Explaining new baby to toddler

[Discopanda]

My DD is 2 years 8 months and number two is due at the start of April. I took her to my 12 week scan but obviously she was too young to understand what was going on, her preschool say they have a couple of story books about having a new baby in the family we can borrow. Does anyone have any ideas of how to explain to a toddler that there's going to be a new baby in the house?

I'm in a similar position to you - have a 2.2 yr old son and baby due in Feb. We haven't told him yet as was advised to wait until 1 or 2 months before due date; otherwise it's such a long time for a young child to see the result of what you're talking about.
He hasn't noticed my growing stomach yet! I've bought a couple of new baby/big brother books in readiness, and was told to emphasise all the things that he'd be able to help out with and what he could do that the baby couldn't as he's a big boy, to try and avoid jealousy issues.
I might buy a doll so he can practice being gentle with it, but still not sure about that one...might be confusing to him if I'm equating it with a baby?

We have a 2.4 year old and we've been talking about it from the start. He is, slowly, starting to get the idea, he talks about the baby in mummy's tummy and asks when it will come out and if it will play with him. It's very cute! We have a couple of good books, Waiting for Baby and My New Baby (both by the same author) and they've certainly helped.

My DCs are 21 months apart. My advice is not to worry too much about this. I was worried I might be ruining DD's life by having another baby, but 3 years on they are thick as thieves. We bought DD a present 'from' DS when we brought him home, then worked on fostering a bond between them - saying stuff to DD like 'your little brother is laughing at you!' worked well. She also had a ' I am a big sister' t shirt :) Good luck with the pregnancy!

Am in the same position here. Have got DS The Pirate Pete becomes a big brother book and the There's a House Inside my Mummy which he both loves. I've also been getting him involved in setting up the baby's room etc so he gets used to having baby stuff around.

I think he is getting it slowly. He did ask to put sudacreme on my belly last night cos 'baby needs it on his willy' !

I didn't really do or say anything. I talked about a baby growing in my tummy towards the end of the pregnancy and told him the baby was nearly ready to come out.

I made sure I held other people's babies when I could when I was with him. I focused more on making sure he was happy to play on his own a bit and be a bit more independent while I was busy in the house or talking to friends.

Ds will be 3 3/4 when baby arrives. We've not actually told him I'm pregnant, he's just figured it out for himself! Obviously he listens more than I thought!

He seems ok with it. We're making sure we talk about it a lot. He's also in the wanting to be a big boy phase, so timing wise hopefully it'll work out ok.

When we know what gender it us, we'll buy a book about it. He's stated a preference for a brother so I'm aware we may need to tread carefully there.

So, in the meantime he just keeps flicking through the Argos catalogue toy section looking at all the babies!

My DD was just over 3yo when DS was born two months ago and was very interested in the pregnancy. She knew the baby was in my belly, that we had to wait for him to grow enough to come out, that I'd have to go to hospital for the birth but she could visit, that babies need a lot of love but can be hard work because they cry, etc. We talked about all this very often as this approach helps her deal with her feelings. She spent my third trimester saying that she couldn't carry anything because she was pregnant, holding onto her lower back because it hurt from the extra weight and managed to blag an ultrasound scan from the doctor. She's been great since DS arrived, very loving and very helpful with him.

Ds is just 3, doesnt speak much (bilingual) but undersrands everything. If you ask where the baby is he'll pat my tummy. We just got some story books from the library. DS' fav is spots little sister.

Thank you for all your suggestions :-) feeling much less worried now

Talking about them working it out - we told DP's sister over the phone as soon as we found out as they are close but asked her not to tell her DCs until 12 weeks as at 7, 5 and 3 we didn't want to have to explain if things went wrong etc. No such luck though as the eldest was in the same room as DP's sister when she took the call and despite the pretty heavy code we used she cottoned on immediately and announced to the entire house (which included both other kids, some friends and some of their kids) "SHE'S TALKING ABOUT A BABY. AUNTY [PURPLEBIRO] IS HAVING A BABY". Sigh.