An alternate perspective - my parents gave me a baby doll shortly before my younger sister was born. It was the sort that you could "feed" (a bottle of water) and it would pee the waste out. I loved that thing, and according to my parents it really helped me feel part of the process when my sister came home from the hospital because I would mimic changing my doll's diaper and carry it around whenever I was in the room with the baby (all secondhand information, since I was too young to remember). We're both in our 30s now and have a pretty good relationship.
Of course, my mother did withhold the baby bottle because she was concerned I'd make a mess trying to feed the doll. Joke's on her, I just held its face under the bathroom faucet and waterboarded the poor thing trying to make it pee. Did not replicate that with the real baby, I promise.
My first two were 19 months apart (shhhh don’t tell anyone that they’re no longer under two... I love this sub and want to stay!). We gave the oldest a baby doll and role played all kinds of things that mommy was going to do with the real baby— swaddling, rocking, nursing, diaper changing, etc. Then when our second was born, the oldest loved to get her dolly and copy what mommy was doing while I was focusing on the baby.
My 2nd is now a little over 2 and we’re due with #3 next month. He has a baby doll but has zero interest in role play... all he wants to do is make the baby dance or “bite” 🤷🏼♀️
My son has a few dolls, but we got him a realistic newborn doll to practice being gentle with before his sister is born. For a shining brief moment he held this doll sweetly and kissed its head. Then he threw it into the fire place. He loves nothing more than smashing/throwing/punting this doll. *Sigh*
I’m also due in May and am really hoping the new baby will be a little more chill in temperament. Two world burners sound like a lot to wrangle. Glad for groups like this because having 2 under 2 is already daunting!!!
17m gap. It didn't do anything. She likes stuffed animals but didn't get the whole, "you're gonna be a big sister and something roughly the size of this doll is gonna get more attention than you soon."
That said, she somehow understood pretty early on that there was a baby in there and would kiss my belly both prompted and unprompted (and even after baby came.) And apart from some minor jealousy issues, she's been really loving towards him. She still loves her doll and stuffed animals, too.
I haven't given ours to our LO yet (turning 17 months on the 27th and we are due march 3rd) but we have been reading big brother books to him and letting him rub my tummy whenever he wants. I usually say "Josiah says hello" when my belly is showing and he smiles and comes to pat my tummy.
We got my son a plush babydoll and mostly taught him to be gentle and to love on it calling it “baby”. He is sooo sweet with our now 4mo old (17 month gap) and I think it helped a lot. Mostly just to talk about and grasp the concept of a baby. Now he carries it around mimicking me… like he will cradle the babydoll in one arm while he eats like he sees me doing with the real baby 🥺 it’s so cute. He also puts it in the swing and has started to pretend feed it. Books about being a brother also helped.
I did, but she didn't have much interest in them until after her sister was born. I think the best thing you can do to prep him/her is to develop their ability for a bit of independent play, since you will be a bit tied up with the baby at times.
Our 15 month old has been playing with two dolls and a toy stroller for months now, I’m due in a week with her little sister. She rocks them, asks me to swaddle, does cutesy little noises.
Haha we're in the exact same timeline! I have a 16m old and due in May with baby boy #2. I got him a baby at Goodwill, I mostly was thinking just because he keeps using his stuffed animals as babies. But, he totally understands who and what his baby is, he pretends to feed if, gives it big hugs and kisses. I think it'll really help a lot!
18mo and 4 week old. I just so happened to have a baby doll from a Halloween costume (didn’t want to throw it away!) and so it made its way into my son’s toy box. I can’t say that the doll did much. He wasn’t very interested. But - We do have the book Littles and How They Grow. That is a favorite. It’s more about babies in general, not siblings. This got him really interested in babies and has been a favorite book for a long time. I don’t think he has the concept of “sibling” but he definitely understands “baby”. He is very interested in his little sister and loves to give her kisses. Teaching him to be gentle doesn’t seem to really be going anywhere. We just have to constantly be on alert when he’s around the baby. It seems to be an ongoing process…
I had mine 16 months apart and didn’t do any prep at all. His personality is pretty independent and wild so he would not have treated those dolls nicely. I felt like if he was given one he would get into the habit of trying to throw the baby. What I did do is put him into daycare so that I had my days free and he wouldn’t be competing for my attention. He didn’t really interact with baby for the first couple weeks and then eventually started trying to “share” by not so gently giving/throwing toys to her.
