Pregnancy is an interesting time of a family and also a
curious event to your children. Even an imperturbable child can be worried
about changes happening in his family. Some children don’t like the fact that
their mothers are pregnant at first, and start making questions when your belly
gets bigger. Fortunately, you can use their curiosity as guidance for your
decision on the amount of information you should share with your children.
Tell your children about your pregnancy soon. On the second
trimester, once the bump begins to show, it’s time to share with your children
about the good news. Talking to your children about pregnancy late can make
children not ready for the upcoming changes and feel insecure about your love
to them. Talking to your children about pregnancy too soon can make children
confused about pregnancy because your body technically looks just the same.
Tell your children
about your pregnancy soon.
Get some information from your children when talking about
your pregnancy. When talking about the pregnancy to your children, ask them
what they know about pregnancy – do you know where babies come from? Do you
know that my bump means there’s a child in my uterus? Finding out what your
children know will help you to access to problems. If children make questions
about it, you can see that they are curious about the issue. If children don’t
care about the subject, providing too much information can make children
embarrassed and confused.
Explain physical facts about pregnancy in understandable and
friendly-to-children ways. When discussing about some negative aspects of
pregnancy, like morning sickness and tiredness, explain to your children about
feeling the same things when you’re pregnant with them.
Read to your
children children’s books about pregnancy.
Read for your children children’s books about pregnancy,
delivery and new siblings. If you aren’t comfortable talking about pregnancy,
show your children comic books that suit with their ages to provide them with
details explaining pregnancy.
Show your children photos about your last pregnancy. Show
them their baby photos. Tell them about things you experience during the
pregnancy, how they look when they were babies and things they need from you.
Those help your children know what to expect from their younger siblings. Be
honest about the looks of newborns so that your child won’t misunderstand about
things happening after babies are born. Explain about the fact that infants cry
so often and need so many things, like changing diapers, breastfeeding and
bathing. Let your children know important things they could help when babies
are born.
Let your children
take part in your pregnancy.
Let your children take part in your pregnancy. This helps
your children not only have closer view on pregnancy, but be ready for their
new brother/sister. When your belly gets bigger, let children feel the kicks of
the fetal, encourage children to sing to the baby and let them join hands in
decorating the baby room.
Understand your children having questions about your
pregnancy when it’s progressing. After the bump turns up and you start
decorating the baby room, your pregnancy will become more real to your
children. Let them know that you’re ready for the upcoming questions.
