Telling My Three Year Old She Is Going to Be a Big Sister?

My big girl loved (and still reads) "I'm a Big Sister" by Joanna Cole. She also got into babies when her new sister came along, so maybe a baby doll, with velcro diaper and bottle. Congratulations!

So just tell her. She will be excited. Tell her everything that is going on. Baby is growing, will be here just after Christmas, she gets to help out, let her help you decorate the room, buy diapers etc. Involve her. Let her know how happy mommy and daddy are. Spend some quality time with her now preparing for "what big sisters do". Hang out at the park and watch how other kids help each other. Hang out with friends who have 2 or more kids and point out the good stuff about having sisters and brothers. Notice families are the mall or grocery store. Start pointing out the good behaviours you want her to model.

The only way she will think it will be no fun is if you give her that impression. If you say things like, "don't worry, mommy won't love you any less" it will give her the thoughts that you might love her less. Those are adult fears not childhood fears.

Everything you say and do with her should be just as positive as you feel about having this baby. And remember, they are much smarter than we adults give them credit for. Their little ears and eyes hear and see everything.

Have fun!

B.
Family Wellness Coach

Hi K.,
In my case I was telling my son that he was going to be a big brother and at the same time
was telling my husband
I bought two giant cookies and had them decorated with the words
"Big Brother" and "Dad" on each and I also had sparkling apple cider (my son likes sparkling apple cider).
When my second son was born "he" had a gift for his Big Brother - a new truck.
Both went over very well.
Best of luck to you and yours.
Linda

Get her a shirt that says big sister on it. My daughter loved it when we did that for her.

You are in a great place! My daughter was three when her little brother came along and she is such a great sister. We told her that he was growing inside .... told her his name and she nicknamed him and talked about him a lot. When TJ was born, she came to the hospital and TJ had a gift there for her - she loves dolls, so is was an outfit for one of her dolls and a video. We also prepped her that either Gigi and Papa would come stay with her or she would stay with her Tia when we went to the hospital. She wasn't afraid - but excited.

We also let her hold him on the sofa and feed him. I nurse him, so I would pump early on so that she and her daddy could feed him - I think that made a big difference too. Now she says great things to him like " You are lucky I am your big sister!"

One thing to be aware of .... for whatever reason, until TJ was born, Abrielle did NOT want to be referred to as the "Big" sister - so we did not. She had to see him to understand that he was tiny, then it was suddenly okay with her. Good luck!

I was going through some old e-mails and came across this Mamasource I had not read so I am responding to a very old e-mail. At this point she knows she will be a big sister or you may have even had the baby. I hope all has gone well and will go well. I just wanted to add that we threw a Big Sister Party for our daughter about 3 weeks before our second was born. We have given this advice a lot of people and all who have done it said it made a huge difference to the older child. Some friends waited until the older one was in need of a little more attention after #2 was born. Some friends have teas, play together at a park, went to an indoor play center, we went to see a children's play and had ice cream afterwards. We invited friends who had already become big brothers and sisters and they each brought small gifts, mostly quiet games she could do by herself to keep her busy while I tended to the baby. She felt very special before, at and after the party and since it was half a year from her birthday she loved having a day all about her. Good luck.

Hey K.,
I don't have any great ideas about ways to tell her aside from maybe finding a book that explains what it means to be a big sister. What I do know is that you should sound excited. Tell her that she will get to teach her little sister all kinds of things. In other words, try to build her enthusiasm about it.
A great idea a friend of mine had was to buy a gift from the baby to her sister and give it to her the day the baby is born. It's a simple way for a new sibling to express care for her older sibling.

We just told our daughter what was going on and brought her to the ultrasound appointment. When the baby was born, we gave our daughter a big sister gift from her brother and she was just thrilled that he loved her so much already that he got her a gift! I have seen big sister gifts at baby's r us. They had a scrapbook for little ones to make and also baby announcements specifically from big sis. I don't know if they still have these things, but you could look for them!

If I were you I would wait-You can talk about pregnancy and babies. At 3-waiting MONTHS for something to happen is going to take forever! you still have halloween and xmas to get through! Good luck and congratulations

Tell her she is going to be a great big sister, but not until she is 3 and a 1/2. That way she will know the baby isn't coming home TODAY.
My nephew at that age told everyone how he was going to be a great big brother, but not until he was big- not until he was 3 and a 1/2.
We are planning on using that with our daughter (now 1) when child #2 comes.
Good Luck