helped. He also really loved saying Hi to all of the nurses, etc.

-Did you get LO1 a present from LO2?
No, we didn't. If DS had been older I probably would have though!

We just did this 6 weeks ago, our boys are 26 months apart.

-How long after birth did they meet?
Son #2 was born around 10pm, my husband and IL's brought our 2 year old late the second morning.

-Did LO1 come after family to meet LO2 or before?
He came with his grandparents, then we had enough people to pass the baby around and police our toddler- NO WAY was I chasing him around.

-Did LO1 come to the hospital multiple times or just once?
Just once, with a quick and easy second birth I was discharged the next morning.

-What did you expect and how did it end up going?
He didn't really get what was going on, but did well. He was mostly just excited to see me and a little anxious which is why we kept it to one visit.

-Did you get LO1 a present from LO2?
-if so, what was it?
Yes, we got him a Go Go Smart Wheels ambulance. It kept him busy while grandparents were enjoying the new guy and we thought the song was appropriate since it sings about the hospital.

I've read somewhere that it might be a good idea to bring LO1 and LO2 home from the hospital together to make the transition easier?
We didn't, he was busy playing with grandparents and we already had enough stuff to juggle going home.

It's been a bit of a trial getting our toddler settled in with his new brother. He really didn't understand what was going on, and he's had ups and downs with regressions and acting out for about 6 weeks. He now loves his little brother and is obsessed with hanging out with him thankfully!