Big Sister Gift - Hockessin,DE

About a month before baby number three was born we took a "family trip" to build-a-bear. My 2 girls got to make a special stuffed animal friend. I explained that Mommy might need to sleep more after the new baby or I might be spending time with him/her and they could cuddle their new friend and remember that Mommy loves them and things will go back to normal soon. Then when the baby (boy) arrived, he brought his sisters new clothes for the animal friends. They had to dress their friends and show the baby. They still talk about that trip and they remember their brother bringing them a present. (He’s two and a half now). Good Luck

My daughter was also 4 when we had baby #2 - we got her the cutest t-shirt that said "I'm the BIG sister" on it and also a baby boy doll (#2 was a boy!) for her to take care of. I guess these are not that creative, but she did love them and they did make her feel special. We also did a sibling class together at the hospital before the baby came, and enjoyed that bonding time. She made a poster welcoming the new baby (kept her busy while I was in the hospital!) and gave him a little gift just from her. I think anything you can do to include the older child and keep them excited about the upcoming baby is great. Hopefully others will have more creative ideas. Congrats! :)

My then 3.5 yo son was really into trains when his sister was born, so we got him a bunch of trains from a garage sale as his gift from the baby. We chose something that we knew he would REALLY like as a way to help him feel really connected and bonded with her. I felt that our son wasn't a kid who would necessarily care about "big brother"-related gifts. I mean, we got him a shirt and all, but that wasn't The Gift. It's sweet and sentimental for the parents, but not necessarily something that he would care about. Your daughter might be different. But that being said, I would give her something that you know she really really wants and say it's from the baby. Like a bike. Or a dollhouse. Or a special doll.

We didn't bother getting him a gift from us, because we thought that having it all only come from the baby would help him feel that she really loved him. Also, we had told him all along that she was our gift to him, because honestly giving him a sibling was the main reason we decided to have another baby in the first place. He still calls her his baby.

I also had my son choose a present for the baby. I thought it was so sweet that he asked to get her an exact replica of his favorite lovey.

And I'm not saying that doing all this made a difference, but he has been so awesome with her. He loves her so much. He has never once asked us to take her back to the hospital or the typical things that you hear about older siblings.

Good luck!

There are some nice picture books about being a big sibling and that remind the child that mommy and daddy have enough love to go around. We also got our oldest a "I'm the Big Brother" t shirt, but he was 20 months old and had no clue. He'll be 4 when his next brother arrives, but he is more interested in buying things for the baby now. Usually they are things the baby can't play with until he is older, so I'll probably just get both the older boys a small toy they can enjoy (like a car).

I'm not sure this is what you are looking for, but when I was having my second, my husband took my oldest to build a bear. I was in the hospital with my second son. My oldest son made matching bears. One was for him from us and one was for his brother from him. He even picked out matching outfits.

I think that a charm bracelet from the parents and a new charm from the baby would be cute. Then charms can be given for many different occassions through life, and the bracelet can be replaced by larger ones as she grows.

We had a big sister shirt while I was pregnant, and my daughter got 2 new ones (one from us, one from Granny & Granda) in the hospital. She was 3 yrs, 3 wks old when her brother was born, and quite the fashionista. She also loves babies, so we got her a babydoll from her brother, and I repainted my baby doll crib last summer and hid it. When we brought him home, the crib (with all new linens that my mom & I made for it) came out and it is a fixture in her room with ALL the babies in it. And finally, we took her to a big sibling class at the hospital and let her pick a gift in the gift shop - she recently took her "Big Sisters are Just Ducky" photo frame into Show N Tell;)

Just remember, your daughter has her unique needs, likes and personality - go with what she already is into, and step it up a notch. And no matter what you do, be prepared that the first few months are tough. We have had more arguments, lost her nap, and had potty training issues, but I think we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (my son is almost 7 months). GOOD LUCK!

When my little sister was born, my mom had left for me a little gift for every day she was in the hospital. I still remember it 28 years later. We did the same for my son when he was 3 and his sister was born. I chose activity toys so he could play with them for a while. We got him play-doh, dinosaurs, and cars. He seemed to enjoy it and was really happy to thank his sister for the toys. It also kept him busy while we were distracted. Good luck with the new addition.

We got my daughter a beautiful necklace, one that she can wear for years. The store "things remembered" has really cute things, reasonably priced that you can custom engrave as well :) Oh and we told her it was from "baby Colin"

What about starting a charm bracelet? Even though 4 is too young to have possession of it. The actual bracelet could be from mom and dad with the first 'big sis' charm being from the baby. As an immediate gift, we gave our daughter a doll when we brought home her little sister and she LOVED it! We're planning on doing the same thing once baby #3 gets here.

We gave my son a kid friendly digital camera. We told him we needed help taking pictures of the baby. The pictures are hilarious...my iv, the trash can, tile floors. There are no baby pics from big brother. But our theory worked, we wanted him to have a job. Something to do to distract him from the attention the baby would be getting. It worked, while everyone ooohhed and ahhhed, he was snapping away. He was three at the time.

Cafepress.com does have some really cute big sister t-shirts. My mom got my son a few...he loved them!

We recently had our second daughter with our first one almost 3.5. We got the big sis a big sis tshirt and a match lil sis bib. They were personalized. Also we got her a book with personalized story which includes her and the lil ones names as characters. Lastly our older one was totally into baby dolls that was what she also got. Hope this helps. I don't remember the website for the book but I can look it up if u need me to. Goodluck with everything. You are going to have the most amazing time with the two.

We gave my daughter a "I'm the Big Sister" shirt, a baby doll and some books. I have one due in December, and I am going to give my girls stickers and books and art stuff in a bag so they have something to do at the hospital. Neither one of them plays with baby dolls, and the baby is due four days after Christmas, so I don't want to give them more toys.

I think it depends on your child. The charm bracelet others suggest sounds great, but only if your daughter is interested in jewelry. What types of things does your daughter like? You may want to consider a gift that will entertain your oldest, especially since your attention will be a little harder to get with a baby in the house. Maybe a hand held game (Leapster?) of some kind or some fun crafty things like playdoh or crayons and activity book?

When I was pregnant with my second, I went shopping with my oldest (he was 3 3/4 yo when my second was born) and picked out two outfits for the baby to wear home (we didn't find out what we were having, thus the multiple outfits). I also bought him several small trinkets I knew he would like. I left them in a basket and he was able to choose one for each day I was in the hospital and then I reserved the rest for those moments when people were stopping by with presents for the baby and any tough moments when my oldest was feeling unhappy about these big changes going on. I'm not sure it was very memorable for him, but it did seem to make the transition from only to big brother much easier.

Good luck!

Our two older boys are obsessed with trains so when our baby was born a few months ago, I found some Thomas lego sets that would keep them busy and be something new and exciting from the baby. When they came to visit at the hospital, our baby gave his brothers the new sets and they were so excited! We also had big brother tshirts made. We had considered buying a birthday cake for the baby to celebrate as someone had suggested one time but didn't end up doing it. Good luck!

When our second daughter was born we put a picture of her big sister in her basinet in the hospital. We also bought her little princess dolls from Disney and told them they were from her sister. The other thing we did as soon as we knew the sex, is gave the new baby a name and always talked about "Rachel", not just "the baby". Congratulations! Two of the same sex is so much fun, my girls have been very close and they are now 10 and 13.