Anyone have good book recommendations to help prepare older sibs? A little background:
My ds is 4-1/2. He likes babies, and he talks about wanting a baby in the hypothetical. To actually HAVE a baby in the home is going to be quite a shock for him. He is very spirited, sensitive, and perfectionistic. I'm glad that we waited until he was older to have a 2nd, so that he could have a better understanding of what it's all about.
We spent a few hours babysitting a friend's 9-month old the other day. This was the first time he's actually been around a baby for a semi-extended time, when there wasn't someone else tending to the babe's needs. He did great, overall! And I tried to really compliment the nice things he was doing, flatter him that the baby was fascinated with him, talk about the things that he could do as a big kid that Baby couldn't do yet, etc. But anytime I had to correct - like, "Be careful. Baby's not as strong as you. Be gentle." or "Baby had that toy first and would really like to play too. Let's find another cool toy for you until Baby is done." - he would do his really sensitive, pouty, hurt feelings thing. I know it's normal, and I know there's an adjustment period; I just want to make it as easy as possible on him (and ME!). He also wet his pants during the few hours that we were there, and was totally crabby exhausted the rest of the day, which indicated to me that it was pretty emotionally draining on him.
Soooo...once we tell him the news, I hoped to have some good books to read together to help him prepare for the changes to come.
My ds is 4-1/2. He likes babies, and he talks about wanting a baby in the hypothetical. To actually HAVE a baby in the home is going to be quite a shock for him. He is very spirited, sensitive, and perfectionistic. I'm glad that we waited until he was older to have a 2nd, so that he could have a better understanding of what it's all about.
We spent a few hours babysitting a friend's 9-month old the other day. This was the first time he's actually been around a baby for a semi-extended time, when there wasn't someone else tending to the babe's needs. He did great, overall! And I tried to really compliment the nice things he was doing, flatter him that the baby was fascinated with him, talk about the things that he could do as a big kid that Baby couldn't do yet, etc. But anytime I had to correct - like, "Be careful. Baby's not as strong as you. Be gentle." or "Baby had that toy first and would really like to play too. Let's find another cool toy for you until Baby is done." - he would do his really sensitive, pouty, hurt feelings thing. I know it's normal, and I know there's an adjustment period; I just want to make it as easy as possible on him (and ME!). He also wet his pants during the few hours that we were there, and was totally crabby exhausted the rest of the day, which indicated to me that it was pretty emotionally draining on him.
Soooo...once we tell him the news, I hoped to have some good books to read together to help him prepare for the changes to come.
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