Preparing Siblings – Suggested Readings

It's fun to do some special welcome baby activities to help your children understand what is happening and get excited about the new little one arrive. Here is a post with some crafty ideas, and here are some books we liked to help big siblings prepare for the new baby's arrival:

- Our favorite for younger "big" siblings, a board book called My New Baby (New Baby Series). It has no text, just images but it's perfect for kids to narrate and describe what they think/feel/imagine about the situation. This one, unlike some others, starts with the baby at home already so it can be used for any birth situation - hospital, birth center, homebirth. It includes baby wearing, Dad making dinner while Mom nurses, and bath and diaper time, etc. One of my favorites.

- Baby on the Way by Sears addresses pregnancy and birth and is really, really well done. Worth owning, I like the illustrations and tips for parents and story that's fun to read (less like an information book, more like a bedtime story.)

- What Baby Needs (Sears Children Library)
by the Sears, which is wonderful and one I would absolutely suggest buying as a new big brother/sister gift. It can be adapted for various ages and has some really helpful tips for parents on how to ease the adjustment for older siblings. It's also a sweet storybook to read to the kids as you prepare for and adapt to life with the new baby. Very well done.

- From the birth center, one they give to big siblings, Angel in the Waters

- The New Baby by Mercer Mayer is one of our kids' favorites and I like that it has a very positive tone. So many sibling books are about the noise or mess or lack of attention with a new baby in the house. This one has a much more positive spin and views a new baby as a GOOD thing! 🙂

- I've also not read this but heard it referenced numerous times, Welcome With Love

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