Five Ways to Introduce Siblings ‹ Back to Story

We've noticed our 2 1/2 y.o. daughter adores babies but gets jealous when we interact with them, so we've been doing a lot of prep with her...I'd love to hear other parents' ideas, too! Here's our strategy list:

- Referring to the new one as "our" baby (i.e. the whole family's)

- Kids books that reference the ways big sibs are special and important (I'm a Big Sister - J. Cole & Best-Ever Big Sister - K. Katz)

- Letting her shop to choose a gift from herself to the baby

- Presents she'll get to unwrap: pj's and t-shirts with a Big Sister motif; baby supplies for her doll (Graco has a pretty cheap kit with a playard, stroller, baby gym, and diaper bag) so she can do for her doll what adults are doing for the baby

- Introducing her to babies - if you don't know any personally (!), a lot of new parents at the mall have been more than happy to let our toddler interact with their newbies (just have your toddler ask the baby's parents first!)

- Transitioning her to a toddler bed, booster seat and potty well in advance so the new baby isn't using 'her' stuff

- Brainstorming with her about ways she can be involved when the baby gets here (passing us wipes, etc.), since she takes pride in being helpful

...Hopefully the transition is a relatively smooth one!

We did all of these things with our 2.5 year old son and the transition was relatively smooth. He's been a pretty good big brother so far. However, when we tried to include him in the naming process, his primary suggestion was "Bus Beep Beep, " so we opted to head in another direction. LOL!

Do did we and 5 kids later haven't had much trouble with the transitions. My kids are 4,6,8,10 and 13 and we still talk about how great it is to have so many sibs. We remind them often that they are best friends through it all. Siblings are the best gift. Good luck!