"Big Brother" Gifts

When my 2nd son was born, a lot of people came over to see the new baby. So we had a Bid Brother Party - what we did is we bought a cake that said 'Congratulations Big Brother!' and we bought my older son a gift. Also, everyone else who came over brought a gift for him - something small like a coloring book, matchbox car, etc. He loved it!

My son was 2.5 when his brother was born. The baby didn't give him a gift, but he wore a "I'm a Big Brother" shirt and got a football balloon from Grandma. He liked balloons and it was a plus that it was a football. My best friend also bought him a hot wheels car, which he really liked. Other than that, he spent the time at the hospital coloring with his crayons.

My son loved Barney, so we had the baby get him a Barney stuffed animal that sung the "I love you" song when you squeezed him

Our daughter was 2 1/2 when our son was born. We got her a t-shirt that said "I'm the Big Sister" and a book about being a big sister. We also had a special gift for her for a week or so later (since everyone was coming over with gifts for the new baby, we didn't want her to feel completely left out).

We also made a big deal about how her the new baby would look to her to learn everything.

Our daughter loved hearing about when she was a baby and when she was born right after our son was born...so we would tell her a lot of stories of how she was when she was that tiny, etc.

We kind of lucked out that our second was born right around Christmas, so we just picked one of DS1's Christmas presents and gave it to him.

I would recommend something that he can play with himself, and something that he can't throw at the new baby LOL! I'm kind of kidding and kind of serious at the same time!

We got DS1 a shirt that said "I'm the Big Brother", he was only 16 months old so I don't think he really understood.

You know what kept DS1 entertained the most when we brought the new baby home - the balloons that people bought for us. Those provided hours of fun!

My daughter was almost 3 when our son was born. She was very into princesses and dress up, so our son gave her a Cinderella dress and shoes and a matching Cinderella barbie doll. And, the dress was a little big on her when we gave it to her and now a little small, but almost 3 years later that is still the dress that her brother gave her. And, she still loves dressing up in it.

I say find something your son loves right now that will last a while.

Also, it is a big deal to be the big brother...let him be the helper. Could you please go get mommy a diaper and two wipes? Could you please get baby's favorite blanky for him? etc.

Our kids are 21 months apart.

Our son desperately wanted a big Buzz Lightyear when his sister was born. We purchased one, didn't tell him, and surprised him when he came to the hospital to meet his little sister (this was 2 years ago before the H1N1 scare).

We also made sure to have things at the hospital that he may find interesting (colored pencils, stickers, notebook). He was more interested in the snack station and the cookie warmer. The nurses absolutely adored him, and he soaked-up the attention. We also took lots of pictures and let him "hold" his new sister with our assistance.

My best advice from day 1: set aside special time one-on-one with him and you, him and daddy so he doesn't feel like all the attention has been shifted to his little brother.

I'd also give him simple "jobs" that he can help you with during the day so he feels important. Getting diapers/wipes, helping pick clothes for his brother, helping push a stroller, etc.

Luckily, you will find that with such a short age difference, the adaptation required isn't too tough - at least that was our experience.
And, we're fortunate that they're best friends......gets a little creepy when our son says he wants to marry his sister, but he's not quite 4 yet and still doesn't quite "get" it.

Good luck!

We had our newborn "give" the gift to our then 2 1/2 year old son at the hospital. He received a Fischer Price camera and loved it! It kept him occupied while he visited in the hospital and he loved to take pictures of his new little brother. It's been 8 months since the birth of our youngest and our oldest still remembers that his little brother gave him the camera.

My 2.5 year old was really into Thomas the Train & Friends when his little sister was born last summer. We bought him a Percy engine and wrapped it and said it was from his sister. For a few weeks leading up to her birth, we told him that she was bringing him a present, but that he would get it at the hospital after she was born. To this day, he tells people that his sister bought him that present. So cute! He loves the engine and he loves his baby sister. I tell him every day how much she loves him and how she likes to watch him play, and how he makes her laugh, etc. Good luck and congratulations!

