Talk About the Big Siblings Here! :)

[briarrose]

We have a lot of 2nd and 3rd time moms here, so tell us about your older kid/s. Ages, like/dislikes, anything you want to share.


Any concerns about introducing a new sibling?

[briarrose]

I have a 2.5 year old DS. He will be 3 in August, and will start 3 year old preschool in the beginning of September for a change of pace. He is with me nearly all the time right now, so we want to give preschool a chance for more social time, and then I will have a chance to be on my own with the new baby a couple days a week.

DS is a spitfire. He was a high needs baby, and still is very attached to me, but he is great, except that he could give a shit about sleeping! He LOVES trains. Also cars. He likes tv too much. He HATES baths, but likes to swim. He is a fairly good eater, and will try pretty much anything still at this point.

I am nervous about having another because he is such a momma's boy, and I fear the jealousy, but I am hoping he surprises me. It is something we are going to try and work on. We will see if he ends up nursing this whole pregnancy, and if so, if he does okay with sharing his milk and doing tandem. He has also never spent the night away from me, and that is something we are hoping to tackle this summer.

[cougarette]

DS will be 2 on Saturday 😭

He loves music and dancing, cars/trucks, and books. He also throws everything, so that makes me nervous for introducing a baby. But he's been in daycare since he was 3 months and is very social, so I think he'll be a good big brother.

I mentioned that he has a speech delay and is getting weekly speech therapy. He's pretty good with signs, but I think he wouldn't get so frustrated if he could tell us what he wants. I'm interested in what his Dr says at his 2 year visit on Monday.

[briarrose]

cougarette, how long have you been doing speech? my DS started at 21 months, and had an explosion right around 2, and has been cruising since then, so hopefully it is coming for you guys! I was like, what? what are all these words? it was like having a different kid.

[Deleted]

DS will be 4 in June. He has always said he didn't want a sibling until recently. We haven't told him about the new baby yet, but he talks about wanting a brother so he can teach him how to run.

He is obsessed with trains and monsters, witches, ghosts, etc. Definitely got his father's love of horror movies. While seeing Lego Batman there was a giant poster for the new Rings movie he would not leave and wanted to talk about it the entire ride home. FTR, I hate horror movies.

[thinkingofthree]

DD1 will be 3 on March 21. She is high energy, but very sweet & curious. She likes to know the who, what, why of everything. She makes me laugh, loves to dance, & loves to play teacher & with her babies. She loves her sister so much, it's amazing.

DD2 is 17 months. She can be fiesty, but generally easy going. She doesn't speak much yet, but wants to be part of everything - so she's vocal without being verbal, haha. She wishes her big sister would give her a bit of a break sometimes, but she loves being around her. She was a high needs baby, due to undiagnosed allergies which made my breastmilk give her digestion issues (peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, & eggs) & kidney reflux. Since we've gotten everything under control, she's SO much better.

They're great girls, but a lot. I remind myself constantly that all I've ever wanted was strong, independent daughters & that parenting those daughters is part of having them...

[racegurl87]

DD will be 2 on Sunday. She's starting 2yr old preschool on Monday for 2days a week. She stays home with me all day and definitely hates it if she thinks I'm leaving. She loves exploring (as long as I'm close) and music.

[trinitrotoluene]

DS is 19 months and will be 2 years and change when the baby gets here. He is a bundle of energy. He does not stop moving ever. Even when he is asleep, which makes me nervous for the day he moves to a toddler bed. He is a huge mama's boy, and loses his mind if he thinks I'm leaving him. He loves animals and "choo choos" and books. Oh my gosh does he love books. All day every day is bringing mama books.

[BurritosAtEveryMeal]

DS will be 3 in June. He is super laid back and has been super entertaining the past few months. His speech is behind so he is really using sentences consistently now and it's so funny to see a personality blossom. He isn't interested in babies now. He is only interested in hanging with his big kid cousins. He loves dinosaurs, animals, and books these days and I can't wait til the weather gets warmer so we can play outside again.

[juniper]

DS will be 3 in August. He is such a good boy. He loves to play music, read books, pretend to be a superhero and play with building blocks. He is tall and skinny and a love bug. He has so much to say and makes me laugh all the time. He has never been a good sleeper so we still cosleep most nights, but at least now he sleeps through the night. We will have to work on getting him into his crib before this baby comes and before I am giant and uncomfortable.

I think I have the typical second time mom worries that I won't be able to give him the same attention. I'm especially worried about that right now because we transferred two embryos so there is a chance of twins. On the other hand, I am also excited for him to have a sibling and someone to play with. Yesterday at the library there was a one year old and he said sweetly, "Look Mommmy. She's playing the computer with her tiny hands." So at least he thinks babies are cute.

