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How do you make your DC1 feel as special as your newborn? Share with Fairy Non Bio for chance to win £300 voucher NOW CLOSED

236 replies

JustineBMumsnet · 16/05/2017 11:13

Fairy Non Bio is sponsoring the Mumsnet Talk App, and in light of this, they’d like you to talk about your experience of making your DC1 feel special after you bring your newborn home.

Bringing a new baby into the world is always special but, when it’s your second bundle-of-joy, it’s possible that your DC1 will feel left out. Fairy Non Bio would like to hear about the ways that you’ve ensured your child continues to feel special following the arrival of their little brother or sister. Maybe you set aside a weekly block of one-on-one time with them? Perhaps you let them have some responsibility when looking after the baby, so they can feel like they’re involved? If there’s anything you do to make sure your DC1 knows they’re just as special to you as your newborn, share with Fairy Non Bio below.

If you avidly check out Mumsnet's talk boards, you should download the app for yourself. It's free, and allows you to be part of the conversation wherever you are!

All who post on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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How do you make your DC1 feel as special as your newborn? Share with Fairy Non Bio for chance to win £300 voucher NOW CLOSED
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jamielmdjs · 04/06/2017 15:01

making sure they know they are even MORE important now because they have a role to play as a big brother or sister. Getting them involved in helping is a big step and rewarding when they do.

lilrahi · 04/06/2017 15:31

When DC1 went to meet the newborn, we made sure DC2 had a special gift for her new older brother. He loved it and from that time he was always close to her.

baconbap · 04/06/2017 15:36

Making sure there is still one-to-one time

meggysar · 04/06/2017 16:03

Get them involved with preparing for the new arrival and with looking after them when they arrive stressing their new older sibling role.

katieskatie82 · 04/06/2017 18:06

i bought my eldest a big brother present from my little girl! xxx

user1472646069 · 04/06/2017 20:25

When our second was born I felt I had to give as much attention as possible to our 19 month old. This was difficult as I was ill for the first month and second daughter was very difficult to feed which took up a lot of time. I always talked to our first daughter while holding the second. Constant conversation with the older one seemed to work.

nerysw · 04/06/2017 20:48

When my son was born my daughter was two and we gave her a baby doll as a gift from her new brother. She was very good and coped well with the new addition. I did separate bed times and read to her every night so she had her own time.

marymanc · 04/06/2017 21:45

I remember I made sure I gave my daughter plenty of praises and lots of little presents. She also liked joining in the cleaning and activities with the new baby.

lexy2009 · 04/06/2017 23:18

Get a small present from the new baby and make sure you have time with dc1 alone too.

spanglisher · 05/06/2017 01:35

We got DS1 to choose a middle name for DS2 to make him feel important and grown up and a part of his life. He was really looking forward to having a baby brother which may have made it easier

PussCatTheGoldfish · 05/06/2017 07:32

DD1 hardly noticed DD2 tbh, but she was only 17 months old. All the visitors came to 'play with' DD1 so she had a whale of a time, and a lot of the fuss was for her. DD2 was in the sling a lot so I could play with the eldest, and of course the baby brought a present. It was a happyland plane which DD1 promptly made fly and broke (replacement was purchased).

I did a lot of talking about babies, and showed her how to be gentle with other babies before DD2s arrival. She was a star. These days they fight and get up to mischief in equal measure! (6&7)

VickyRsuperstar · 05/06/2017 08:11

I have got several children, but each time I've had a baby, I've involved all the children in some of the preparations like getting things ready and talked to them about the new baby. With the youngest who is least likely to understand and most likely to feel some issues, once I have had the baby, my husband usually brings the youngest into the hospital where I make sure I am not holding the baby when they arrive and I give my no-longer the youngest a huge cuddle and make a big fuss of them before several minutes later introducing them to the baby who is in the hospital cot. I tell them what an amazing big brother or sister they are and how they have a really important job with looking after their brother or sister and I make them feel really special. I also have a small gift in the baby's cot which "the baby gives them!" to help - so far I have had very little issues and no problems with jealousy between siblings.

jazzitup · 05/06/2017 09:57

I only have the one daughter but would still like to win, good luck to everyone and thanks for the chance to win.

Katylyn · 05/06/2017 10:21

When my DS2 was born we involved DS1 as much as possible. We let him cuddle him and help choose his outfits etc. We encouraged him to chat to his little brother and tell him about his day.
When DS2 was asleep we would spend time playing with DS1 and made sure we didn't talk about 'the baby' to him at this time, unless of course he wanted to.

nonnyno · 05/06/2017 10:32

I tried to include them in anything to do with the baby - feeding, bathing etc, and always gave them a present from the baby at birthdays and Christmas.

upthehammers · 05/06/2017 12:20

when i had my daughter my son was only 17mths old, i bought him a teddy with 'best big brother' on it from her and fully included him in everything i could with her...from helping with nappies and bottles, to keeping her 'entertained'
whenever she was asleep that was our time to cuddle up or do things together.

Theimpossiblegirl · 05/06/2017 13:22

Dd1 was our helper, passing wipes, helping to feed, singing to her sister etc. Her baby sister adored her so we made sure she knew she was important to her as well as us.
We also made sure she had special time too.

maria08k · 05/06/2017 13:56

We have let Ronan know what an incredible job he is doing at being a big brother. Lots and lots of praise. Tons of positivity!

GeorgeW78 · 05/06/2017 15:40

Letting them pick the baby's first outfit of the day helps! Special one-on-one time is the best though.

pipersky · 05/06/2017 16:58

Allowing older children to be as involved as possible but also remembering that they're used to one-on-one time. I always tried to do something my oldest liked while the newborn was sleeping, even if only for a few minutes. Children value time more than anything else

fazkin · 05/06/2017 18:09

Its difficult to think about both all the time as newborn no doubt takes over for a while. I eased the baby in by making sure there was a gift for my first born every time newborn baby got a new gift in the beginning. Once the love for the baby becomes apparent in my first born then I was bit less conscious about it all.

molly57 · 05/06/2017 18:28

Spend time with the older one when the younger one is asleep

piggypoo · 05/06/2017 19:31

When I was pregnant, we spoke to DD, 5, about the upcoming arrival, and explained and reassured her that she was still very important and we'd need her help when baby arrived, we said she'd be the best big sister, and got her to help pick out clothes for new DD, and said that she'd be on "cuddle - duty", so that she'd bond with new DD, she was a bit jealous at first, but was surprisingly mature, and now adores her little sister.

flozza42 · 05/06/2017 20:37

I made sure my then 7 year old son was involved in every thing involving the baby so by the time she arrived he was very excited and wanting to help with her making him involved meant that he wasn't jealous at all but very protective over his sister

Teabay · 05/06/2017 20:41

I made sure that there were a couple of places around the home that the elder DC (just 4) could use to help me with the newborn. So - the bottom drawer in the kitchen was full of plastic crockery so that they could lay the table - get a bottle ready (obvs not used as not sterilised, but they didn't know!) The bathroom had a basket with an extra pack of wipes, nappy etc that they could fetch to help, and the bedroom had a similar basket under the cot so that they could fetch an 'outfit' ( clean babygrow).
The eldest felt involved WHEN they wanted to be. The rest of the time I made sure there was a little time when we could do big girl stuff without the baby!