So does anyone have book recommendations...

.... about adding that second child?



Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

Mary S. wrote in message
...

... about adding that second child?
Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

There are a ton of books, Mary. You just need to go and find which ones you
like and/or what kind of information you are looking for. The best advice
that I read in mkb that was like a *doh* for me was to not assume that the
first child will have a problem being a sister. Sproutkin is still a little
young to truly understand what is going on, but if you don't get any books
about jealousy or that the new sibling coming could potentially be a bad
thing, then I think you won't have any problems at all. Look for Karen's
post on books in mkb from google and you will see some good AP type books
mentioned. I personally bought The New Baby by Mercer Mayer and it was all
about what the big brother could do with his new sister. Sometimes it is
hard for very young children to know what to do with the new sibling. It was
a cute read. Involve sproutkin as much as you can and keep everything
positive and don't put any *bad* things in her head about a sibling. You
will be fine.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

"Mary S." wrote in message
...

... about adding that second child?



Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1


Are you talking about helping baby #1 with the transition? If that is the
case, Dr. Sears has a good picture book out that you might like. Otherwise
I am sure other people have suggestions:-)
Kat
Mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and #2 EDD 02/01/04

Sue wrote:

There are a ton of books, Mary. You just need to go and find which ones you
like and/or what kind of information you are looking for. The best advice
that I read in mkb that was like a *doh* for me was to not assume that the
first child will have a problem being a sister. Sproutkin is still a little
young to truly understand what is going on, but if you don't get any books
about jealousy or that the new sibling coming could potentially be a bad
thing, then I think you won't have any problems at all.

This is great advice -- avoiding the "now that you have a new sibling,
you will feel jealous and angry" prep. I have some neat books I've kept
tucked away for Sproutkin -- the Sears sibling book, Hello Baby, My New
Baby, We Have A Baby, and Waiting For Baby -- can't remember the various
authors, but I like them all; they show lots of snuggling and nursing
and positive sibling relationships.

I guess we'll wait before we pull them out and start reading them to
her... although, part of me thinks we should just talk about the baby as
an assumed fact of the future, so it will seem like she's always known
that there will eventually be a sibling. But really low-key for a while
yet.

There are also so many books for parents about adding a second child to
the mix. Did anyone have a particular favorite? One baby was so easy;
my lifestyle didn't change hardly at all, she just fit into our lives
like a puzzle piece. I've never heard anyone say that about #2! LOL.

Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

Kat wrote:

Are you talking about helping baby #1 with the transition? If that is the
case, Dr. Sears has a good picture book out that you might like. Otherwise
I am sure other people have suggestions:-)

Both, although I was thinking more of books to prepare *me*!

Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

Mary S. wrote:
... about adding that second child?

Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

Woohoo, Mary! Congratulations. (I had a good feeling about this cycle for
you.)

Sorry, no ideas for books on this subject, although Penelope Leach has a
nice chapter on it in _Your Baby and Child_. I did it pretty much by the
seat of my pants, and all turned out well.

Is Sproutkin still breastfeeding? Do you think you will wean her or tandem?
Just curious.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [22 mos.] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Call anywhere, any time...virtually from any phone" -- prepaid phone card
dispenser

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Is Sproutkin still breastfeeding? Do you think you will wean her or tandem?
Just curious.

I'm hoping to give tandemming a try, and see what happens. I can't see
weaning her (outside of a pelvic rest situation), so by default, we'll
try it! If I knew I had to wean in order to conceive, we would probably
have waited until she was more like 2.5 and given her a nudge, if she
hadn't self-weaned by then.

Any tips? No sore breasts yet (I sort of wish they were -- those faint
lines are keeping me a little nervous). Is that the biggest hurdle when
nursing through a pregnancy?

Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1

Mary S. wrote:
Is Sproutkin still breastfeeding? Do you think you will wean her or
tandem? Just curious.

I'm hoping to give tandemming a try, and see what happens. I can't
see weaning her (outside of a pelvic rest situation), so by default,
we'll try it!

I kind of figured that would be the case. I know Vernon is nowhere *near*
ready to wean, although Aurora was 22 months old when he was conceived and I
didn't think I'd wean her but ended up doing so about 5 months later.

Any tips? No sore breasts yet (I sort of wish they were -- those
faint lines are keeping me a little nervous). Is that the biggest
hurdle when nursing through a pregnancy?

I never had too much nipple discomfort, per se, during pregnancy. They were
a bit tender, but not horrible.

What led me to wean Aurora was that she developed a very lazy latch that
sort of itched/tickled when she nursed, and it drove me absolutely up a
tree. Because there wasn't a whole lot of milk left at that point, she
couldn't really tell the difference between a good latch and a bad latch, so
I couldn't figure out how to retrain her to do it right. She turned out to
be very easy to wean at 2y3m, though. We went literally cold turkey, and
after a day, she didn't ask any more and didn't seem bothered. I was sort of
sad, but relieved because I dreaded every feeding by then.

That said, Julian kept a perfect latch throughout the time I was pregnant
with Aurora and I never found nursing him through the pregnancy to be
remotely challenging--weaning him would have been a LOT more difficult g!
The HARD part was after Aurora was born and the milk came back in copious
quantities--Julian was just so thrilled that there was so much milk there,
he wanted to nurse more often than she did. After about a month of nursing
both of them on demand, I had to put some pretty serious limits on Julian
because there were days when I rarely did *anything* except feed one or both
of them!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [22 mos.] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Call anywhere, any time...virtually from any phone" -- prepaid phone card
dispenser

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Congratulations!!

I think I remember that the authors of How To Talk So Kids Will Listen...
wrote one, maybe called Siblings without Rivalry? I don't know it, but I
love HTTSKWL... so I'd consider that IIWY.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

"Mary S." wrote in message
...

... about adding that second child?



Mary S.
mom to the Sproutkin, 22 months
and a new wee babysprout, due October 1



I got "I'm a Big Sister" by Joanna Cole for Charlotte. And I got "And Baby
Makes Four" by Hilory Wagner for me.
Honestly I read it so long ago I couldn't even tell you if it was any good.