[thatgirlrachel]

DD is 15 months now and will turn 2 approximately 2 months after this baby is here. She is in a very fun stage right now. She is extremely independent, plays by herself well, not a snuggler. You can't force her into anything, she has to gain interest in her own time. So I don't *think* there will be any jealousy issues. I'm more concerned with regression issues with bottles (we just kicked those) and pacifiers and potty training when those come. But I am excited they will be so close in age and when the time comes, I know we'll be able to handle it.

[mommabakes]

I have a 3.5 yo daughter, she'll be 4 when this baby is born. She's a lot of fun, although she has alllllll the emotions lately. She loves music, dancing, and artsy stuff. Also being outdoors. She knows and is excited about this baby, but I'm a little nervous because she will be starting preschool shortly before it's born, and it will be a lot of changes for her. She doesn't handle change all that well. I do think she'll be very helpful!

I have a 1.5 yo son also, I am active over on Aug15. He's a crazy, busy, into everything little boy. He loves babies though and will be fine I think. Much more easy going than DD.

[danvers]

DD will be two in a couple of weeks. She's a really easy going toddler about most things. She's a great sleeper and napper so I'm little worried to start all over again but so looking forward to newborn cuddles! She loves baby dolls, books, dinosaurs, cars, all things Frozen, and anything with Pooh Bear. She's not the best talker and has been in speech for about 6 months. They're also working on eating too since she isn't the best eater. Kid could really care less about food but we're making slow progress there too.

DD likes to point out babies (and plays with baby dolls!) but hates when I hold other babies. My current plan is to read books and talk about all this till the baby comes. I'm going to talk to her pediatrician in a few weeks at her 2 year appt. for suggestions too. I really think she'll love benign a big sister but she can't stand to see me hold other babies or even let my nieces or nephew sit on my lap. I welcome any and all suggestions from those who've been through this!

[thechickencoop]

Do I have the old here? Lol.

DS will be 5 in April; he's awesome. I work part time and he goes to daycare/preschool those days. He loves it and thrives there.

He's a super cautious, rule-following kid which has made our lives easy He's also a thinker and a tinkerer and is extremely curious about how everything works. It's amazing to watch him sometimes.

Since PGAL/2IF brain sucks, I'm still in this 'if this one sticks' mode. SO, if this one sticks, DS will be 5 1/2 and in full day kindergarten. Which is actually perfect for me because I dealt with PPD after DS was born and I do NOT do well with interrupted sleep so I'm looking forward to having that time for me and baby to nap, hang, one-on-one, etc.

[seventythree]

Feb 23, 2017 21:56:06 GMT -5 mkrupar said:

DD is 20 months old. She'll be 2 in June, so 2 years and some change when the little one arrives. I'm mostly nervous about the terrible twos taking a strong hold with her. She's an independent strong willed little lady already, and I imagine that will only become more evident as she gets older. I think she'll be a great big sis, but I do know there will definitely be some challenges with two littles vs. the one right now.

Oh man, I could have written this word for word, except that my DD will be 2 in May

Solidarity, sister!

[sunshineandbabytoes]

DS will be 4 in July. He is super chatty, overly hyper and loves everything super hero. Captain American is the fav right now. He will be in part day Pre-k by the time Baby 3 rolls around.

DD will be 2 in April. She is shy but loves copying everything her brother does. She does not talk as much as he did but she says something new everyday. Last night she would hold her finger up to her mouth and say quite. She loves babies. Loves to hold and kiss them. She will probably go to day care half day if I can afford it.

My only concern is going out and about. Right now H and I are each responsible for 1 kid. Adding one more is going to make things crazy. I am going to boycott eating out with kids for awhile. And what do you do at the store! Where do you put 3 kids in the cart. I guess DS better start walking along.

[mommabakes]

Feb 24, 2017 9:21:57 GMT -5 sunshineandbabytoes said:

DS will be 4 in July. He is super chatty, overly hyper and loves everything super hero. Captain American is the fav right now. He will be in part day Pre-k by the time Baby 3 rolls around.

DD will be 2 in April. She is shy but loves copying everything her brother does. She does not talk as much as he did but she says something new everyday. Last night she would hold her finger up to her mouth and say quite. She loves babies. Loves to hold and kiss them. She will probably go to day care half day if I can afford it.

My only concern is going out and about. Right now H and I are each responsible for 1 kid. Adding one more is going to make things crazy. I am going to boycott eating out with kids for awhile. And what do you do at the store! Where do you put 3 kids in the cart. I guess DS better start walking along.

With regards to grocery shopping- wear the newest, middle in the cart, and teach big to hold onto the cart. Or go when your H can be home with the kids

[sunshineandbabytoes]

Feb 24, 2017 9:27:59 GMT -5 mommabakes said:

Feb 24, 2017 9:21:57 GMT -5 sunshineandbabytoes said:

DS will be 4 in July. He is super chatty, overly hyper and loves everything super hero. Captain American is the fav right now. He will be in part day Pre-k by the time Baby 3 rolls around.