My daughter was 2 and a half when my son was born. We got her an easel and watercolor paintes (and the cups to put the different colors in) and lots of different sized paint brushes for her as her big sister present. It has turned out great. She loves to paint. We set it up in the kitchen so that it is easy to clean up the floor when she is done and it occupies her for hours (which kept her mind off of the fact that her baby brother was getting Mom and Dad's attention). We have to switch the paper around once in a while for her. We have bought stencils that we tape onto the paper for her as well now and I am thinking about moving up to tempera paints for her for her fourth birthday in September. We bought most of the supplies from www.discountschoolsupply.com and we got a Melissa & Doug easel from amazon.

Good Luck,
D.

The gift is what ever you think. My twin boys got a little baby doll (and it really didn't look like a "girl" doll), but it was perfect. But one thing I really enjoyed was when I was dischardged my husband went home and got the twins and we went home together as one happy family.

We had our baby 'give' our 3 y.o. a shirt that said 'I'm the big sister' and she also got a sticker/coloring book. On our pediatrician's advice, we made a big deal that our daughter was this baby's teacher and she would teach her everything she knows. So when the baby makes her first yawn, your son taught her that. When she starts nursing, your son taught her that too. Anytime someone asks about the baby, you talk about your big boy first and introduce things the baby is doing as things that your son taught her.
This approach has made a huge difference. Our baby is 9 months old now and our daughter absolutely loves her, I have never seen the least bit of sibling rivalry and they truly adore each other.
Good luck and enjoy this special time!

My son was 2.5 when my oldest daughter was born and we got him a Thomas Fire Engine set as he was very into Thomas the Train. He was 3.5 when my youngest daughter was born in the summer and was into soccer so we got him a backyard soccer goal and ball. Both those gifts were "from" the baby and gave him something new and fun to focus on. We also took him to the store both times and had him pick out a special teddy bear that he gave to them when they were born. Now my oldest daughter is almost 2 and sleeps with that teddy bear every night and my youngest daughter is 8 months and is starting to play with hers. We still make a point that he gave them those bears and when he sees how much they love them, he gets a kick out of it. Plus he still plays with both toys that the girls gave him. We also got him a big brother shirt that he wore proudly to the hospital when he went to meet both girls and did things like having him help change the diaper or sing songs or play with the baby. He loves both his sisters and they adore him right back. Good luck!

When my friend had her second daughter, a group of us did a bag of goodies for her older daughter (3 at the time). They already had "stuff" for the baby and most people bought baby gifts, so we did big sister gifts.

I literally went to Target and bought a ton of little things so that Allie would have something little to open and play with each day. I wrapped them and put them in a large bag to be handed-out "as needed". I would suggest for your son:
- crayons
- stickers
- boxes of animal crackers
- little cars
- new ball
- books

I would also suggest letting your son be the first person to hold the baby when you all get home. Give them some snuggle time on the floor or couch. Make a big deal out of him being the very first one to hold the baby and make sure to take a picture and frame it! Your son is still very young, so symbolism and marking the occassion won't mean much to him now, but having a picture and a story will mean the world. My parents did this when they brought my little sister home and that picture (now almost 30 years old) is still on my dresser and has been since that day!

When our youngest was born our oldest was 3. She was in to princesses so her new sister got her a Snow White Dress up outfit. She thought that was great & we had it at the hospital for her when she came to visit. She put it on and the nurses made such a big deal about it. It was really cute. Of course with boys that won't work but I would say find something that he is totally in to and work off of that. 8 weeks from now we will be in total summer mode so maybe an outside toy? Not sure how much you want to spend but Step 2 makes a cool roller coaster that comes with a ride on car. It's really durable & you can even leave it outside because it's made of heavy duty plastic. My youngest got it from Santa when she was 2 and even the "big" kids in the neighborhood play on it when they are over. We take it in, in the winter and they can play with it in the basement. It's about $100 but they have used that toy so much that it was worth every penny and then some. Maybe a new ride on car for outside or a sand and water table?

We actually to our son to the toy store to see what he really played with and picked that. He got a cash register (and food) for the big day, he opened it in the hospital. We also had him wear his big brother shirt and hat. He loved it.