Youngest sibling you've had attend?

[AFWife]

My son will be 21months when this baby comes and we want to have a HB...

I'm looking for experiences, advice, anything...

[purplepaisleymama]

With our second child our oldest was 19 months old and he was held by my mother for the birth. Our third child's birth the second was 20 months old and she was enthralled, held by our neighbor.... our oldest elected to watch a movie instead For our fourth child's birth the others were all at home but not at the birth, they were in the room within 2 minutes of his birth and watch the movie of it all of the time.... Our fifth child was born with all of the older siblings watching, the 6yo DD was taking pictures, the youngest was 3, and he doesn't really remember the birth at all. With this one we will most likely have the kids there, the youngest is going to be 5 at the time of the birth.
I would say as long as you have someone to watch and take care of the little one you should be fine, they can always take them out if it seems best. With our third child it was actually wonderful to have the next oldest there, she was nursing still and it helped with the contractions!

Happy birthing!

[Little Shepherds]

2 years, but when our newest bub is born our youngest will be 19 months. She is more then welcome to be at the birth as long as she is not sleepy or scared, then she will be playing in the play room or sleeping.

[darkblue0729]

We are planning a HBAC for this babe due late summer/early fall and my eldest will be 3 and my youngest will be 22 months or so, we plan to have them there, though they don't have to watch their sibling being born if they would truly rather not. Right now, though both our DDs are pretty jazzed about being there

[mbhf]

My oldest was just over a week shy of 22 months when my second was born. He was sitting right on the bed with me when his brother was born.

[triscuitsmom]

Toad wasn't present at Frogs birth because it was a transfer into the hospital

This time we are preparing for another homebirth and Toad will have just turned 4 and Frog will be 19 months and they are both welcome to be there if they want to be.

[MsBlack]

DD 1 was 14mos when DD 2 was born. We had a special person, an adult who was in charge of DD1. She slept through most of labor, woke just in time for the birth and watched in wonder, held by her Special Person. But when DD2 began to cry, so did DD1, quite loudly/frantically--she was taken outside for just a minute, where she actually managed to collect herself so she could come back in. Went back to totally enthralled, touching her sister gently, saying 'baby! baby!'.

[caedmyn]

My DD was not quite 3 when her brother was born. We didn't have anyone extra there for her (just me, DH, midwife, DD) and she was fine, but I figured she would be. I have the cutest picture of right after the birth...me and DS in the birth tub and behind us is DD with a big grin on her face!

DS will be 23 months when this one is born and I will DEFINITELY be having someone there for him. He's high needs, intense, extremely active, and quite the mama's boy and I don't want DH spending all his time chasing DS around! He can be in the room if he's not screaming about something or wanting me, otherwise I'm fine with him being elsewhere for the birth.

[HeatherB]

My eldest was just shy of 30mo when our second was born, at home. My mom hung out with him during most of the birth, though it was loooong, so he also rubbed my back, helped me through ctxs, came in the room, etc. He basically did whatever he chose, with her support. She was holding him when his brother was finally born, and he watched the whole thing. He was SO excited! DS1 gave DS2 his very first kiss (the cord was short so *I* couldn't reach! ). Lots of great memories.

With our 3rd baby, it went too fast and Grandma and the boys were out! This time, my now-8-yo says he is NOT going *anywhere* while I'm in labor.

[Koalamom]

DD was 28 months and I planned to have her around, but I went into labor while we were having dinner, I put her to be and explained that we would have a baby very soon, she fell asleep and slept through the whole birth.

I am a very private person and never arranged for a sitter for her as I am fine with her being around for the birth. It was just me dh and the midwife. I felt very relaxed about it and felt no need to have anyone extra around to take care of dd.

When I have more, I plan to do it the same way, but with 2 kiddos hanging out.

Now the dogs, that is another story. My beagle wouldn't leave my side during the birth. With dd's birth, my wolf kept howling every time I moaned.

[thenaturefreak]

Originally Posted by AFWife

My son will be 21months when this baby comes and we want to have a HB...

I'm looking for experiences, advice, anything...

My oldest daughter was also 21 months at my second daughter's birth. We watched birth videos together and talked about the birth, but she was not that interested. When birth time came, she was in and out of the room where I labored and more excited to just play with my mom and sisters. She did help pick labor up by nursing, but besides that she really only wanted to play and asked to go out of the room during parts of the labor and right after the birth.

At that same birth, my 10 month old nephew was totally into the birth (His mom was my doula). He pulled himself up on the edge of the birth pool and talked with me while I vocalized.

My younger daughter just turned 2 and is completely opposite. She loves to watch birth videos, read books, and talk about the baby in my belly and how it will come out. My oldest has picked up on this enthusiasm and actually loves to read the birth books now too. I have a feeling they will both be more involved in the birth this time.

I think it will just depend on where your son is at right now. He may be really interested or he may just enjoy having someone there to play with while you labor. I would definitely recommend preparing him for birth by reading and watching birth movies. And have someone who can devote all their attention to him in case he does just want to have some 1 on 1 time.