I always said I wouldn’t have another child. One was plenty.
I mean, if you have a child already, you know that one is plenty. But inevitably people, whether by bad luck or good, irresponsibility or choice, generally have more than one.
And then it happens. SIBLINGS.
Its the one thing that isn’t talked about as much when you introduce a new member of the family. Of course as adults our lives change, but we are used to that adapting. We get that there will be midnight feedings and diaper changes and tantrums. We know that date nights are over (if you ever had them) and vacations are now work.
Charlotte is 6.5 so introducing a baby to the family, for her world, is an entirely new concept. She has a cousin her age, she has 4 pets, but she has also undoubtedly been the light of her mother and fathers world since her entry into the world.
She IS the world.
Now with a new baby, comes new baby stuff, and with that, comes jealousy, however slight since she cant have bottles and pacis and baby blankets herself, but its there. She is seeing the “new” show up and I know she walks in her room and sees the old. One of the things I have been trying to do is every time I order Phoenyx something, I get her something too. Of course this isn’t something I can keep up for entirety. He cant get an outfit and she get one side by side. Ill be broke in 6 months. But for the big occasion, I wanted her to know that she is, and always be, just as special her brother.
QUEUE THE LOFT BED
Charlotte had a beautiful white crib as a baby that converted into a daybed and then to a full. I never got the set to move it up to a full (tip: buy converters all at the same time) and eventually bought her a twin, which suited her room. Then in May decided to upgrade that bed to something cooler. Hipper. More 6.5 year old going on… 6.5.
A loft bed.
Partly I wanted her to feel special, to get something new, partly I wanted her to have something that her brother wouldn’t have for a long, long time.
Artistic Sensations
I met Kim online earlier this year. she runs a store called Artistic Sensations that carries a wide variety of beautiful linens, bed sets, baby bedding, designer bedding, and amazing bedroom furniture.
About Artistic Sensations:
Children’s Bedding, Kids Furniture & Teen Room Decor
Artistic Sensations, “the one-stop-shop to create your child’s dream room” began in the early 90′s by me, Kim Gellman, an at-home mother of two young boys, when I realized that creating the “perfect” kid’s dream room was not at all as easy as I had imagined. So, in 1996, Artistic Sensations was born to fulfill the needs of all those parents who desire unique, customized, high quality furniture,bedding for boys and girls, accessories and gift ideas for their infants and young children. I chose an online presence first to offer as many parents as possible regardless of geographic location, the opportunity to decorate with unique style and have fun with their kids rooms. As we all know, busy parents rarely have the opportunity to frequent specialty stores. Our limited free time, which usually occurs after the kids go to bed or before they wake up in the morning, doesn’t coincide with retail store hours!!!
Of course, when I saw this bedroom loft bed, I knew it was the princess dream bed that I wanted to give Charlotte.Maybe minus the slide. I already have a gymnast on my hands, I didn’t need a gymnast doing cartwheels down the slide when I wasn’t looking.
So I talked to Kim and she agreed to help Charlotte’s transition into being a sister and getting her something “Special” a dream come true.
There are so many choices when you are choosing a loft bed. From high to low, from fancy linens to fort linens, you can get something just perfect for your child.
It took a few months to get shipping straight, but we were able to start assembling the bed in May to Charlotte’s delight.
Step #1: READ THE DIRECTIONS.
Step #2: READ THE DIRECTIONS.
Really, that part is important. Knowing the pieces, what to pull out of the box first, where to find everything, it makes a difference. Overall, the bed assembly itself went fantastic. I find that when Chris is putting something together, I hear the words “They left such and such out of the box” atleast 5 times, when we always find it. The only actual issue we had with the bed was that some of the drill holes were not drilled out all the way and required some extra drilling to fit correctly.
The assembly time was about 2 hours, that includes Charlotte in and out, separating pieces, reading directions, putting together and adding linens. The loft bed was extremely sturdy and after two months usage, I know its complete quality and solid.
Its going to last her years to come.
What I still Like About it:
Charlotte has really taken to this kind of bed. She does to be up high, its been super easy for her to maneuver, even in the middle of the night, and other than a stern talking to about jumping from the top to a mat on the floor, she has followed the rules.
I often find her and her friends underneath the bed in the “Fort” playing school or reading books and because the bed is now off the floor, I have been able to add her book shelves, toy box, and some chairs for her. Its really opened up the availability of space her room and made her feel private.
