Books to Prepare Siblings??

[Xiaguan]

Does anyone have any books to recommend for older siblings both for the birth & the new baby~ I am esp. worried about my 5yo who is very concerned about not being the baby anymore :crying which just breaks my heart but I really want to help her best I can~

Thanks!
Melissa

[*andiflipping*]

:notes2:

[danav]

We have two beautiful books that my DD loves - I got them for her when I was pg with DS1 when she was almost 2, and she has been reading them again during this last pregnancy. They have gorgeous realistic illustrations of newborns - the first book is about the birth of a family's first baby (told from the mom's perpective), and the second book is about the first child's reaction to her new baby brother (told by the dad's perspective).

"Happy Birthday" and "Hi New Baby" by Robie H. Harris (illustrated by Michael Emberley)

[ent_mom]

We've been reading these books from the library:

"Welcome With Love" by Jenni Overend (homebirth story)
"Baby on the Way" (Sears Children Library)
"What Baby Needs" (Sears Children Library)

:hug I worry too about my "baby" not being the baby anymore.

[Kam]

Overend's Welcome with Love is fantastic! Our favorite, by far.

[sciencemama]

We have The New Baby at Your House... it has lots of realistic photos of families with newborns and older babies. It addresses sibling rivalry and the spectrum of feelings that the older siblings experience. I edit it a bit for dd (age 2.5) but I would think for an older child it would be a good choice.

And here's one that's NOT realistic-- dd is obsessed with the Bernstain Bears books- she gets about 3 every time we go to the library. Well, in their "new baby" book the older brother and papa leave in the morning to make brother a new bed... he's outgrown his old one. By the time they get home, it turns out Mama has given birth, cleaned up, AND rearranged the furniture to move the old bed into the baby's room! :lol

[grace's voice]

Wow, Mama Bear is a trooper! They have another one out now where she has a 3rd baby, baby Honey. My dd likes that one a lot.

I also agree that Welcome With Love is one of the best books. I bought it for dd long before I considered a 2nd child just because the book was so beautiful... and because dd is a HB baby and all most other books show births that are very different from how her own birth was.

We recently read Julius, Baby of the World! I can't remember the author, I ordered it from the Library. Its about a little girl who really doesn't like the idea of a new baby, she has a hard time with all the attention he gets and eventually come to love and accept him. Dd and I enjoyed it. I don't recall anything too mainstream about it that I had to explain to her.

[Tine]

Overend's Welcome with Love is fantastic! Our favorite, by far.

Ditto. Our copy arrived last week, and ever since I read it to DS (2.5 yrs. old) the first time, it's the only book he's wanted to read for every storytime.

Another nice book that no one's mentioned is When I'm a Big Brother or When I'm a Big Sister by Bruce Lansky. It's kinda nifty because you can put a photo of your DC in it and fill in the blanks w/ details about your own situation to personalize the story. DS digs this book, too.

[amybw]

thanks for the ideas!
:thumb