Inside: With books about becoming a big sister, it’s important to strike a balance of touching on challenges but also pointing out the fun parts. Here are the most positive, heartwarming big sister books that your child will love.
Becoming a big sister is a pretty big deal. Especially if you happen to be just two years old.
You can’t even control your impulse to color on the walls, and yet all the grown-ups you love are expecting you to welcome a new little person into your family with open arms:
- They don’t want you to act jealous,
- They want you to understand when the baby needs all their attention, and
- They certainly don’t want you to throw tantrums when things don’t go your way.
I’ve now accompanied three daughters on their journey of becoming a big sister, and I’ve seen firsthand that you definitely can minimize jealousy and acting out from your older child in reaction to the new baby. But to do that, you’ll need to prepare your older child for this big life change.
And one of the absolute best ways to prepare your child to become a big sister is to read her lots of high-quality books about becoming a big sister.
Notice I said high-quality.
The Problem With Most Big Sister Books
Unfortunately, a lot of the typical big sister books present the experience of becoming a big sister as a completely negative life change.
If those are the only books you read to your child before she becomes a big sister, she’s likely to get more stressed out before the baby even arrives.
For example, suppose you’re pregnant and every time you run into anyone you know or you encounter strangers at the grocery store, they say something like this:
Better get lots of rest while you still can! The sleep deprivation will take years off your life.
The baby will wreck your body, and you’ll never look as good as you used to.
You’ll probably get postpartum depression. It’s the worst.
Uh…thanks for the support, everyone? You’d develop PTSD before the new baby even arrived.
But that’s basically what most big sister books tell your child: Life as you know it is over. Everything you love and cherish will now belong to someone else first, and you’ll be an afterthought. But hey, time to get excited to become a big sister!
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I’m a mom of four, a recovering perfectionist, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family. Parenting is hard enough without all the guilt we heap on top of ourselves. So let’s stop trying to be perfect parents and just be real ones. Sound good? Join my mailing list and as a bonus, you’ll get 25+ incredibly helpful cheat sheets that will ease your parenting struggles.
25 Best Big Sister Books to Get Your Child Ready to Be a Big SisRead More