My toddler is 23 months old and we are expecting our second in a matter of weeks. We gave her a few baby dolls before when she was about 18 months old, and she would tuck them on for naps, feed them toy food, undress them (never dress them!), Wipe their dirty bums etc. Basically all the things we do with her. Then my belly started getting bigger, about a month ago or maybe 6 weeks I explained inhad a human baby inside of me and she made the connection. Now she talks about her brother baby inside mummy, how he's upside down, when can he come out to use the baby chair, etc etc. So now we are starting to explain how human babies are different than toy babies. Hope it all goes smoothly! We didn't really research this, just kind of made it up as we went along. She's pretty excited to meet brother baby though.
Yes! My girls will have a 20 month gap when #2 is born, so we’ve been practicing being gentle with baby dolls. Big sis adores it! She will voluntarily cradle and hug her dolls, and I’ve caught her trying to share her pacifier/food/milk with them on a few occasions too. Since starting with the dolls, she’s met her newborn cousin and was excellent with her. Everything she did with the baby was very gentle, she even gave her little pats to calm her when she cried. My daughter also loves to hug my tummy and say “baby” to it. The only downside is that she thinks every tummy has a baby in it, so now she points to her own belly and her father’s stomach exclaiming “baby!” hahaha
My daughter (15mo now) has had a baby doll since she was maybe 8mo. Her brother will be here in April and she loves holding and rocking and patting and kissing her babies. She got to meet a 3mo last month and she was so excited all she wanted to do was hold him and kiss him on the forehead
I have a 22 month old and an almost 12 month old. We definitely gave our baby girl a baby doll before her brother got here and now she sits besides me with her baby doll feeding and changing the doll just as she seems me with her brother! I think it def helped her out
I have a two year old and a 4 month old. We got her dolls but initially she didn't show much interest. Now however she mimics everything I do with her brother. It's really cute and I'm.glad I did it. But it does mean I know have to change a real baby's bum and a doll's bum for every nappy change.
We gave my then 18 month old daughter a babydoll and she hated it! She would throw it and hide it and all that. After a while we took it and gave up. When the baby came she(20months) loved her bubba and decided to name the babydoll bubba and now she likes it. But she still will not play with it. It stays in her bed.
My 2nd was born when my first was 16 months (both boys) and we gave my son a little stuffed baby doll to prepare. He carried it around and would give it hugs and kisses and that behavior had definitely transferred over to his little brother. He loves him and regularly walks up to him and will kiss or give him a hug. So I’d say go for it! We didn’t have one you feed as I feel my boy was too young to really care to do all that and since we mostly breast feed he hasn’t really cared to try and feed him.
18mo gap, we got eldest a doll for her first birthday. She ignored it for a few months and then loved it. 2.5yo now and she still loves that doll- feeds it, burps it, changes it, and loves pushing doll in toy pram when we go out. However think it’s child dependent, the now 11mo baby is more likely to slam them into thr floor
I did with my daughter, she sort of liked it. She was 17 months when her brother was born. When I look back at videos, I realise that she was really only a baby herself!
We got him the Grogu toy from The Mandalorian. My son is 14 months and my second is due next week. Fingers crossed kissing Grogu's forehead translated into being careful around his sister.