Above all, I know she has felt special that she had a room upgrade, since there was a nursery makeover going on. And while it may not be one of the 10 most elaborate kid rooms out there, its hers.
And that’s what counts.
So tell me, when your first born became a sibling, how did you make them feel special?
~Trisha
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Loft bed provided by Artistic Sensations to facilitate this article, shipping costs provided by MomDot, opinions by Charlotte and Mom. Assembly by Dad.
LOVE your bedroom….the bed is gorgeous..in love with the color!
I love that bed. My kids would go NUTS over that bed. Grace was too little to notice too much. She was only 15.5 months old when she became a big sister. When they got a little brother though, the girls got twin beds since they had to share a room. It was nice to change the room up for them to show they were still special during that time!
That bed is so sweet! Charlotte must feel like a princess with it in her room! I would be under there reading all the time
It’s been almost 11 years since we brought home our second child, I cannot remember doing anything out of the ordinary for our son. He did get lots of extra attention from us and his grandparents so he felt important too. We made a big deal out of him being an awesome “big brother” and tried to let him help as much as he wanted to.
What a beautiful bed and so perfect for a 6.5 year old!
I shared bunk beds with my sister, I was on the bottom and I made myself a special fort out of my bed with sheets so I could have privacy (even up to age 19 =) after my sister had moved out. I put a lamp and my phone in there so I could have some privacy.
When my youngest was born, I made sure that my oldest had his “big boy” 2 months before the baby was born and let him pick out his own sheets and got him a new pillow and had him help me pick out the babies sheets and receiving blankets. He loved helping me prepare for the room they were going to share. =)
LOL My favorite part of this post is your note that the gym mat is not for flipping off the bed – because that is the FIRST thing I thought of when I saw it!
This bed is totally adorable and I am sure Charlotte feels like a princess sleeping in it!
That is such a cute bed! I would love to have a special fort or clubhouse like that just for me, for private times, and a place to go to get away from it all. How clever!
It has been so long since my son became a “big brother” that I really can’t remember if I did anything special for him.
That is an awesome bed. My middle needs something like (different colors of course) that b/c his room isso small that when toys are out it seems like a hurricane went through. That would be the perfect place to put away his toys and even play with them.
Now onto the sibling talk….For mine we did the let them bring the baby a gift that was mentioned above but we also had a big brother gift for them from mom, dad and baby. When you are at home let Charlotte help out in whatever way possible so she feels like she is involved. It could be something as simple as throwing away a diaper (which I can assure you my youngest would roll their eyes at if we had another), holding them for a in the chair next to you while you are rocking the baby, helping wash the baby at bath time being hands on with the new baby. One on one time with her daily will make a world of difference, even if it’s just 10 minutes. Point out benefits of being an older child if they start showing signs of jealousy. A BIG thing we did when we were having visitors to see the new baby is make sure they didn’t just pay attention to the new baby but the older sibling(s) equally.
If they have big brother/sister classes somewhere you could take her. You could teach her with a baby doll now how to hold the baby and be gentle if she isn’t used to being around infants. Little things like that so they know they can be included in this new little person’s life from more than just a watching perspective will make all the difference in the world.
So cute! Hanna would love to have a bed like that. When O was born I didn’t do anything overly special but I did make up a tote bag full of goodies and things to do for when I was having him and afterwards. Something that was a gift for her and to keep her occupied when she maybe wasn’t getting all the attention she was use to.
This is so cute Trisha! I don’t know what we’d do for Owen if we were to have another baby but I hope to do something similar to this since he needs a new bed anyhow.
We also had the older kids go with to find gifts for the little one and we wrapped them up and packed in the bag, so that when they came to see the baby they could give the gifst to the baby. We also had bought gifts for the baby to give back to them. New games, coloring books, and a frame to put in their room that said big brother, and big sister and we took pictures of the baby being held by them. We truly had their input on their names too, where as most parents might not. We also tried to havee some mom and older child time away from the baby and also this with dad too. (Easy for us as was summer and went to the park just up the street or out for icecream. I remember when I had two, ages 5 and 6 1/2 and read a lot about the sibling rivalry. I thought there was NO way it would happen. Exactly ONE day after coming home with our third baby, my “middle child” started ripping wall paper off the walls and went outside forlornly to throw rocks…at the WINDOWS! It was actually almost textbook! I was shocked because this son was a sweet, quiet little honey boy and had never done anything like this before. We knew then he needed some down time with mommy.
