Being Pregnant
Telling the Kid About the Babe
Jackson is pretty in tune when it comes to the world and its happenings at (almost) three and a half years old. So when Paul and I told him that there was a baby growing in mommy’s belly and he was going to be a big brother, I’m pretty sure he got it. Granted his response was the exact opposite of enthusiastic… “oh ok… I guess.” But he understands the concept. I think…
Since I’m still early in to this pregnancy, and I have the equivalent of a food baby residing in my abdominal cavity, Jackson will pat my belly but knows that it will get bigger in time as the baby grows. “Bigger like the other mommies,” he says. (We have quite a few pregnant friends right now. It always happens that way, doesn’t it?)
Granted my son does not understand why I need to lay down 11,854,903 times a day, and I need to constantly remind him not to use my body as a trampoline, but he gets the overall concept. A baby is joining our family.
I can’t help but wonder though what it must be like for children who are younger than Jackson… Had we been able to have a baby when he was 18 months or 2 years old, what would his concept of “you’re going to be a big brother” be like?
My brother and I are four years apart and while I remember him as a baby, I don’t remember much of my mom being pregnant with him. I wonder what my parents told me when they were expecting. And I wonder what my reaction was, as a child, to learn about a new addition to our family.
How did you tell your kidlet(s) about the baby-to-be? How did they react to the news?
Go Back To Being Pregnant
3 Comments
Kitten commented on Sep 19 11 at 12:07 pmYou got a better response than I did from my own son who told me that I was lying and there was no baby in my belly. (We’ve got about the same age difference between children as the one you will have.) I do feel bad about how I went from super involved with my son to asking him a million times a day to just let me rest for a few more seconds. I don’t think he likes the change.
Courtnay commented on Sep 19 11 at 3:08 pmmy oldest was 14.5 mths when my 2nd was born. i didn’t start explaing until he was a year… but he totally got it. when he met his brother for the first time he was expecting it, and settled in no issue. we are expecting number 3 and my oldest will be 2.5 #2 will be about 15/16 mths. my oldest gets it and talks to/about the baby and we will start with my youngest when he is a year too.
kids understand WAAAYYY more then adults tend to give them credit for.
Roslynn commented on Oct 26 11 at 4:26 pmMy son just turned 12 months and I’m due in about 6 months, I have NO clue how to go about telling him. I figure when we hit the third trimester I’ll buy a baby doll and start teaching him about babies and telling him that we’ll be having a new baby soon.
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