I have a very bright, very alert 3 1/2 year old daughter and I just found out we are expecting our second child in March of next year. We have not told her yet that she will be a big sister, but i want to be fully prepared when I do. She will want to know EVERYTHING, and she will want to hear it over and over again. I'm certain there must be some children's books out there that address this topic. I would love to have some recommendations. Books will be a fantastic medium for her, because we can read them together whenever she wants, or she can sit and "read" them alone.
I read a lot of Berenstein Bear books to my kids when they were little. There was even one about preparing to have a new sibling in the house.
Mercer Mayer also has a Just me and my baby brother/sister books, depending n which you are going to have. We also used "Hello, Baby" by Lizzy Rockwell for our 4 year old, it had some interesting things about the unborn baby's development that he really liked b/c he is fascinated by the workings of the human body (it may be b/c his mom was a HS science teacher!). If you don't mind used books, a great site is campusi.com - it lists books from all sellers - used and new and has the best prices listed there.
Good Luck!
We used the I'm a Big Brother book, which our son loved. However, the thing I found worked more was letting our son pick the baby's name. (Not to mention helping break the stalemate that had ensued on that subject!) Now, this was within reason otherwise we would've ended up with a daughter named Big Bird! My husband and I picked the two names we both liked and let him pick. It's been an extreme point of pride for our son since. He refers to his sister as "My Baby." We'll see if he still feels that way in a few more years! :)
Congratulations and good luck!
"I'm A Big Sister (or Big Brother)". My son loved to read this book (same age as your daughter) when I was pregnant with #2.
Bundle has a GREAT selection of hand-picked books that help an older child understand and look forward to the arrival of a new baby.
My Favorite is And After That:
http://www.bundlebabyshop.com/p-245-and-after-that.aspx
The important thing for me was to make sure that the books I read to my oldest did not introduce any negative emotions. Some books create more problems than they solve!
We loved Annie Kubler's "Waiting for Baby" and "My New Baby." My daughter still likes to read them, and my son is 19 months old now. They don't have words, so you tell the story how you want. We also liked them because they show the mother breastfeeding.
Hello S., I have 2 under 2. I have some advice but not a book. I remember reading somewhere that when you have the baby-- sometimes address the baby and say-- "Baby (name), I have to put you down so I can get your sister her lunch or bc I am going to read her a book." In other words-- address the baby so your daughter can see that she is important too. It really does help. I know there are little kid's books about big sisters. We have one- I think it is called I'm a Big Sister. My daughter loves it. Go to the bookstore or search amazon.com.
We love the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. There is one called The New Baby but since I only have one child we've never read it. I have used several of the other books to ease my daughter into new situations. I also have a suggestion for homecoming day with the new baby. Several friends have had the new siblings exchange gifts. You're daughter gets to pick out and wrap a present for the new baby and you can have a wrapped present for baby to give to big sister. God Bless!
We liked "Arthur's Baby." It starts with the pregnancy and ends with Arthur helping the crying baby.
The New Baby by Bernstein Bears is very simplistic, but very cute. That may not be enough for your little gal, but thought I would mention it. Congrats! J
My favorite book that I read with my daughter after her little sister arrived was, "How to be a baby . . . by me, the big sister"
It is a funny look at the new baby from the big sister's point of view and it definitely amused my 3.5 year old. You can look it up on Amazon under "how to be a baby"
A friend gave me "How to be a Baby by Me The Big Sister" I don't have it in front of me to tell you who wrote it. It is pretty funny and a cute book. I would def. get that one. I also got "Now We Have a Baby" and it is basic and talks about how babies cry at strange times, and sometimes you have to be quiet, ect. It is cute for a quick bedtime story.
_Welcome with Love_ by Overend is absolutely wonderful! Beautiful, realistic, and *I* wanted to read it over and over again. _What's Inside?_ by Ashbé is a good one, too.
Here are some websites that have some good info, too:
http://www.askdrgayle.com/sab.html, by Dr. Gayle Peterson
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/8148/sibatbirth.html, a mom’s perspective of her son’s experience at her next birth.
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/homebir...
You can see my article on my second to last birth, where my two older daughters were like my doula at midwiferytoday.com "Such Sweet Helpers."
D. S, (mom to 5; whose last two births were attended by the siblings and it was great!)
