How did your child react with new sibling?

[dogmum00]

My ds turns 2 next month and we have another boy due February, how did your child react to a younger sibling? Any tips?

22month age gap and he was way more interested in the new toy he got when my dd was born.
My ds was fine with her until she started crawling and playing with his toys which didn't go down too well..and still doesn't.

2 year gap here. DS didn't seem to mind at all. Pretty quickly I think he forgot that DD was ever not there.

3 year 1 week age gap, big brother, baby sister. Ds didn't really seem bothered when she came home from hospital, mainly ignored her, although he was very excited at the special toy she got for him (and still is) and I took him shopping for one for her before the birth.

She is now (at 7 months) his best friend, he adores her. He can be a little rough occasionally because he forgets to be gentle, or tries to pick her up if he feels I'm too slow etc. But I think it's gone brilliantly. I make sure he gets as much 1 on 1 time as possible with me, and it helps I think that she laughs hysterically at him running or jumping, he loves it.

He has recently announced his desire for a baby brother. I explained that we don't have room for another (not to mention money haha) but he says the baby can live in my tummy...

21 month age gap and it’s gone amazingly. 9 months on, eldest is still fantastic, will sing songs to the baby when he’s crying, he runs to get nappies and loves cuddling.
The baby is happy as long as his eldest brother is around.

I used some tips from big little feelings, such as occasionally asking the baby to wait while you deal with the toddler.

At the moment the baby is starting to grab the toddlers stuff so we’ve taught him to swap them for something else, though I’m dreading when that stops working!

All amazing positive comments! And all are relating to a boy being the eldest…!
2 year age gap here and my daughter had a horrendous time after bringing baby sister home. Even though we had prepared her, she didn’t understand that mummy had to be shared until the baby came home and my gosh was it a shock to her.
I think no matter how you prepare them, there is something predisposed in them as to how they will deal with it. (slightly different for older children who can be told and understand better).
Light at the end of the tunnel now though as baby is much more interesting when older and able to play :)
Best of luck and congratulations!!

Almost the exact same age gap here, and it went really well. we'd prepared DD months in advance, bought her a new book from the baby, and talked loads about how lucky the baby was to have a big sister who could teach her XYZ. What really helped though is that DH is a SAHP so he's her main parent, and of course that didn't change.

Exact same age gap here. I'm so worried about how DS will cope, he's such a sweet boy and my shadow. I can't bear to think of him sad.

No real tips but it wasn't easy for mine.

2.5 year age gap between dd and ds. We spent months before ds was born reading special books about having a 'baby brother and a baby in mummy's tummy'. We thought it would be great as she would spend ages singing to my belly.

..... Ds turns up and DD completely ignored him... For 4 whole weeks 🙄 every time we tried to encourage her to go near him she would just scream at me. Nothing worked - tried giving her presents 'from the baby', tried reading to her whilst I breastfed ds, ..... She just would not go near him or acknowledge his existence.
After 4 weeks he must of started to annoy her because then every time he cried DD would start shouting and crying 'baby is crying, make it stop!'.
To be honest she is only just now starting to tolerate him and he is 16 months. I think now he can say a few words and he will play with her for a bit she sees that he isn't quite as bad as she thought.

Big sleep regression. Baby was in a Moses basket in our room so FOMO kicked in big time and she started getting in and out (mostly out) of bed constantly. It nearly killed us, thankfully DD2 was a good sleeper, far better than DD1 had been.
Age gap was just over 2 years.

I had help which was great but also made her feel left out to be taken off for activities leaving me on the sofa "cuddling" thr baby for hours on end. While DD2 was a good sleeper she was not a good eater and I was in a relentless round of BF, pump, feed, sterilise, 15 mins off; start again. I realised too late that we had failed to explain properly that I was a) feeding the baby not cuddling her b) that babies have annoyingly tiny stomachs and need to be endlessly fed while they grow and c) CBeebies and group cuddles is sometimes just what your older child needs. (Particularly if partying half the night)

I recommend Hey Duggee if you've not had the pleasure. Meg and Mog on YouTube is also not bad if repetitive.

Penelope Leach made the best analogy - she said imagine your husband brought home another wife and told you how wonderful it was that you had another wife in the house and you would become the best of friends etc. The moral being don’t expect your child to love and accept the new sibling as much as you do! Be gentle, don’t put too much pressure on them loving the sibling (at first) and make sure their routine and parental 1-2-1 time doesn’t change too much. They’ll soon adapt and the love will grow.

Two boys, just under 2y11mo gap, and so far the older one isn't too concerned. He's a bit nervous to approach the new baby but we're less than 2 weeks in.
We tried to keep all his routine the same so he hasn't really lost anything to the baby yet. But the baby is an interesting topic of discussion.
I think a 2 year gap would have been tougher, as you get closer to 3 they can understand and you can discuss I think.

Eldest DD was 2 when we had DS1; absolutely adored him from the moment she met him in the hospital and has barely left his side since. Complained when we moved house as her new room isn’t next to his.
DD was 4 & DS1 was 2 when DS2 came along. This time, 2 doting elder siblings. Until DS2 was mobile at which point he become a fellow superhero for DS1 to dress up with and they often have superhero “battles” but are the very best of friends along with DD.
DD2 was born this year, DD is 7, DS1 is 5 and DS2 is 3. They all think she is amazing and are all very gentle with her, including DS1; much to everyone’s surprise.
No jealousy, no fighting for attention, they obviously have their moments but they’re as close as can be and fiercely protective of one another.