For the birth of our now 2 1/2 yr old we invested in a nice storytime recliner/rocker. By far this chair was one of the best purchases we made. I can't tell you how many hours both my husband and I spent rocking and sleeping in this very comfortable chair. It was also great for nursing. We still use the rocker every night with our daughter to read books, prayers, and night time routine. If she has a night terror we rock her for 5 mins and she goes back to sleep.
We will be having our second child this summer. My daughter will be three at the birth. My husband thinks we simply move my daughter's rocker over to the new baby's room. My hormonal momma bear instinct says No Way, let's get a second rocker. I know first time momma's stress and over analyze about bringing another baby into the mix, but I just feel strongly, that the rocker
is a comfort for my daughter and a bonding tme for us. I rationalize the cost bc the first rocker is in grea shape and I think we
could recoup a reasonable amount if we sold it down the road. Pleas give me your kind, and gentle responses. I'm feelin that mommy guilt of
my heart having to be shared with another little life. And while I'm really excited for his new chapter, I'm also having some anxiety
about our family unit changing.
Yes, I would try to transition out of it, but if it is something that she is really wanting to keep, I don't think that's a bad thing.
I think you should let your daughter "gift" it to the new baby, much like when people have kids give their pacifiers away to give them up. She'll feel good about it and you won't need to get another. Let her pick a good space ( with heavy hinting) in the babies room for it. And soon enough, your 2 year old will have big kid "stuff" that starts taking over her room and she'll need the extra space.
My kids are 26 months apart so we just talked a lot about how to help with the baby and things that were now going to be for baby and so on. We moved her out of the crib at 22 months ( 4 months to baby) and into her big girl bed and even a new room so she wouldn't feel pushed out if we did it right at birth.
Give up the chair NOW and establish a new routine. It will work and by age 3, your daughter will be needing the rocking less and less anyway, sadly enough!
Good luck.
This is tough...a big part of me says that you should move the rocker and as Ann said, let it be her gift to the baby. It's going to be an adjustment and I understand not wanting to rock the boat more than necessary (pun intended!), but 2 rockers is a lot and they take up a lot of room and in a few years you're not going to need two. BUT...is she in a big girl bed? If she's not are you planning on moving her? I ask b/c you can easily switch your bedtime story reading routine to her bed. If she is still in a crib that would be much harder and could be an argument to keep the crib. In the end, I think you need to just think about it for a bit and decide in another month or so. Weigh both options and then decide if it's your hormones talking or if you really think it's right. As far as sharing your heart...I get it, it is so hard to imagine it's possible, but it is!! The best gift is not to you, incredibly it will be when your daughter falls in love with her baby sibling!!
I think she's going to have to get used to this baby no matter what you do. You only have one lap, but will undoubtedly at times end up pulling them both up in your lap anyway. One lap, one chair.
However, to make things nicer for your daughter, I think this is what you should do. I would go and buy her one of those child sized chairs. If you can afford it, get one that rocks and reclines. Put that in her room and move the rocker to your babies room. You can explain to her how she's a big girl and needs her own chair that's just for her. If she doesn't already have a bookshelf in her room, maybe set up a little book shelf next to it, get her a light just for her. Make it fun.
My first daughter was 2.5 when we had our 2nd and then they were 5.5 and 3 when the 3rd came a long. We never had any sibling rivalry issues. My first 3 daughters were always super tight. I think you just have to be super excited about the baby and talk with her a lot about how special the baby will be. Your expectations are everything. If you are feeling guilty, she's going to pick up on that. I remember those feelings. But I just pushed them aside. After all, people have multiple children more often than not.
You have good advice so afr. I'm going to add to the part about your anxiety of adding to the family. I believe that the greatest gift a parent can give their child is a sibling. It might be hard now, she might have to share clothes when she gets older and they will break each others things. But, who else in the world will be able to make fun of you (their mom) with them but each other :) They will have so many shared memories that no one else in the world will have!
I think your momma instincts are probably right. Get a new chair if you can afford it. My oldest was 2 1/2 when her younger sister arrived and she doesn't deal well with change and her rocking chair was a big comfort, part of her bedtime routine, so we bought a new one so as not so upend her life/routine too much.
My 2 cents for what it's worth is that if you still use it regularly and you can afford another go for it.
If the cost will be a big deal, I don't think it will effect your daughter to move it (just do it a few months before the new baby comes). In a year or so she probably won't use it much at all since she'll get too big for you guys to be comfortable with her in it.
I've seen these resold for as much as $50-60 at garage sales this summer.
Involve your 2 1/2 year old in the decision. Does she want the chair to stay in her room? Or can it go in the baby's room?
We just had our second daughter (the girls are 3 years, 9 months apart), and my oldest was involved in a lot of decisions... like picking out her bedding, wall colors, clothes, etc.
We had a similar dilemma, and we ended up moving the rocker to the new baby's room. And now all three of us girls hang out there. It's awesome.
I don't think you can go wrong either way. I'd just keep the older child involved.
Congratulations on the new baby!
Alyssa
Look on Craigslist. You may be able to get a great deal on a rocker for the new baby's room.
I agree, if you can afford it, get a second chair.