One thing we also did I remember, this being a LONG time ago, was to get some coupons for the kids to go out to McDs. something we never did! Although they were pretty young, we let them stay up late watching movies with us so they didnt think they were missing out on things. I let them pick out a birthday cake for their sister, and at best, as tired as we were, we treated it almost like a birthday PARTY when we came home from the hospital and they were all in on it. Made them feel grown up getting to plan the “party” and the jealousy quickly vanished. Well, until many years later at least.!
You’re a pretty cool MOM! Good Job!
For each of my kids we had planned gifts & activities for the first two weeks the new baby was home. Nothing big or expensive, movie, lunch at McD’s, even a sleep over at grandma’s, but they were things that were important to that particular child at the time & included a few one on one activities with me (a baby free zone). I allowed my kids to be as involved in helping with the new baby as much or a little as they liked but my older two just couldn’t help enough with the new baby so it worked out really well!
Good luck with the new arrival but it sounds like you already are ahead of the game if you’re already thinking about this!
What a gorgeous bed! Wow, awesome
As for making my son feel special when his sister was born, he was under 2 years old, so he did not really care! I just always offered up the hugs and kisses!!!
gorgeous bed, Shae would LOVE that
Keep Char involved, ask for her help and opinion but don’t make it feel like a chore. Asking to throw away a diaper is fine but asking to get the diaper and wipes and cream and grab a bib and burb cloth and adjust mommy’s pillow and hand me the remote is a bit much. I’m sure she’d love to pick out his outfits each day even it it’s just jammies/sleepers. She’s gonna be awesome!
Zachary was 2.5 when Bella was born. He really had no clue what was going on. One day, about a week before Bella was born, we were in Target and Zachary saw this GIGANTIC dump truck that he just HAD TO HAVE!
So Bella “bought” the dump truck for him and it was waiting for him at the hospital!
That bed is amazing!! What a wonderful idea to make her still feel special. My son is an only child still but this definitely would be one way to make him know that he is just as awesome as he always was.
Love her room!!
To answer your question. My mother-in-law suggested thet THE BABY bring a present for the older sibling home with them from the hospital. It takes a little pre-planning and hopefully you don’t go into labor before you get to the store sans Charlotte, buy and wrap up something she’ll LOVE and put it in the trunk of the car that you’ll be driving home from the hospital. For us it was a computer game of my oldest son’s favorite book, Chicka chicka boom boom (became youngest son’s favorite too, mostly due to the computer game!) and years later when going through what to sell at a yard sale he said he couldn’t part with it because his brother had given it to him…Awwwwww!
this is a great idea!
That is the most awesome bed in the whole world. I want one! For me.
When the new baby came we moved Wyatt into a new bedroom. Same house, he just moved from the smaller bedroom into the big one. With the move he got to pick out new bedding and new wall colors. He still loves his room and finds the nursery boring.
Love her new bed! Heck, I’d take one for myself if I could have a private fort with no husband or kid allowed.
Holy moley, that bed is amazing! I would have been so thrilled to get something like that as I child so I bet your daughter is over the moon! I don’t have children yet and I was an only child, so I have no advice on the siblings issue, but the awesome bed should help. LOL!!!
That bed looks like every little girls dream! I know I would love to get one for Kaydee but I always have this fear of her falling off at night. However, I do love those Trundle beds they sell, very cute. They’d work perfect for Kaydee and Emma since they don’t like sleeping apart.
Wow, Charlotte is a lucky little girl! That bed is awesome!! I would love to get one for my boys.
OH I always wanted one of those when I was a kid and I really want to get them for my girls when they’re older. They’re SO cute!!
That seriously is an awesome bed. I keep the girls involved, going to U/S and picking out stuff for the babies as well as a treat or two for themselves.
That’s a great bed. Although I can’t believe what my son can fit under his regular bed, I can’t even imagine what I’d find under that one!
yeah, i had to pull a lamp out the other day.
What a great idea! I wish I could say I did something as awesome as this, but I didn’t.
This is so cute and I love the idea of having a loft. I am considering this for my boys so they can each be in the same room but have their own personal space. This is a really nice way to create space in a room and I am sure she is a proud sibling to be!
What an awesome bed. I haven’t done anything special for my son. I want to but don’t know what I will do. Luckily we still have 3 months to go.