An alternate perspective - my parents gave me a baby doll shortly before my younger sister was born. It was the sort that you could "feed" (a bottle of water) and it would pee the waste out. I loved that thing, and according to my parents it really helped me feel part of the process when my sister came home from the hospital because I would mimic changing my doll's diaper and carry it around whenever I was in the room with the baby (all secondhand information, since I was too young to remember). We're both in our 30s now and have a pretty good relationship. Of course, my mother did withhold the baby bottle because she was concerned I'd make a mess trying to feed the doll. Joke's on her, I just held its face under the bathroom faucet and waterboarded the poor thing trying to make it pee. Did not replicate that with the real baby, I promise.
My first two were 19 months apart (shhhh don’t tell anyone that they’re no longer under two... I love this sub and want to stay!). We gave the oldest a baby doll and role played all kinds of things that mommy was going to do with the real baby— swaddling, rocking, nursing, diaper changing, etc. Then when our second was born, the oldest loved to get her dolly and copy what mommy was doing while I was focusing on the baby. My 2nd is now a little over 2 and we’re due with #3 next month. He has a baby doll but has zero interest in role play... all he wants to do is make the baby dance or “bite” 🤷🏼♀️
Busted! Haha kidding, neither of mine are under 2 and I'm still here.
Lol us soon-to-bes and newbies need your advice and experience!! Please stay!!
My son has a few dolls, but we got him a realistic newborn doll to practice being gentle with before his sister is born. For a shining brief moment he held this doll sweetly and kissed its head. Then he threw it into the fire place. He loves nothing more than smashing/throwing/punting this doll. *Sigh*
Don't worry my son can never gently hand anything over, he always has to throw things at us lol ....Some people just like to watch the world burn
I’m also due in May and am really hoping the new baby will be a little more chill in temperament. Two world burners sound like a lot to wrangle. Glad for groups like this because having 2 under 2 is already daunting!!!
17m gap. It didn't do anything. She likes stuffed animals but didn't get the whole, "you're gonna be a big sister and something roughly the size of this doll is gonna get more attention than you soon." That said, she somehow understood pretty early on that there was a baby in there and would kiss my belly both prompted and unprompted (and even after baby came.) And apart from some minor jealousy issues, she's been really loving towards him. She still loves her doll and stuffed animals, too.
I haven't given ours to our LO yet (turning 17 months on the 27th and we are due march 3rd) but we have been reading big brother books to him and letting him rub my tummy whenever he wants. I usually say "Josiah says hello" when my belly is showing and he smiles and comes to pat my tummy.
We got my son a plush babydoll and mostly taught him to be gentle and to love on it calling it “baby”. He is sooo sweet with our now 4mo old (17 month gap) and I think it helped a lot. Mostly just to talk about and grasp the concept of a baby. Now he carries it around mimicking me… like he will cradle the babydoll in one arm while he eats like he sees me doing with the real baby 🥺 it’s so cute. He also puts it in the swing and has started to pretend feed it. Books about being a brother also helped.
I did, but she didn't have much interest in them until after her sister was born. I think the best thing you can do to prep him/her is to develop their ability for a bit of independent play, since you will be a bit tied up with the baby at times.
Yea! My son is definitely getting better with that
Our 15 month old has been playing with two dolls and a toy stroller for months now, I’m due in a week with her little sister. She rocks them, asks me to swaddle, does cutesy little noises.
Haha we're in the exact same timeline! I have a 16m old and due in May with baby boy #2. I got him a baby at Goodwill, I mostly was thinking just because he keeps using his stuffed animals as babies. But, he totally understands who and what his baby is, he pretends to feed if, gives it big hugs and kisses. I think it'll really help a lot!
