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Meet Your Sibling

Preparing Your Child for the New Baby

By Jessica Williams

Last night, as I was putting my 2-year-old to bed, I noticed he had colored his bedroom walls with a red crayon. After getting Justin's attention, I made a sweeping motion near the wall with my hand and then shook my head in emphasis while saying, "no color!" He looked at me blankly. As I walked down stairs, rolling my eyes, I heard him say in a stern voice: "No color wall, mommy." Ah-Ha! He DOES understand!

Toddlers are smart creatures. Don't be fooled by the way they babble and run in the opposite direction that you just instructed them to go. They know what you are saying, and they know what's going on. They are also keenly aware of emotional issues that come up in your family.

So, if you and your partner are planning another pregnancy, or have already achieved one (congratulations!), you may want to prepare yourselves for preparing your toddler. Here's a basic primer:

For some reason, toddlers love babies. They love to stare at pictures of babies, talk about babies, carry around baby dolls, etc. If this sounds like your toddler, you might start preparing him by encouraging that curiosity. Dr. Andrea McCoy, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University and the Penn State Geisinger Health System, agrees and adds: "If your child is excited, then you can elaborate about the baby that will be coming." Preschool age children and toddlers don't have a good concept of time so they may not necessarily benefit from knowing about the pregnancy until the household preparations begin.

But when is the best time to tell your toddler the baby is growing inside of mommy? Dr. McCoy says that it definitely depends on age. "Preschool age children and toddlers don't have a good concept of time," she says, "so they may not necessarily benefit from knowing about the pregnancy until the household preparations begin."

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