DD will be 2 in April. She is shy but loves copying everything her brother does. She does not talk as much as he did but she says something new everyday. Last night she would hold her finger up to her mouth and say quite. She loves babies. Loves to hold and kiss them. She will probably go to day care half day if I can afford it.

My only concern is going out and about. Right now H and I are each responsible for 1 kid. Adding one more is going to make things crazy. I am going to boycott eating out with kids for awhile. And what do you do at the store! Where do you put 3 kids in the cart. I guess DS better start walking along.

With regards to grocery shopping- wear the newest, middle in the cart, and teach big to hold onto the cart. Or go when your H can be home with the kids

I forgot about baby wearing!!!

[bubblefan]

My son recently turned two and he is what we like to call "spirited." He is non-stop and super curious about everything-- he wants to stick his little nose (and fingers) into every situation. He is very social and his language is just starting to take off, which is so fun. I have a blast (for the most part) staying home with this kid, even if he does exhaust me. I love imagining him with a sibling but he is very possessive of me and I am predicting a rough transition.

[bubblefan]

Feb 24, 2017 10:38:30 GMT -5 @moonandback141 said:

DD is 16 months and turns 2 right before my due date. She's wild and spunky and silly and so smart. She also loves other babies so I'm hoping that's a good sign of the awesome Big Sis she will be.

But, FFFC--she still sleeps in our bed so it will be interested to see how this plays out.

My son still ends up in our bed a lot. I'm scared.

[bubblefan]

Feb 24, 2017 9:27:59 GMT -5 mommabakes said:

Feb 24, 2017 9:21:57 GMT -5 sunshineandbabytoes said:

DS will be 4 in July. He is super chatty, overly hyper and loves everything super hero. Captain American is the fav right now. He will be in part day Pre-k by the time Baby 3 rolls around.

DD will be 2 in April. She is shy but loves copying everything her brother does. She does not talk as much as he did but she says something new everyday. Last night she would hold her finger up to her mouth and say quite. She loves babies. Loves to hold and kiss them. She will probably go to day care half day if I can afford it.

My only concern is going out and about. Right now H and I are each responsible for 1 kid. Adding one more is going to make things crazy. I am going to boycott eating out with kids for awhile. And what do you do at the store! Where do you put 3 kids in the cart. I guess DS better start walking along.

With regards to grocery shopping- wear the newest, middle in the cart, and teach big to hold onto the cart. Or go when your H can be home with the kids

I might cave and do online ordering... I am seriously considering it. My H is an enabler and says go for it.

[CoachTsWife]

DS is 19 months old today, so he'll be a little over 26 months when the baby comes. He is so fun to hang out with. He does really well playing by himself and is generally a really good kid, and I'm excited to see him transition to big brother. DH and I both work full time so he is in daycare full time. It'll be interesting to see how he handles a baby; he was not at all interested in his baby cousin born in December.

We plan to keep him in daycare during my maternity leave to keep things consistent for him and to give me similar one-on-one time with the new baby as I had with him. Assuming I can get the three of us out of the house each morning....

[cougarette]

Feb 23, 2017 22:32:45 GMT -5 briarrose said:

cougarette, how long have you been doing speech? my DS started at 21 months, and had an explosion right around 2, and has been cruising since then, so hopefully it is coming for you guys! I was like, what? what are all these words? it was like having a different kid.

We started in November, so right around 21 months as well. He's definitely doing better and I'm waiting for that burst. It doesn't help that he's pretty stubborn and does things when he feels like it too.

[CoachTsWife]

Feb 24, 2017 12:07:00 GMT -5 caitost21 said:

Feb 24, 2017 11:48:28 GMT -5 CoachTsWife said:

DS is 19 months old today, so he'll be a little over 26 months when the baby comes. He is so fun to hang out with. He does really well playing by himself and is generally a really good kid, and I'm excited to see him transition to big brother. DH and I both work full time so he is in daycare full time. It'll be interesting to see how he handles a baby; he was not at all interested in his baby cousin born in December.

We plan to keep him in daycare during my maternity leave to keep things consistent for him and to give me similar one-on-one time with the new baby as I had with him. Assuming I can get the three of us out of the house each morning....

DS is in daycare three days a week and he will still go when I'm on maternity leave. We are doing the same reasons you mentioned, keep his schedule as consistent as possible and so I can have one-on-one time with the new baby. I know I won't get as much as I did with DS and that's hard

I'm sure I'll keep him home a day here and there, and have later drop-offs and earlier pick-ups some days.  But I think the consistency for him will help.  It'll help my sanity, too, I'm sure! 

