- 1.4KShares
A mommy having a new baby is something that a toddler might not understand or comprehend just yet. Even though I knew that my little girl wouldn’t understand, I wanted to find a couple of fun ways to help her get used to the idea of our new baby.
P.S – My little girl was in love with her new baby brother at first sight. 🙂
The Best Home Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com .This post contains affiliate links. Also see our Disclosure Policy.
Baby Doll
Giving your toddler their own baby doll is a great start on helping them to understand how to be gentle and care for the baby. Play with your toddler and make it fun! 🙂
Get a blanket and show them how to cover or swaddle them. Make sure to stress that you don’t put the blanket on the baby’s face.
Give them one diaper and a wet wipe to play with. Mark the diaper and wipe in some way to show your little one that it is theirs. This will also help when your new baby is born, so they can distinguish between the babies diapers and their baby dolls diaper. Or you can use a pretend diaper set for them too.
Practice being quiet by pretending that the baby is sleeping and put the baby doll in their bed.
Maybe pretend that the doll is crying and say, ” hush hush “, make shushing noises, or sing to the baby doll while rocking the baby gently in your arms.
If you see at any time that your toddler is being rough or too aggressive with the doll, take it away and show them again how to behave with their baby doll again.Say words like, “gentle, be nice, and careful.”
Doing this will help them to be good to their toys and help them to learn a little bit of what you will be doing when the baby comes.
Show A Gentle Touch And Affection
With a growing belly comes stretch marks and dry skin. Whenever I would put lotion on my belly, I would give Lyla a little bit of lotion to “help” put lotion “on the baby. If I noticed her being a little too rough, I would take her hand and show her how to touch my tummy gently. She loved feeling Blake move when she would put the lotion on sometimes.
When giving your toddler kisses and hugs goodnight, remind them to give the baby hugs and kisses goodnight too. 🙂
Doing these two things will help your little one see that there really is something going on in your tummy, that needs to be taken care of and how to have a gentle touch.
Read Children’s Stories
Find stories that include the characters expecting a baby brother or sister. This makes it fun for your toddler to see someone else just like them having a new baby sibling. It is going to be harder to read to your toddler when your new baby arrives. A baby in one arm, a book in another, and your toddler beside you can be a little tricky sometimes. So, enjoy the time spent reading with your toddler before your new little one arrives.
Lyla’s favorite book to read about an expected baby is, “Arthur’s Baby ” by Author, Mark Brown.
Let Them Pick Out Baby Clothes
You may already have clothes for your new baby but it is always nice to pick out one or two outfits that you just love and will be unique to your new little one. Let your toddler pick out or help you decide between certain clothes that you want to get. Show them how little their clothes are compared to them. They love seeing how little the clothes are and start saying how cute a certain outfit is. Something that they might like is to pick a matching outfit,or shoes too. This is another thing that they can look forward to.
Help Decorate
Let them help decorate and by putting everything in its place for the baby. Simple things like having them hold the baby sheets and blankets, while you are making the crib is a great way to include them. Even if you don’t have a designated room for just the baby, you can have them help set up the area that the baby will be sleeping. Letting them be a part of the nesting phase with you.
Registry
It’s always fun to set up a registry. Your toddler may think it is like buying and picking out everything in the store. Talk to them and show them what items you need and why you need them. It’s fun going down the the aisles and picking out all your favorite items .If you end up doing an online registry, it applies the same. Pick out both of your favorite outfits and make it a bonding process for both of you.
One of My Toddlers Reactions To Our New Little Guy
The first morning after Blake was born, Lyla came into our room crying after she woke up. To this day, I don’t know why she was even crying but the instant she saw Blake, she stopped, looked at him ,and squealed , “BABY!” with the biggest smile on her face. She still had the tears on her face but she didn’t even remember what had made her cry in the first place.
Let me know in the comments below how you introduced your toddler to your baby and what their reaction was after they saw him/her. I hope these suggestions help with the new transition of another precious little one into your home. Let me know what other fun ways you helped your toddler get ready for your new baby.
Want to Pin this for later? Click the save button on the pictures below.
- 1.4KShares
