anxious big sister

I have a step daughter that is super excited about her upcoming brother. (Just turned 5, Dec 31) She thinks he is going to come right on his due date which makes it hard. She wakes up each morning and says this many days till my brother. :-( I hope he cooperates and comes near his EDD. :-) any advice to help the little one pass the time? I know he will come when it's time but try explaining that to a very inpatient 5 year old!

Comments (4)

I don't know, I never told my girls our exact due date for that reason. They just know she'll be here when she's ready sometime before Valentine's Day. My oldest vividly remembers when our youngest was born at 30 weeks "before she was ready" and she's happy to wait til this baby is big and healthy. She does keep checking in to make sure that the baby isn't going to be tiny and sick, though.
Having said that, 5 year olds understand more than you think. Try sitting her down and talking to her. Tell her that the "due date" is really only when the Dr *thinks* the baby will be here. But that he might be born after that or even before that. Tell him he will come when he is ready to come out :-)

It's her first sibling so I think that makes it harder for her. She prayed for months and months to have a little brother. I explained this morning over breakfast that he may come before or he may come after we will see. I haven't really had an signs of labor. I was nauseated for 2 days with some diarrhea yesterday. I go to the Dr tomorrow and he will check me so hopefully we have made some progress!

We made a calendar that was two weeks before and two weeks after the due date and have said he can come anytime in there. Visual stuff helps kids at this age, as we moved earlier this year and did the same thing then. Just talk to her and keep her in the loop with thedate stuff.