Toddler welcoming new baby..book suggestions?

[Mazzymum]

Hello, does anybody please have some suggestions for books that would help a 2.5 yr little boy welcome a new baby? Something that we could read together about new babies would be great. Doesn't have to be all sweetnes and light, if anyone knows of any books that mention jealousy or feeling a bit angry or sad , that would be fantastic. Baby due in 8 weeks and little boy LOVES little babies but would like to have all (well yknim) bases covered!! Thanks

[dee73]

Hi Mazzymum - we've got a few books handed down to us for this very reason... the best is one called "There's a House Inside my Mummy" I can't tell you the author as we're interstate atm and didn't bring it with us, but it's great and ds really enjoys it.

There are heaps on the market though, some written seriously, some funny, some in prose, some with real pics and some with illustrations. So the best thing you can do is go into a large bookshop and just browse through them to decide what sort of thing you want.

[Mother Goose]

A friend of mine read her daughter "A new baby for Grace" (or something like that, I remember the name Grace in the title). The book is about how Daddy goes away for a little while then brings home a Mummy and a new baby. It tells how Grace is told "No" a lot "No, not like that Grace. Be gentle with the baby Grace" and how Grace gets sad because people keep telling her 'no'. Of course, it has a happy ending when she tries do something nice and people tell her she is so kind etc.

HTH

MG

[dee73]

Just remembered... The Science of Parenting has some good tips in it for helping a sibling deal with a new arrival. One suggestion is to use puppets to help your little boy express how he's feeling, if he's sad, jealous, etc.

[Mazzymum]

Thankyou! I forgot to mention that i live in a non-english speaking city, so browsing in english bookshops is pretty limited. There are 2 shops but you can imagine that the selection is pretty small as they have a limited space for all subjects.

[Ozziehoffy]

You may be able to find one of the books through ebay? I have seen the "There's a House inside my Mummy" book on there before. HTH and all the best with your new bub and little man

[blizz]

there is one called "when the teddy bears came", can't remember who wrote it (maybe Martin Waddell???) but it deals with feelings of jealousy when all the teddybears came and mummy's attention had to be shared

[Mazzymum]

Thanks, these are all GREAT suggestions, i will order them from one of the shops tomorrow as i know that they won't take long (and i don't have a credit card - too many ''emergencies''). I think that i remember reading 'A new baby for Grace' with one of my nieces about 10 years ago.
We spent some more time with a little baby today and she was so sweet, Art brushed her hair and gave her a million kisses and stroked her little fat legs, pretty impressed with the pair of them...tings is looking very positive for our new baby's arrival!

Thanks again

[MantaRay]

Mazzymum, I also found that talking about it a lot and showing him pictures of babies in tummies from pg books helped. And letting him feel the baby move. Plus be sure to talk about mummy going away to hospital for a few days if you are birthing in a hospital. We forgot that bit and it was the only thing which threw my toddler. He was fine with the new baby but very shirty with me for being away for a few days (I had to stay in hossy for 5 nights as Tom was early and they wouldn't let him out). GL.

[Mazzymum]

Thanks MantaRay (like your name too), that's a really good point about the hospital thing. I've encouraged him to feel the baby inside and he often comes up and kisses it randomly! We do talk about it but i don't want to bang on about it constantly as there are still 6 wks to go and i don't want him to feel like it's taking forever and he'll maybe lose interest. His speech is not very developed as he's exposed to a few different languages so it's difficult for him to let me know how he may be feeling. I'm just trying to prepare him the best way i think will work for him as i guess everyone does for their children, with respect and love.
I ordered the books today and will beginto talk about going away to have the baby. Luckily his best friend is also expecting a new baby brother in 2 weeks so that will also help him get a grasp on the situation.

Cheers and thanks again.

[MantaRay]

Mazzy, I found that Jack was just 19 months when Tom was born, so it was hard to know how much he understood. But the first thing he did when he came into the labour suite after Tom's birth was to climb up on the cot to see "the baby". Everytime he came to visit he did the same thing and he didn't react at all when we took the baby home in the car with us (nor later), so that was when I knew he had understood. GL, you sound like you are doing a great job. I am sure it will be fine!

[HotI]

Hi

Do any of these books have twins arriving? Looking for a book for a friend's little girl, they are expecting twins later this year.

cheers,

k

[alioops]

I have seen a few books that may help
Try googling books_new_baby. i got a comprehensive list. too many to name in one hit

[dee73]

Kate - there is a dvd of Dora where her mum has twins - Dora Big Sister. I'm sure there would be lots of books too.

[HotI]

Kate - there is a dvd of Dora where her mum has twins - Dora Big Sister. I'm sure there would be lots of books too.

Thanks Dee!


k

[Smoke Jaguar]

Have a look on the Mothers Direct website, there are HEAPS of titles that show mummies with tummies, mummies breastfeeding new babies as well as older kids AND they'll organise OS delivery, I'm pretty sure, so you don't even have to leave the house
I have two books from there - Fast Food for Ben and The Biggest Bed in the World (about the arrival of sibling after sibling!)