When did you tell your DC's you were expecting another?

[McDreamy]

DD is 5 and I don't want her to be the last to know IYKWIM. I am only 5 weeks at the moment so far too early yet. Hoping to have a scan in the next few weeks - should I tell her after that? When did you tell?

I told them when I was 12 weeks, when I told eeryone else, and they started talking to my girls about it.

Afer the 20 week scan - by then they've ruled out many life threatening abnormalities & it is a reasonable length of time for the siblings to wait for the baby (40 weeks is a very long time when you're a child).

AT 15 weeks, after we'd had the results of our nuchal fold test and bloods. DS2 was very unexpected, and telling DS1(10) and DD(8) was one of the nicest times in our lives

20 weeks is a long time and I will be showing by then. Also everyone else will know and I don't want her to be the last.

Mcdreamy - as soon as we told my in laws at 12 weeks, they started speaking to my children about it - whom I hadn't told at that point - so we were forced to tell them then and there! It is a long time to wait until 40 odd weeks, but at least my girls have an explanation for why I'm so tired and slower then normal.

I would go with after your 12 week scan then if your main priority is to make sure she isn't last to know. We are expecting DC2 now - I'm only 11wks - but not going to tell DD until much later since it will be a lot for her to take in, and don't want it to drag on for too long before the baby actually arrives.

We waited till 20 weeks and DD1 was almost 6 but she really didn't notice. I wasn't very big mind you and I managed to keep my pukery to a minimum

Just made sure not very many other people knew & they were all sworn to secrecy.

I don't have any direct experience of this as I am only expecting my first, but when I was little, my mum told me she was expecting my sister when she was about 6 weeks gone.

She explained all of the risks and dangers and we followed the baby's progress the whole way through, read all the books and everything.

Even though I was only seven at the time, I think it really helped me to learn a lot about pregnancy and the fact that it can end in miscarriage before 12 weeks.

I was always interested in medical stuff as a kid though, so maybe it depends on the child.

In fact, my mum told me before she told my dad!

As you can imagine, they are now divorced ...

I just wear baggy clothes (my oldest will be 8 when this one is born, I actually didn't tell her until 28 weeks with ds. Having dealt with the emotional fallout of losing a baby (second trimester) after dd knew about her I am extremely cautious). We only tell our parents before the 20 week scan anyway (& they are under strict instructions not to say anything in front of the children) so it isn't a case of them knowing last (a lot of distant relatives won't know until the baby is born ).

I never really told DD I was pregnant as she was only 3 months old when I found out. Towards the end though she did used to poke my belly button and say 'bubba' but I don't think she really understood cos she stil calls a belly button a 'bubba' now at nearly 2 and a half

I didn't really think about telling them, they were just there when I had done the test, I walked into the bedroom and said to DP 'OMG, It's positive, I'm pregnant' and DD(7) and DS(3 -2 at the time) were there, DD started jumping around with a big grin.

However I did explain to her that being pregnant doesn't always mean getting a baby, sometimes they don't stay and we'd have to wait and see what happened so she would be prepared if anything went wrong.

I show by about 6 weeks as well so people would have guessed, plus I suffer from terrible morning sickness and she already knew we were ttc.

Borglady, DD too went through every stage with me, she came to the scans and knows exactly how birth happens, but then she is very interested in biology and science so she was probably more interested in that side of things than the actual baby at that time.
Now DS2 is 9weeks she is rather besotted though and loves talking about when I was pregnant/the day I did the test etc

LOL, your DD sounds just like me at that age, I was fascinated by the whole thing. I remember padding out my Sindy's clothes with toilet paper to make her look pregnant and then doing a hyper-realistic delivery game with Sindy stripping off and pushing the baby out!

Can't say all that early experience had prepared me, though. My pregnancy has been totally different from my mum's and I'm STILL totally terrified!

DS1 was 10 DS2 was 6.
We ( DH and I) agreed that they should be the first to know so we would not tell anyone else until we had told them. And then we agreed that we would wait until after first scan .
And then DH went upstairs , picked up DS1 covered him in kisses and said "we are all going to have another baby". The two of them bounced all over the bed and then cried a lot

Great planning that

I think they're old enough to understand what's going on, you need to tell them as soon as you tell other people.

I was coming up for 7 when my mum was pg with my youngest brother and I found out because she was chatting to a friend about it, and the friend's daughter came straight over to me and said 'I know something you don't know...' (she was a bit of a nasty child!). I told my mum in no uncertain terms that I didn't want another brother, and certainly not a sister. She was quite upset as hadn't planned it that way. She then got me a book about pg and babies and we talked about it a lot.

DS is only just coming up to 2 and I am 14 wks pg. DH and I talk about the baby in mummy's belly in front of him, and he will point and say baby, but I'm sure it's a completely abstract concept to him at this age.

That should read 'if they are old enough to understand...'

hi, i told my little boy who is 3 that we were expecting at the 12 week scan, he came with us, I would say though it has been forever for him, and he keeps asking when the baby is coming, i think if i was pregnant again i would wait until after the 20 week scan. The only saving grace is the baby is due around his birthday so that is how he is judging when the baby will come, well as much as a 3 year old can judge !!!

My friends' kids were old enough to understand when I had a miscarriage, I know they weren't siblings but the principle is the same...my friend's daughter knows that mummy lost a baby between her and her sister although she was too young to be aware at the time, and she has taken it all in very well. I think it's better to tell sooner rather than later and explain to them if anything goes wrong, otherwise you have to keep it a 'secret' which is not good for kids when they get older. I will want my kids to know I lost a baby before they were born (although I'll wait til the right age to tell them of course)

i told my 3 yrs old the day before my 12 weeks scan.....she wasnt happy about it but is now all excited , she forever wanting to buy things for the baby. (the reason why i told her then cos i didnt want anyone else to know)