A Baby for Davy – Great for introducing a young child to their sibling

I remember when I was expecting my second child and I was worried about how that would affect my daughter. How will she feel once the new baby arrives… or even before? I’m sure every mother has the same fears. I was concerned my daughter would be jealous, feel neglected or even replaced. I wanted her to know that she has an important place in the family and that no one could ever take that place.So, I started to think of ways to introduce the subject to my daughter. I came across this book, A Baby for Davy, and I thought I would read it to my daughter. She was fascinated and listened carefully as we read together.

The story begins with the announcement of a new baby that is coming soon. Davy, the baby’s big brother, is not happy… straight away, my daughter said, “I’m happy!” That definitely made me happy! She was able to relate to Davy and since they both had something in common, she wanted to hear more.

Davy’s baby sister is born and he’s not happy. I could see that my daughter was already thinking ahead, probably about how she might feel when her baby brother or sister arrived. I didn’t stop to ask, we just continued reading. When no one else can console the baby when she was crying, Davy is the only one that can help, although he was very reluctant to begin with, he realises that his little sister needs him and he must take care of her. Davy recognises that his sister is special but also that he has his own special place in the family. The story explores responsibility and relationships, especially between two special siblings.

This story got my little girl’s brain working overtime! She asked questions about how she could help look after the new baby; I showed her how to change a nappy on her doll and we talked for ages about how much mummy would need her help. We spoke about how special she is to us all and how much her little brother or sister will love her.

She seemed happy afterwards and so was I!!