Ways to Make My 2 Year-old Feel Special When New Baby Arrives.

CONGRATS! That is so exciting.
One thing that helped my daughter with her little brother coming along was getting out her baby photos/videos and showing her she was that small, how I had to take care of her when she cried, why babies cry, (because they cannot tell us they are hungry or wet) and that she got lot's of care when she was a baby too. Then we got our daughter a baby doll of her own that we gave her from her new brother so she could take care of her baby when I had to tend to her brother.
I can say more then anything she was extremely doting to him, she would yell at me if I didn't pick him up immediately when he cried. Make sure if you and she are up when the baby is sleeping you give her lot's of snuggles and extra one on one time. I would put the baby to bed and then hang out with my little girl, just she and I! :)
Still do, her brother goes to bed earlier so she gets that time with me.

She will have moments when she wants your attention and you are feeding the baby and all of that. I just tried to let my daughter know I would love her to sit with us while I fed him, to get me a diaper and be my diaper holder when I changed him. She was great about it. It was when he was old enough to pull her hair and get in her stuff that things went different, hee hee...which is NORMAL! :)

Bringing a new baby home is always a special occasion. We try and make the whole thing an adventure for the older kids. When we were bringing home our 2nd our oldest daughter spent the night with some good friends of ours. They helped her make some onesies for the baby and she loved that. She still loves it when we bring those onesies out for the newest baby, even after all these years (she is now 13). Giving a gift from the new baby to the older siblings is fun too, but not something that I have done. If you are like me, you find yourself telling one child to wait while you do something for the other.....turn it around sometime and tell the baby to wait while you help the older child. It won't mean a whole lot to the baby, but to your 2 yr old it will be funny to have the baby wait while you get her a drink. Make time while the baby sleeps to read a book or any other activity, just to show them that they are stil an important part of the family. Getting them involved in the day to day routine of changing and feeding makes them feel like they are big too....ask her to get you diapers, wipes, jammies or things like that. Don't be afraid of letting her hold the baby too. Put her in a place and then be there while she gets to hold the baby and talk to her about how grown up she is to hold the baby. Show her how to be gentle and touch the baby softly. These might seem like small things, but in the long run she will know that just because the baby is here doesn't mean that you don't love her anymore. But, don't ever tell her that she can't do something because of the baby, that will make her not like the new one.....if you have to tell her that you can't do it because of something else.
J. --SAHM of 6

If your 2 year old is into dolls at all, have baby sister get her a baby doll of her own that she can "care" for when you're caring for baby. Like when you're nursing or feeding a bottle, your 2 year old can feed her baby a bottle at the same time. If you bottle feed your baby, have big sister hold the bottle for her sometimes so she can see that the baby eats too. Make sure to spend special time with just your two year old sometimes too so she doesn't feel like you're spending all your time with just the baby. Congrats, and good luck!

Hi K. - Congratulations to you and your family!

We found a great shirt for my son to wear to the hospital. It said something like "I'm a proud big brother". He thought that was pretty cool.

It's the little things that she is going to notice. Such as who do you serve first - her or the baby? Mix it up so that you arent always caring for the baby first before you get to her.

You might also encourage your family members to remember Sophia when they bring a gift for the baby. Also, when they come to visit the baby, plan it so that they have some special time just with her so that she feels like they came to visit her too and not just the baby.

A different milestones, you could also do some little things for her. Like when the baby turns 1 month old, you could switch it around to say Sophia has been a terrific big sister for one whole month!

Blessings,
C.

There are lots of things you can do, but the one thing that I highly recommend is to have her baby sister give her big sister a special gift. If you make it something special, then you can remind the big sister how great it is that her little sister got her such and such.

Good luck!

Peggy