Tell other dc after 12 wk scan?

[Gen35]

Got my 12 wk scan today for very much looked forward to second dc, dd is 3.5. If it's all ok, would you tell dd after the scan or just too early? She may pick up on pregnancy chat and has been asking about brothers and sisters for a while but not sure if just pointlessly early to tell a toddler. Any advice welcome.

I'm 16wks and we told my 3.5yr old ds after the 12wk scan. He had already noticed my growing tummy and jumped up and down excitedly when I told him.

Now we just drip feed him little bits of info to try to prepare him, like where the baby will sleep, get milk etc. He sings to my belly for the baby which is really sweet. And he had to understand about not climbing ob mummy etc.

He'd also seen me puke quite a few time in first few months so I didn't want him to worry I'm unwell. Just explained the baby growing can make me feel a bit yucky because ny body is working hard.

Ah that's the reaction I'm hoping for! I keep saying to her 'mummy's tired, mummy's not feeling well' also everyone else will know then so seems a bit unfair

Yep told DD same age after the scan she is very sweet and has told everyone 'Mummy has a baby in her tummy'. She did ask me the next day if it had come out yet though!

Oh bless. I'm hoping it's something we can be excited about together, been looking forward to telling her.

A friend of mine had a great way of describing it to her DS - she told him that it's like when he plants seeds in grandpa's garden, that some seeds sprout and others don't, and at the moment (I think she was around 10 weeks) it's like that. The length of time between telling DC and baby actually turning up seems insanely long to them so I thought this worked really well.

I think it depends on the child. We didn't tell ours (5 & 2) until after the 20 week scan this time. Mind you, the 2 year old was actually at the scan, she just didn't understand. My older one is very sensitive and I knew that, if there were problems, she would be in pieces, so I wanted to wait as long as possible. Also, from experience with DD2, being asked every 2 days if it was time for the baby to come got wearing!

I wasn't one for announcing the pregnancy though. I didn't really tell anyone until after the 20 week scan. People like my parents knew, but knew that the children didn't. Some other people guessed, but thankfully if they guess they tend to make a subtle comment and not directly to/in front of the children. If you wanted to tell other people I think it would be a bit unfair to not tell the children as, as you say, they pick up on what others say.

Congratulations!

We spoke about the baby/pregnancy in front of DS from the very beginning, but then he wasn't quite 2 and didn't speak, we would probably have left it until the first scan if he was more aware/verbal.

I still don't think he's taken it in fully (34 weeks just now) but if we ask where the baby is he points at my stomach and says "In there" which is just lovely

Thanks both, I'll tell dd, it might also help her understand exactly how far away her next birthday and Christmas are!