When to tell a toddler? Funny toddler ideas about babies!

[UllaBulla]

Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas about a good time to talk to toddlers about the new baby? Should I wait until I start to show so there is some proof?
Of course my 2.5 overhears us talking about "a baby"
he said "you have a baby in your tummy pappa?"
Then he got a little sparkle in his eye and said "where's the baby?"
So, besides a male having a baby, he understands the basic concept of babies growing in tummies.

It is interesting to see what they come up with on their own.
Before I was pg my son said "don't squish that baby!" when I had my arms over my belly. Then he lifted my shirt and said "open your tummy, I want to see the baby!"
Maybe he knew it was coming! (or I was just bloated....)

[amymaew]

When I told Keith I was pregnant with Henry he was 3. He had this little playmobil toy baby that he carried around everywhere and called baby Jesus, and the first thing he said was "YOU SWALLOWED BABY JESUS!!!!!" and started crying hysterically. It took a little bit of convincing that baby Jesus was not in my tummy lol. This time he's 5, and he just rolled his eyes at me and sighed and said "again??".

[BakerALM]

I just told my DD who is 21 mts, it was soo cute. She went digging under my shirt looking for the baby, then I told her again it was inside mommy really really small right now. But mommy will get bigger when the baby gets bigger, I will have a huge tummy right before the baby comes a long time from now. Then she told me she wanted the baby here right now, so she could cuddle it. Then she got up and ran to find some baby clothes from her toy bin, a hat and a small onzie. She told me she was going to dress the baby in those clothes and cuddle it.

She told my mom that I had a baby in my belly but my mom did not catch on. My DD does not say much but basically signs and gestures very complicated stories. Luckily my mom thought my DD was talking about our friend Kim who just had a baby and we were over the house that day.

[Rivka5]

I'm not planning to tell my 2.5-year-old until I'm at least halfway through the pregnancy. It's hard enough getting her to understand about waiting until the weekend for something, much less waiting eight months.

And if, God forbid, the worst happens, I definitely wouldn't want to have to explain a miscarriage to her.

[geo_girl]

Our DD is going to be 24 months when DC#2 arrives...I don't think that she will understand until much closer to the due date.
charlene

[fridgeart]

E is 28 mos and will just turn 3 before this one is due. I probably won't tell her til I'm really big/she asks, or about a month or so before. She is already crazy for babies, and I think waiting patiently for 9 months is waaaay beyond her.

[LAMommy]

Originally Posted by geo_girl

Our DD is going to be 24 months when DC#2 arrives...I don't think that she will understand until much closer to the due date.
charlene

Same here. DS will be 23 months in Aug. 2008 (his bday is Sept. 30th). I'm just going to have to be careful with him jumping on my belly like he loves to do!

[jumpincholla]

We told my dd, 30 months, and she is really excited. She keeps saying "you have a baby in your belly?" and "it's going to get bigger and bigger and bigger!" She feeds me o's and tells me they are for the baby. I've explained it's going to be a really long time until the baby is here and that my belly is going to get really big.

[moonstruck]

: my dd is 18 mos I don't know WHEN or how we'll tell her, but not for a long while yet!

[moonstruck]

Originally Posted by amymaew

When I told Keith I was pregnant with Henry he was 3. He had this little playmobil toy baby that he carried around everywhere and called baby Jesus, and the first thing he said was "YOU SWALLOWED BABY JESUS!!!!!" and started crying hysterically. It took a little bit of convincing that baby Jesus was not in my tummy lol. This time he's 5, and he just rolled his eyes at me and sighed and said "again??".

[hookahgirl]

I told my DD, who is 2.5.
she said "So, I am the big sister"
Guess she is right LOL

[my3monkees]

Not in you DDC! I only wish!

But ran accross this thread, brought back memories! When I was preg. with #3, my middle ds was 3. He wanted me to eat toys so the baby would have something to play with!

[TayTaysMama]

My DD is 16 months so I am pretty sure isn't going to get it!

She will be just turning 2 when the baby is born and I am sure will understand a bit more.

She loves her baby dolls like crazy so I hope she can handle having a real baby in the house!