Friday 1 February 2008

calling all mums of two (or more)

Zak hugs and kisses the "baby in mummy's tummy" like in this pic, but surely he has no idea what's going on?? Very, very cute though! Pic from Getty Images

I'm writing an article for Cosmo Pregnancy on how to prepare for baby #2 and would love to include some real-life tips and tricks (as well as steal some advice for my own preparations - only 4 more months!!). So, for anyone who's been through it, how did you prepare your first child for the fact s/he was going to be an older brother or sister? Obviously you wouldn't tell a 14-month-old the same way you'd tell a three-year-old who'd actually understand what you're talking about, so how did you do it? And did it work? Also, is there any other advice you'd like to share on how the delivery/parenting was different the second time around? How did you handle suddenly having two (or more) tiny humans vying for your attention - and no doubt a partner, family, friends...
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers
Bx

2 comments:

Katrina Chambers said...

Hi Belinda, I found your blog through Deb at Real Living. I am a mum of 3 boys (aged 5, 2 and 1). As I am writing this, they are all buzzing around me creating havoc - wait one is pulling on the blinds.....

I think the biggest thing to prepare the eldest with is to explain over and over that Mummy won't come straight home after the baby is born (obviously it is a personal choice as to what you tell them in regards to where the baby comes from - I had cesareans so that was easy!). I had been given this advice and found it useful as most children aged 3 don't have any concept of time and have in their heads that you are gone only for a couple of hrs. But as we know in most cases Mummy is gone for days and this can be very upsetting for them. Also keep the routine as normal as possible while in hospital eg. same daycare days and activities.

I also made a point of wrapping little presents for my eldest when he came to visit in hospital as everyone was always fussing over the baby and bringing presents, so it was nice for him to have some special things too.

I could probably go on for hrs! Happy to chat more if you need any more tips!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy :)

belinda graham said...

Brilliant - thanks so much Katrina. Wow, three boys - how much fun! Bx