While Kyle isn’t great at socializing with kids his own age, he does love playing with older kids. He also adores babies; and mostly, he’s very gentle with them. This is a good thing, since we’re expecting our second child in two months. From the moment we found out I was pregnant, we told our son Kyle about it. At the time, he wasn’t talking much, so we weren’t worried about him spilling the beans.
More recently, we have stepped up our discussions of the impending birth of our second child and read to him daily one of our “I’m a big brother now” books. Kyle will tell you that his baby brother is in “mommy’s tummy” and occasionally, he gives his future brother “gifts” under my shirt including his beloved pacifiers. When I tell him that his brother is kicking he responds by kicking my tummy in retaliation. Clearly, he doesn’t yet understand what that means, but it’s completely hilarious to watch.
When we talk about being a big brother, Kyle gets excited about all of the things that he will get to teach him, including: hopping, touch-down, kicking, home-run, ABC’s, puzzles and hockey. However, when we talk about helping mommy and dada push the stroller, Kyle immediately responds with a “no baby, Kyle’s stroller” and gets in his stroller even if we’re not going anywhere. Same goes for his chairs and even though we haven’t gone there yet, I’m sure it will be the same reaction regarding his toys!
I know that issues with sharing is a phase, but I wonder if there’s anything we can do now, before the baby is here to help alleviate some of the stress that Kyle might have with sharing his things and his time with us with his new baby brother.
What advice can you give us to talk to Kyle about now or do now? What was some of the best advice you received when preparing for the birth of your second (or third) child?
Mayahood 