I feel that there is never really a 'right time' to have babies. We try and convince ourselves that after this or that well start but realistically whats is meant to happen will happen. As much as we try, we cannot plan every aspect of our life. Ideally I would have liked to have another baby right after Georgia to keep the age gap as close as possible but it just didn't work out that way. I do feel now that Georgia being a little older will probably be easier introducing a new baby. She will be 4 when the baby is born and she is a lot more independent and she understands a lot more than we even think, probably too much lol. But at the same time you never know how they will react but I feel like preparation is key in the lead up to the baby being born.
So before the little one is here we are letting Georgia help us decorate the nursery. Help us pick little things out. Georgia loves to help. Anything I do she will always ask what she can do and if she can help. So I feel like this will keep her happy and stop her from feeling left out.
We have also been letting her pick baby clothes. As we aren't finding out the sex of the baby we haven't bought too much just yet but Georgia has enjoyed picking clothes and likes the responsibility of choosing things for her brother or sister. I think it will be nice for her and Alan to go and pick either boy or girl outfits together when the baby is born and I'm still in hospital.
I have also seen books on amazon about becoming a big sister/brother that I think will be good. Georgia loves a story so I think they will work really well. I bought "I'm a big sister" which you can get here
Once the baby is home I have heard alot of people buy the older sibling a present from the baby which also helps. If you have done this or thinking of doing this, what did you buy them??
I think before anyone comes to visit we will let Georgia have some time with the baby before being overwhelmed with lots of family being there.
Keeping her involved with the new baby daily will help with her transition with a new sibling from bathing, to changing nappies. Don't get me wrong she wont physically be doing these things lol. But helping me get things prepared for the bath, help pick clothes, get the wipes etc. Giving her big sister jobs to help her feel important. I also feel like not shutting them out when people come to visit will also stop her from feeling jealous. Let her hold the baby (supervised of course).
Keeping one to one quality time with Georgia is also important to me to keep her from feeling left out. When the baby is napping etc still making a point in spending time just the two of us. After all shes been so used to having my 100% undivided attention for the past 4 years almost.
Trying to keep to Georgia's routine as much as we can I think will also help keep things feeling as normal as possible for her.
So that is the plan! If you have any other tips for helping prepare your child for a new sibling please comment down below. I would love to hear your experiences.
What worked for you and what didn't?
G x x x
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