Preparing a Toddler for a New Baby

I have really tried to make sure that Jackson is as ready as possible for his little sibling to arrive.
He's too young to really understand what is going on and, in some ways, this can be a good thing but I also still want him to know as best as he can, what is about to happen.

We have talked a lot about baby being in my tummy. For instance, we get him to stroke my belly and I have often tried to get him to feel the baby when they are moving, although, just when I thought he was getting it, he often gets confused and points to his tummy and says 'baby' (we are very lucky so far that he hasn't said it to anyone else)!

For Christmas, we also bought him a dolly and a buggy. He had never shown any interest in toys like this at playgroups or at his friends' houses but at home, he absolutely loves it. He puts baby in the high chair to feed him, tucks him in his bed and, now that the car seat is down from the loft (ready for actual baby), he puts dolly in there too. The only problem with this is that now when we say where's baby, instead of pointing to my belly, he runs to find his dolly!

One major thing we wanted to change to get Jackson ready was to move him into the bigger bedroom before his brother/sister arrives and takes the smaller room. We finished his new room with about 8-9 weeks to go (obviously this may differ depending on when baby actually makes their appearance). Jackson took a while to settle into his new room, probably a lot longer than Chris and I thought it would take him as he is normally so easy going, so I am really glad that we did it with plenty of time to spare (if I was to do it again, I would probably do it even earlier).

Chris wanted to get the baby a teddy too, as he did this for Jackson when he was born. He also took Jacks with him, so that he could pick something for the new baby too. This would probably work a lot better with an older child who has more of an understanding, as I am pretty sure that he thought it was for himself and wanted to pick about 4 other teddies/comforts too, but it was still a nice thing to do.

I have also done another blog post on Jackson's book shelf in his room, which we change every now and then for different themes - at the moment, we are using it for a few books based on me being pregnant and him becoming a big brother. If you want to see what books I have bought, click here.

Let me know if you have any other ideas on how to help prepare Jackson for the big day.

Love Sophia xxx