Yes, ds has a shelf that he keeps stuff on that dd is only allowed to touch with permission. I read somewhere that the trouble with a sibling is that either everything belongs to them, or nothing does!

Haven't read the thread but a couple of thoughts:

Another vote for the books TAFKA linked to. DD had them - 27 months between her and DS.

She has adored him since the minute she saw him. I don't know if it helped but while I was pregnant we made a big thing of how wonderful it would be to have a baby brother and how we would all love him very much.

She is getting a bit fed up with him now that at 8 months he's crawling and destroying her lego town/train track/mega blocks village, but we're working on having things on the table or in her bedroom that she wants to keep to herself and sharing the rest.

Tafka, ENOUGH!
I am already feeling broody

That is so sweet.

Look - this is ds talking to dd on the mw's telephone! <<wells up>>

Oh tafka that reminded me! DD came to my ante-natal appointments and we made a fuss about her hearing the baby's heartbeat when they did the doppler thing.

Afterwards she announced that the baby said "beep beep"

<gone all soppy now>

Just over 2y between my dc1 and dc2, just under 4y between my dc2 and dc3. 2y age gap much easier to manage than 4y gap. No jealousy first time around, as 2yo still almost a baby: still napping, still in nappies, uncomplicated needs, cuddles soothe almost everytging. 4y gap means older siblings have far more complex needs, baby is constantly sidelined becuase you hve to rush to school etc, do active things to entertain, have fiddly toys, etc.

One majorly helpful thing I did with dc1 during my pregnancy with dc2, was to get him used to holding the book and sitting next to me while I read to him, rather than sitting in my lap as he had been doing. This meant htat when the baby was born we didn't need to change anything. Feeding time became cuddle time and reading time for him.

Ds1 and dd played together very well until the last year or so, when ds2 finally was old enough to become a satisfactory playmate for ds1. Now dd can sometimes be left out a bit.

Great, thanks everybody, some really good advice here.

I will be digging out the motorised swing for this one as it was a godsend for DD, we do have a vibratibng bouncy chair too which I used to keep upstairs.

I like those books, thanks Tafka, will order them.

Thank you everybody

Oh, and yes, yes, yes to a present for dd. We got ds a ITNG playset from dd, and also bought a little toy for ds to give to her. It turned out to be a small, fluffy, pink bunny, which - for some reason - ds called Dave.

Something else which was great - we had a home birth and the midwives let ds listen to the heartbeat with the Doppler. When I was in labour he picked up the unit and said, "Hallo Baba!!" Was very cute!

I cannot recommend these books enough (My New Baby and Waiting For Baby), ds was just the right age for them - they don't have any words in, just pictures, and really helped ds get used to the idea that there was a baby in mummy's tummy.

sorry cant speak as a parent but there are 22 mnths between me and my brother.

Weve grown uo being incredibly close, love each others company and look forward to the parents buggering of on holiday for the week and leaving us to it so we can doss about watching crappy tv.

even now at 21 & 19 we wind each other up no end and argue loads BUT we always make up and he is genuinly one of my best friends

i think the small age gap between us contributes to that definately

Oh, yes to bouncy chair or similar. In the early months, the only person who could get DS2 to smile was DS1. He would sit and watch him for hours!
Mine are now 5.7 and 3.7 years and sometimes DH and I moan at how they gang up on us, they are a little team.