When do you tell your children you're expecting?

[Hopeitwontbebig]

Hi all,

I'm 11 weeks pregnant with baby number 3. My children are 10 and nearly 8. They didn't know that there was a possibility of another sibling, so it'll come as a huge surprise/shock to them.

I've got a nuchal scan booked for next Tuesday. I wasn't going to tell them until after.

Anyone in, or been in a similar situation and how - when - did they tell them? My eldest will be horrified, he's been doing sex education at school. Yuk.. Mum and Dad have 'done it' a 3rd time!!! LOL

How old is he?

Wishing you the very best for September? Good luck Fiofio

we told ds1 straight away when i found i was pregnant with ds2, so i was 4 weeks! just knew how excited he'd be and couldn't keep it a secret have just found out i'm expecting no 3, ds2 is only 6 months so won't be telling him! but ds1 is 6 and will prob tell him in the next couple of weeks

I din't tell my dds until I was 20 weeks. They were 5 and 6 at the time, and I couldn't face 9 months of the pregnancy equivalent of "are we nearly there yet?" This included the summer holidays so we didn't see other people who would probably have accidentally let slip earlier.

Last time, we told dc very early on and when I m/c'd they were devastated, especially my 8yr old dd.

This time, we didn't want to tell them for as long as possible but ds (12) now knows. It was quite funny really - on my birthday, my best friend got me a top and said "I know you'll be expanding but it should fit for a while!" - my ds asked straight out if I was pg and I couldn't lie. My best friend is the loveliest person I know and she is also pg so I didn't mind at all on the condition that he didn't tell little sister and he has kept loyal ever since. In fact, I'm glad he knows!

I'm 11+3 now (I think) so will be due the nuchal scan soon - dh wants to wait until we've had that before telling dd. I've been so tempted to tell her before now and can't wait!! At the same time, I'm dreading the "are we nearly there yet" bit too lol!

I think you've got to go with whatever suits you and what you're comfortable with - you know your kids better than anybody else and there's no right or wrong...

we told dd (3) at around 7 or 8 weeks because i was feeling so rubbish i could only lie on the sofa all morning and couldn't take her out places and do the stuff we normally do. if something had gone wrong i would have expected her to notice us being upset, and i would have wanted to explain to her anyway, so it wasn't any big deal to tell her that early. i think it's been really good for her to have this long to adjust actually, we've had some major behaviour changes that i'm sure are related and i've felt glad that she's getting at least some of it out of the way before there's a baby to take things out on, iyswim.

I know two people who are currently in early pregnancy, each with 5yo DDs. Both girls have known since very early weeks, mainly due to the sickness bit I think.

Think we'll probably wait until after Nuchal scan next week. Any ideas on how to do it???
Was thinking I might show them the DVD that we'll be given at the scan. Put it on and see how long it takes for them to work it out!!

Know what you mean about the 'are we nearly there yet' issue.

Don't think I could wait much longer than next week because I'm really starting to show - loads! Parents at school will start noticing and the word will surely get back to boys, wouldn't want them to find out that way.