when to tell your other children?

[paulaws]

Hi everyone,
I just wondered when you told your other children you were pregnant. We have a nearly 6 year old son and are expecting our second one in March. We are not sure when to tell him.
I was really ill yesterday and he was so worried about me but I didn't want to say anything because I thought it was too early and also I didn't want him to resent the baby because it was making his mummy ill.
We thought we would wait as long as we could before telling him as 9 months is a long time when you are little and just wondered what other people had done.
Thanks
Paula.x

 

[nikki1306]

Hi hun,i have two daughters who are 6 and 4 and i told them when i had my 12 week scan as my youngest came with me . My 6 year old isn't really that interested,she got excited when the pram was delivered but soon forgot about it again. My 4 year old is more excited though and asks lots of questions,i wondered if it might actually be because she has been to a scan and heard the baby's heartbeat when my other daughter was at school. I think it's really nice to get them involved early as yes 9 months seems like a long time but it really does fly by and at least then he will feel prepared when baby arrives xx

 

[budge]

i told mine when i had been for my scan and i was 13 weeks. That way i could tlell them exactly when baby was going to come and it wasn't going to seem so long for them. I showed pretty early too but if i didn't i might have waited until 20 weeks or so.
Its hard because they over hear other people talking about it etc.

 

[Amanda]

It's a bit different for me as my daughter is 13, but she was the first person we told, and this was the day after I got my BFP.

Being older, obviously she is well aware of the risks, and was able to understand everything. She overheard a conversation a few months before so knew we were trying (in fact, on one occasion she actually overheard us trying and I got a lecture in the morning about toning it down!!!! ). As DH is not her Dad, we wanted to ensure she was involved with everything right from the start, so she didn't feel left out, or find out from anyone else.

With younger children, I would probably have tried to wait until after the first scan, but I've got such a big gob that I probably would let something slip before that anyway!!!!

 

[budge]

my 3 year old is the most excited Nikki!

everymorning she asks me ''wheres your baby mummy'' and isay its still in my tummy. And then when i go for a midwife appointment she asks me ''is the baby coming our your tummy today mummy?''

awwwwwwwwww if only i could bottle her!

 

[kellie80]

When i was expecting Aimee i told jessica whos 6 straight away and i shouldn't have. It really dragged for her i think. This time i'm not telling her till after my 20 week scan. A lot of things just go straight over her head so it should be easy to get away with it.

 

[Urchin]

Mason was so desperate for a sibling my OH wanted to tell him right away, so we did. I must have been about 6 weeks.
The next day we went to my mom's and we let Mason tell my parents aswell, which was lovley.

I didn't want him to overhear me on the phone or anything and get confused, and I wanted him to be as involved as possible. If it was just up to me I would have waited a little bit longer, maybe 8-10 weeks, but he was fine with the waiting, and we spent lots of time looking at books and stuff.

 

[nikki1306]

my 3 year old is the most excited Nikki!

everymorning she asks me ''wheres your baby mummy'' and isay its still in my tummy. And then when i go for a midwife appointment she asks me ''is the baby coming our your tummy today mummy?''

awwwwwwwwww if only i could bottle her!

My 4 year old is the same,she thought that the baby had clothes on and was shocked when i told her it didn't, now she keeps laughing and telling everyone that the baby is naked, and when the midwife let her listen to the heartbeat she said she could hear the baby crying ,everyday she makes me laugh with her little comments,never want her to grow up. xx

 

[violet-glow]

I told Zack whos 2 at 12 weeks as he came with me for the scan, because hes so young I dont think he totaly understood. Its slowly sinking in, everytime he sees a baby on telly he says 'You've got one of them in your tummy' aww bless lol I make sure hes involved and can see baby move etc, he gets bored with it sometimes.

Ive only just told my 7 year old nephew that im pregnant... again.
I dont think he can be really bothered about it to be honest, I think girls take it better than boys.

 

[claireabell]

Hi there hun,

I told my daughter who's 9 when I was about 16 weeks and I let her tell the rest of the family, she thought it was great. I think it helps them and they can prepare themselves and get used to the idea that they'll have a little baby in the house soon. Its good to get them as involved as possible then they don't feel left out. Plus if other people know there's always a chance of them overhearing people talking about it and then they might not be happy because you haven't told them. Haylea loved coming to the scans with us and she talks to my belly all the time and gives it a kiss every morning and night.
I've just been as honest as I possibly can with her - like she thought that a baby came out of your tummy til she saw a lady giving birth on a tv prog I was watching and that was it all the questions under the sun came out.....think she was a bit gobsmacked to see a baby coming out, but then again I think it has helped her a little. She can't wait to be a big sister and she always buys little bits n pieces for the baby with her pocket money which is so sweet.
Hope all goes well hun.....take care
Love
Claire
xxxxx

 

[kirlykird]

I told my twinnies a few days after my BFP..when it had sunk in to me and OH.

We just believed this to be the best option as we wanted them to feel as big a part of it as possible and want them to experience it all with us so that they don't feel left out or think that the baby was more important as we didn't tell them.

I think everyones situation is diferent, do it when it fels right x