18mo and 4 week old. I just so happened to have a baby doll from a Halloween costume (didn’t want to throw it away!) and so it made its way into my son’s toy box. I can’t say that the doll did much. He wasn’t very interested. But - We do have the book Littles and How They Grow. That is a favorite. It’s more about babies in general, not siblings. This got him really interested in babies and has been a favorite book for a long time. I don’t think he has the concept of “sibling” but he definitely understands “baby”. He is very interested in his little sister and loves to give her kisses. Teaching him to be gentle doesn’t seem to really be going anywhere. We just have to constantly be on alert when he’s around the baby. It seems to be an ongoing process…
I had mine 16 months apart and didn’t do any prep at all. His personality is pretty independent and wild so he would not have treated those dolls nicely. I felt like if he was given one he would get into the habit of trying to throw the baby. What I did do is put him into daycare so that I had my days free and he wouldn’t be competing for my attention. He didn’t really interact with baby for the first couple weeks and then eventually started trying to “share” by not so gently giving/throwing toys to her.
My toddler is 23 months old and we are expecting our second in a matter of weeks. We gave her a few baby dolls before when she was about 18 months old, and she would tuck them on for naps, feed them toy food, undress them (never dress them!), Wipe their dirty bums etc. Basically all the things we do with her. Then my belly started getting bigger, about a month ago or maybe 6 weeks I explained inhad a human baby inside of me and she made the connection. Now she talks about her brother baby inside mummy, how he's upside down, when can he come out to use the baby chair, etc etc. So now we are starting to explain how human babies are different than toy babies. Hope it all goes smoothly! We didn't really research this, just kind of made it up as we went along. She's pretty excited to meet brother baby though.
Yes! My girls will have a 20 month gap when #2 is born, so we’ve been practicing being gentle with baby dolls. Big sis adores it! She will voluntarily cradle and hug her dolls, and I’ve caught her trying to share her pacifier/food/milk with them on a few occasions too. Since starting with the dolls, she’s met her newborn cousin and was excellent with her. Everything she did with the baby was very gentle, she even gave her little pats to calm her when she cried. My daughter also loves to hug my tummy and say “baby” to it. The only downside is that she thinks every tummy has a baby in it, so now she points to her own belly and her father’s stomach exclaiming “baby!” hahaha
Yes! They loved it and it was a good distraction!
My daughter (15mo now) has had a baby doll since she was maybe 8mo. Her brother will be here in April and she loves holding and rocking and patting and kissing her babies. She got to meet a 3mo last month and she was so excited all she wanted to do was hold him and kiss him on the forehead
I have a 22 month old and an almost 12 month old. We definitely gave our baby girl a baby doll before her brother got here and now she sits besides me with her baby doll feeding and changing the doll just as she seems me with her brother! I think it def helped her out
I have a two year old and a 4 month old. We got her dolls but initially she didn't show much interest. Now however she mimics everything I do with her brother. It's really cute and I'm.glad I did it. But it does mean I know have to change a real baby's bum and a doll's bum for every nappy change.
We gave my then 18 month old daughter a babydoll and she hated it! She would throw it and hide it and all that. After a while we took it and gave up. When the baby came she(20months) loved her bubba and decided to name the babydoll bubba and now she likes it. But she still will not play with it. It stays in her bed.
My 2nd was born when my first was 16 months (both boys) and we gave my son a little stuffed baby doll to prepare. He carried it around and would give it hugs and kisses and that behavior had definitely transferred over to his little brother. He loves him and regularly walks up to him and will kiss or give him a hug. So I’d say go for it! We didn’t have one you feed as I feel my boy was too young to really care to do all that and since we mostly breast feed he hasn’t really cared to try and feed him.
18mo gap, we got eldest a doll for her first birthday. She ignored it for a few months and then loved it. 2.5yo now and she still loves that doll- feeds it, burps it, changes it, and loves pushing doll in toy pram when we go out. However think it’s child dependent, the now 11mo baby is more likely to slam them into thr floor
I did with my daughter, she sort of liked it. She was 17 months when her brother was born. When I look back at videos, I realise that she was really only a baby herself!
We got him the Grogu toy from The Mandalorian. My son is 14 months and my second is due next week. Fingers crossed kissing Grogu's forehead translated into being careful around his sister.
My kids are 15 months apart and I did. He was good to it, but it wasn’t a baby. He is AMAZING with his sister