Tips to Make New Baby Transition Fun for Our 2.5 Year Old

My daughter will be a couple months shy of 3 when we go through this, so I don't have any advice of my own to give. :( But I have enjoyed reading the responses! We do plan to give DD a "big sister gift" at the hospital. I love the camera idea, but if you go that route, make sure you can disable the flash, because knowing the way DD takes pictures (many of the same thing and way too close), the baby will definitely not enjoy all the flashing lights. Tentatively, she is showing interest in the baby shower, so if she decides to come, we'll make sure she gets her own gift there too.
But another thing we plan to do is have my husband take her shopping so she can pick out a gift to give the baby, from her.
Congrats and good luck!

We just went through this. My daughter was born in October, a month before my son turned 3. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the transition went. And my sister in law went through this last month with her 2.5 year old daughter.

We did get our son a "big brother" gift. We bought him a toddler camera. Originally, we planned to give it to him at the hospital, but since I was induced, we decided to give it to him the night before. We told him it was his job to help get extra pictures of his new baby sister. We made a big deal out of the fact that it was a big brother gift. Our theory was that while everyone oohed and aahhhed over the baby, he would be distracted by the camera and not get terribly jealous...we knew he would get bored. I think he took pictures of everything but his sister! (the floor, trash cans, my IVs, etc.), but it worked perfectly, he had something to do while he was at the hospital.

His Aunt also filled a little cardboard suitcase with things to occupy him if he is waiting around at the hospital - coloring books, cars, stories etc. I think all the toys were purchased at the dollar store, but he really enjoyed that little suitcase.

As for including your daughter in the breastfeeding...that was a little trickier for me to figure out how to include my son. While we were at the hospital, I just let him sit close and watch. It gave me a chance to explain what was happening. When we got home I started having him help by setting the boppy pillow on my lap. I started feeding her in our recliner, because I learned that he could climb up and sit on the foot rest. Many times I will feed his sister and he climbs up and rests his head on the boppy on the other side. We sit a chat or if he is willing to turn the pages, I'll read to them. And sometimes we just watch some cartoons together. I have really enjoyed that time with my kids.

I made sure to have a step stool near the changing table so he could watch what's going on. That was a great idea. He loves it...he talks and entertains his sister during diaper changes. It also makes it where he can reach the diaper basket. He enjoys bringing me diapers when I ask.

When we brought our daughter home, I knew those first few days would be the toughest on him. I knew I would be consumed with taking care of baby. We tried to prepare him for that before hand - often with books about babies (McDuff and the Baby was most helpful). We had help to entertain him, but I made sure that no matter what - I put him to bed. I made the time to lay with him talk, cuddle and play. A few times that meant that he went to bed later, working around the new baby, but it didn't matter. For that first week I think that time was much more valuably spent together than staying on some sort of schedule.

I was really concerned about the transition before our daughter arrived. I researched and asked questions...I think I over thought things. The transition was rather easy, I think he was as excited about the new addition as we were. Sure, we have had a few rough days...days where big brother was out of sorts and cranky. And days where he wants to be cuddled and carried and tells me to "put down the baby". But overall it has been absolutely wonderful. Congratulations!!!

T.,
My daughter was 2 and one month when her little brother entered her world. I tell everyone she wanted to be an only child, and she's 13 now, I still believe that.

I really like the suggestion about having the baby giving a gift to the older sibling. That may have made things a little easier for me. Don't get me wrong at times she enjoyed her little baby brother but for the most part, she wanted to get rid of him. He has always adored her, now he picks on her a lot, but still admires her. I have 3 sisters, and 3 out of the 4 of us where pregnant and gave birth within 6 weeks of each other. My two sisters both had girls and I had a boy. I don't know if that was it or not, because she loved her cousins, just not her brother.

I nursed with him for only 3 months, she help feed him after that with the bottle. She would help me a little, getting a diaper every once in awhile, but like I said she didn't want him around. It was a little better once he got older because the two of them would play together, the way she wanted too. I would read books to both of them on my lap, sing songs...

It's very important that you spend good quality time one on one with her. It's hard, and you will be run down a lot. She needs to know how love she still is.

God Bless your family!

Getting a Big Sister gift from the baby is a good idea. My daughter was 2 years and 9 months when my son was born and she didn't handle it well.

If your daughter is going to the hospital to meet the baby for the first time, make sure you aren't the one holding the baby when she arrives. We made that mistake, my dad forgot to call and say he had arrived at the hospital, so when my daughter walked into the room I was in bed with the baby in my arms. She didn't like it and made for a difficult introduction. I would say have the baby in the bassinet when your daughter arrives and let her be the one to make the approach, this may help set the tone of the introduction a little better.

Good luck and congrats!

Our son was almost 2.5 when his sister was born and the transition went pretty smoothly, but he's always been one to like babies. We did have a few special gifts (thomas the train was his interest at the time) from his sister and that made him feel really special. I also included him in the feedings, bath time, diapers, etc. During the 1st few weeks I tried my very best to spend quality time with just my older one...like when baby was sleeping we did special things that he enjoyed (like played in sand box; arts and crafts; playdough; etc.) That way he still felt like he had all my attention. As much as I wanted to be resting during this time, I think it really helped him adjust to having someone else needing mommy's attention too. And it seemed like while I was breastfeeding is when he wanted to be near me the most. He'd actually crawl in my lap too. I quickly learned to nurse and read stories to him. You'll amaze yourself at how much you can do sometimes :)

Best of luck. We're actually expecting our 3rd in June, so my youngest will be exactly 2 at the time. A little closer than planned, but we're excited :)

One of the best things we did was have a few gifts for them at the hospital, which included a few fun snacks in there. My kiddos want to be at the hospital, and i dont mind them being there, but the new baby only holds their attention for so long, then they want to mess with the bed, the tv..on and on! SO, I had things that they got at the hospital to eat and do while they were there. Another idea is to read or even watch one of his favorite shows together, while you feed the baby..just so that he can be close to you. And, I have other people come and take my kids to do fun things while I cant. For ex. if grandma can come and go to McD's that could be helpful. It wont be nearly as hard as you might be prepared for, so just go with the pace of things and see how it goes! Good luck,the best part of it is watching your oldest care for the new arrival!! ~A.~