It’s no secret we are expecting a baby later this year. And of course the first thing we did was find as many books as we could read about it to help my 3-year-old adjust to the idea and changes that are inevitably starting to happen. Here is a great list of books about babies that are perfect to read to your older kiddos.
Baby Comes Home
My son was funny reading this book, the thing he noticed above all things was that a baby had a pillow “You don’t put pillows in babies cribs!” my little safety man! The book gave us a lot to talk about from me needing to nap, to everyone cooing over the new baby and even about how he will feel when he has to share mama with a baby. Good book, worth a look!
Julius, the Baby of the World
I laugh out loud every time I read this book. I particularly love when Lily tells a passing pregnant mouse that she will regret being pregnant. This book opens the floor for a real talk about feelings when a new baby comes. It’s important to remember just because the big people are excited doesn’t mean the little ones are too!
Back into Mommy’s Tummy
I love how the author and illustrator Phillippe Goossens use humor to get to the heart of it all. My son is incredibly attached to me. However, this book really opened up a great dialogue about having to share my snuggles, and love.
Baby on the Way
What other books about babies would you suggest for this list? Comment below or share on my Facebook page!
For more quick tips on helping your child learn to read check out my book; Raising A Rock-Star Reader. It is packed with fun ideas for families, book lists, and advice for parents.
Shanna says
Congratulations! My library has a kids’ book called “Happy BIRTH Day” that I LOVE! It answers all kinds of questions on a child’s level.
Swati says
INCREDIBLE! For the last four months, my dashboard has been showing your last post as the one with an art museum visit – and I have been wondering what was happening, and whether it would be impertinent to contact you to enquire. And you have been around, posting, all this while! So I have a lot to catch up on, and some questions to ask of blogger, and CONGRATULATIONS about the coming baby!
Kim says
We bought Julius, Baby of the World in the months before my son’s birth and it cemented our desire to name him thus. It remains one of my daughter’s favourite books.
Another great baby-about-to-arrive book: http://www.amazon.com/My-New-Baby/dp/0859539741/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264275139&sr=1-21
The mother breastfeeds, the father is an active part of the childrens’ lives, and the siblings are both gender-neutral. My daughter was 27 months when her brother was born and this book was GREAT for her!
.-= Kim´s last blog ..See Ya Later, Alligators! =-.
Lee says
Dude seriously, I would have NEVER been okay with my mom having another baby. She didn’t date until I turned 18 and even then I was like, “You better not get pregnant”. I was so spoiled and had never shared my mom with anyone.
So suffice it to say I understand where the kids in these books are coming from. And by the end they have grown up much more than me.
LOL,
Lee
.-= Lee´s last blog ..I Love My Shirt From JustJen.com You Have To See It!!! =-.
Laurie says
We loved “Hello Baby!” by Lizzy Rockwell. It starts with a visit to the OB to see how the baby is growing and shows some developmental pics of the baby in the womb. They do getting ready things, like getting out toys that the little boy remembers playing with and tiny clothes that he used to wear. Grandma comes to stay while the baby’s being born, and she shows him pictures from when he was a baby. Mom breastfeeds and it makes a point to say that the baby mostly sleeps. I LOVE the illustrations, especially of all the funny baby expressions we know so well! It’s very sweet.
Muthering Heights says
Those sound like such adorable books!! I’m sure your little man will feel very prepared for your new arrival. 🙂
.-= Muthering Heights´s last blog ..The Fuel =-.
Merilee says
Love your site, thanks so much for all the great ideas and inspiration!
Congrats on your pregnancy! This was my sons favorite book when we were expecting our second child. He still likes to read it and he is 4 now.
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Big-Brother-Joanna-Cole/dp/0688145078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264299944&sr=1-1
Jill says
Congratulations!
We had a new baby a couple months before my son turned 3 last year, and his favorite book was “The New Baby” by Mercer Mayer. 🙂
greedygrace says
Congrats! We also have the Julius book, we like it a lot!
Caroline Lennox says
Back into Mommy’s tummy sounds like such a sweet book. Since our new baby arrived my four year old has been acting just like this! Thank you for sharing, we’re off to get our own copy!
Katie says
Congratulations and thanks for these suggestions. We, too, have a three-year old and I’m due with #2 in a few weeks. We’ve been reading “Hello Baby,” but I love these additional suggestions!
katherinemarie says
I can’t wait to MEET “AKA see on your blog” you new little sweetheart!!!! I only wish I was close enough to get sweet newborn baby photos! I hope the rest of your preganacy goes smoothly and you enjoy the BLISS of being double-hearted! xoxoxox,Katherine
P.S. have you seen the clips from Babies, the movie. It’s coming out in April— you’ve gotta see it!!!!
.-= katherinemarie´s last blog ..Theme of the Week: {S O U P} =-.
heather says
It was so great to read your suggestions. We liked “I’m a Big Sister” which was posted earlier too.
SkylarKD says
I’m also pregnant (due May 3rd), and we’ve been reading a ton of baby books. Two real-life books that we really like are the Mister Rogers book “The New Baby”, and one by Maxine Rosenberg called “Mommy’s in the Hospital Having A Baby”.
The photos are dated, but it’s great that they show photos of families in and out of the hospital, different methods of feeding, and talk about the big kid’s feelings in a very straightforward way.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Baby-Paperstar-Fred-Rogers/dp/0698113667/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264681514&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Mommys-Hospital-Having-Maxine-Rosenberg/dp/0395718139
.-= SkylarKD´s last blog ..Lots on my plate! =-.
Katie says
Hi, You mentioned in the post talking to your son about feelings for the new baby. If you have a chance, would you mind giving me any pointers for “feeling conversations.” I’m mostly worried about putting ideas in her head/asking leading questions and am curious about how to talk with her (she’s 3) in a more open ended fashion, but gets more to feeling. Any pointers would be welcome. Thank you!
admin says
Katie – I actually got a great chance to practice this when one school year out of 10 student all had either just had a new sibling before the year started or as the year progressed became siblings. What an eye opener- and fantastic exp with a variety of 2-3 year olds.
For my son we read a lot of books about babies – I have read all these plus about 10 more ( waiting to be reviewed soon). Then I ask lots of questions like : What do you think it will be like to have a baby ? What will it be like to share mommy? How will you feel if mommy can’t lay with you because she is snuggling the baby? I don’t tip toe about anything I just ask. I also tell him all the time that when the baby started growing in my belly my heart grew too so all the love for him is still in there and more room was made for my love for the baby. I don’t have to share the love, I just get more!
I also validate any feelings – don’t coddle them all , some I do.
There are a ton of books about getting siblings ready and really I think the best route is to expect all things and know that it’s a huge transition and toddlers suck at transitions. Expect some lashing out but don’t let it be an excuse, just an explanation.
I hope that helps somewhat.
commonplaceiris says
Well I just logged in to twitter for the first time in months and saw you post something there which made me realize the feed for this blog I was subscribed to on bloglines hadn’t been updating. oops (hadn’t noticed because I am subscribed to WAAAY too much to actually keep up with but I love watching out for stuff to do with my daughter here, and she has the week off from preschool this coming week so good timing). I’ve changed to a different feed now and am catching up.
Congratulations on the baby, and a timely post for me as I’m also expecting a baby (Juneish) and so will look out for some of these for my 3 and a half year old. She’s currently very excited about being a big sister and loves babies but not sure how she’ll like the reality of sharing me (which we’ve been talking about too). I’m loving the way she wants to pull up my shirt to check my belly button then sings and talks to the baby and gives it hugs!