Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably is picking up on your sadness. Our only DD sometimes asks in an offhand way, but she also knows she has it good with our undivided attention. I'd dial back any discussion of DC2 potential and she'll move on as well.

Exxxxactly.

One child is very rewarding - very streamlined and you will have plenty of $ and space to treat her friends to come along whenever you want. This month we are taking DS and his friend on vacation - including plane fare. Last month we said good-bye to our european exchange student. DS had an exotic brother for a year, and now he has a friend for life in europe.

Wow that language is...dated.

Im sorry you are going through this. I'm assuming she's heard you talk about a sibling one day and now she sees you are sad. Kids pick up on so much stuff. Once the dust settles she will probably forget about it.

You should find out from her why she wants a sibling. Is it a "baby" to play with, like the other pp said? Is it a permanent playmate? That should help. For us, our son wanted a playmate and didn't get that the sibling would be a baby for a loooong time before he could play with it the way he wanted. We also ended up having his cousin stay with us for the weekend and before the cousin came, we explained that we would "play house" with the cousin being his brother so he could pretend. But we made sure to pay equal attention to the cousin, made DS take turns, share ALL his toys, and bed time consisted of each boy getting some special time with us (not just DS).

that pretty much opened his eyes to the reality of a sibling - he didn't like having his routine broken up (especially when we sang and read to the cousin at bed time after we sang and read to him) and having his special seat in the car - they had to take turns getting that carseat. Each time he complained, I'd remind him that if he had a brother, this would be the way it would be all the time.

Can't give advice on if your kid wants a baby. Maybe if you have a family member that has a baby, you have them stay with you for a longer period of time (like all day) and you do whatever is required of the baby so your child can see that you'd not be available as much.

Anonymous wrote:Do you know any three year olds? Have one over for the day, and explain to your DD that the baby will eventually be 3. This helped our neighbor child decide being an only wasn't so bad, when her mom watched my 3 year old for the day.

Good strategy Especially if the 3 year old is obnoxious

Do you know any three year olds? Have one over for the day, and explain to your DD that the baby will eventually be 3. This helped our neighbor child decide being an only wasn't so bad, when her mom watched my 3 year old for the day.