[augustblooms]

DD will be 2 in April, so 2 1/2 when this baby comes. She lots of energy, is not afraid of anything and is a bit of a clown. She loves books, colouring, singing and eating. She's small but makes up for it in personality and appetite.

My niece is a year younger than her and she has some issues with sharing and says 'mine' virtually with everything she touches. With other smaller babies she is actually very interested and gentle. I'm a bit worried about the jealousy.

[augustblooms]

Feb 24, 2017 12:41:24 GMT -5 caitost21 said:

I have a question for those who have not yet transitioned the big into a big kid bed/room. Will you do it before baby arrives? After? If before, when? We were originally planning on postponing it until early next year since baby will be in our room the first 4-5 months but everything I've read says to do major transitions before. Not only will DS get a big boy bed, we will be moving rooms since the room he's in now is closest to our room and is already set up as a nursery.

I've been thinking about this as well. We have a 3 bedroom house, the extra room our spare room. Our in laws are moving across the country before the baby comes and if we move DD to that room they will have nowhere to stay if they want to visit when the baby is born. I think what we may end up doing is transitioning DD to her big bed then moving rooms at a later date.

[artandawife]

DS will be three in April, and is a very social and outgoing kid. He is pretty much always talking, unless he is watching his iPad. He loves dinosaurs (especially scary ones!), trains, and asking questions.

He is a bit of a daddy's boy so I am not super worried about jealousy. I am a bit worried that my H will not get much time to bond with the new baby. Since he is so social I am hoping to keep him in full time daycare while on maternity leave, but we'll have to see if that is doable financially.

[mrsklm09]

DD1 turned 4 in January. She is a total mini-me! She is very talkative and bright and wants to know everything about everything. She is cautious and loving. She was an easy baby once we figured out she didn't tolerate milk protein well and was a great sleeper from very early on. She transitioned really well to becoming a big sister. Our biggest struggle has been potty training which didn't happen until she was 3.5 and even then was not what she wanted to do. She is in preschool 3 days a week from 8:30 to 11:30 but will be going 5 days in the fall from 8:30 to 1.

DD2 is 20 months on the 29th. She is a ball of energy! She is very adventurous and throws caution to the wind at every turn. She loves to read and sing and do anything big sister is doing. She keeps me on my toes and gives the best hugs on the planet. She also loves baby dolls and our friend's babies, she even was helping to give one a bottle this week while we were at big sister's dance class! She has been a little jealous before when I've held other babies, so time will tell on that. She will start preschool in the fall as well, on the same schedule as her sister. Once the baby comes, we will have to roll her back to 3 days and I will have to hire a new nanny, as my current nanny is student teaching in the fall.

[mrsklm09]

Re: groceries- online shopping is the best thing ever! There is no "needing a pass"! I spend less and am much less cranky as a result!!

Re: big kid rooms- DD1 was already in her crib w/toddler rail before I even got pregnant with DD2. We got her a big girl bed (with rails at first) about 3 months before DD2 was born and talked it up big time. She was so excited for the big bed we never had an issue. We did disassemble the crib for about 2 months while we did the nursery up, so it wasn't around for her to see that her old bed was going to the baby. I don't know what we'll do this time as DD2 is still in her crib, but I do know I'm not buying another crib, so we might just go right into the big girl bed 3 months before #3 gets here.

[CoachTsWife]

Feb 24, 2017 12:54:54 GMT -5 augustblooms said:

Feb 24, 2017 12:41:24 GMT -5 caitost21 said:

I have a question for those who have not yet transitioned the big into a big kid bed/room. Will you do it before baby arrives? After? If before, when? We were originally planning on postponing it until early next year since baby will be in our room the first 4-5 months but everything I've read says to do major transitions before. Not only will DS get a big boy bed, we will be moving rooms since the room he's in now is closest to our room and is already set up as a nursery.

I've been thinking about this as well. We have a 3 bedroom house, the extra room our spare room. Our in laws are moving across the country before the baby comes and if we move DD to that room they will have nowhere to stay if they want to visit when the baby is born. I think what we may end up doing is transitioning DD to her big bed then moving rooms at a later date.

We are in a similar situation with a 3 bedroom house (master, nursery, and guest bedroom), but we need to keep our guest bed for when my Mom visits.  Plus, our guest bed is where DH or I sleep when one of us is sick.  I think we're going to try to move the guest bed downstairs into the family room.  It'll cut into the space, but it is about our only option.  There is a TV and bathroom down there, so Mom will actually have more privacy when she visits.  We just lose some of our family room space...

We have talked about moving DS into his new room (old guest room) this summer.  He was only in our room for about a month before we transitioned him to the nursery/crib and have similar plans for #2, so I feel like it needs to be done before the baby is born.