Experience of a 2 y/o with new baby

Trotter

Hi all. My better half gave birth to a healthy baby boy last week and he's settling in at home. Our 2 year old girl is finding it difficult though. We've done all the should do's like involving her, the present fom the newbie etc.

When he cries it sounds very shrill and urgent and she has started getting upset by it. I keep telling her its his little way of talking but she's still upset by it. She's well able to talk so we know she's a little out of sorts.

Has anyone any similar experience? How long did the adjustment take and are there any particular tips? Thanks!

Moonbeam

I have 2 years between each of mine #1 did not bat an eye lid when #2 came but #2 told me to give #3 back on various occasions and asked visitors to take im home,then it was take him but bring him back now she is very protective.
She loves being included and not left out,when I am changing him she puts the powder on and we reassured her that she was still mammies baby but he was mammies little baby and she loves telling everyone that she is a big girl.
I did not last very long nursing him though as it was not fair on her when he wanted to be fed 24x7.
I think making her feel important is the key to it.

The Princess Bride

There is exactly 2 years between my first 2 and the only issue I ever had, was when the oldest thought her sister was hungry and gave her a piece of rasher to eat at 4 months!

I guess I'd say to be wary when visitors come around,as they're probably gonna be all goo-goo ga -ga with your son,and might forget your daughter.

Keep her occupied, and make sure you each make the time to do special things with her when he's asleep.
These few months will fly by,and he'll need less attention, she'll enjoy him more when he starts to interact with her.

thomasm

We tried to include our eldest(2 years) in everything with the new baby. Feeding, changing, playing etc. that definetly helped.

Also a big help was the baby bought a fairly decent present for his big brother because he was so happy to have a big brother. This was kinda crucial to be honest so do this our you could be fecked

ronjo

thomasm wrote: »

We tried to include our eldest(2 years) in everything with the new baby. Feeding, changing, playing etc. that definetly helped.

Also a big help was the baby bought a fairly decent present for his big brother because he was so happy to have a big brother. This was kinda crucial to be honest so do this our you could be fecked

We did this too and our 2.5 year old told everyone who brought her the presents.
We also include her in everything and she worships her little sister.

Oh and as edit, she was scared of the crying for maybe two weeks but soon got over it

nesf

msthe80s wrote: »

I guess I'd say to be wary when visitors come around,as they're probably gonna be all goo-goo ga -ga with your son,and might forget your daughter.

We got around this by having the 3 year old do a lot of the talking. "Oh, she's trying to walk now but can't because she's a baby" and similar. Doesn't matter if it's true or not and visitors usually find it cute to see the older kid try to be all wise and worldly about babies. :P


Other than that, our boy ignored his sister for the most part and just went on with doing his own thing mostly. He was spending part of the day in pre-school though so he was getting a break from the crying and such.


One pro-tip: Babies do not, contrary to popular belief, need perfect silence to sleep. They'll actually sleep quite happily with music of almost any kind being played in their room. If, on the other hand, you get your baby used to perfect silence they will expect it and wake to the slightest sound. I say this because a) getting a child used to sleeping in a reasonably noisy environment is useful and b) it stops your two year old getting a bit loud and waking the baby. The latter can be very restricting on a two year old who doesn't have the kind of forethought and self control yet to be quiet while baby sleeps.

Supercell

Would it be ok to put a two year old in the same bedroom as the new baba after a couple of months or would they find that too disturbing do you think? We are considering doing that for the next one and baba 1 will be around two years old by then if things go to plan.

How Strange

Ours will be sharing a room when our son is 2.5yrs and our daughter 5/6 months. We live in a 2 bed apartment so we've no choice. I've been told that the siblings usually love sharing and the older one gets used to the younger one crying etc during the night and sleeps through it. I really hope that's true :S

Moonbeam

I could not deal with my baby and 2 year old sharing a room but that is because she is a scallywag and he wakes at 6:30.
My 2 and 4 year old share now since the new baby came along,it is a bit hard on the 4 year old when the 2 year old will not let her sleep but otherwise they love it.
It depends on the children.