Preparing for Baby: Books for the New Big Brother

Sam has known and been interested in the idea that there's a baby in my tummy for quite some time.  Though, to what extent his understanding extends, I'm not so sure.  I'm quite sure, however, that he doesn't grasp the changes that will occur in our home when a new little life becomes intertwined with ours.  To help prepare him for this, I've been checking out books from the library about babies, to weave into our bedtime story routine.  He loves them!  He likes looking at the pictures of babies and pregnant moms and talking about what's happening in the pictures, what the baby needs, and what the big brother is doing.  It's really a lot of fun.  A wordless board book about a new baby was tied with his favorite bug book for a few days as his preferred potty time reading material. 

Here are some of our favorites:

Our New Baby: I think that's the title, but I couldn't find a link. Sam really loves looking at the pictures and talking about them.  The pictures facilitate good conversations about what having a new baby will be like, and since there are no words you can adapt the story to your family's situation.

The Sears Children's Library: We got What Baby Needs and Baby on the Way .  We love these because they mostly represent our family with easy mention of baby wearing, skin-to-skin snuggling, breastfeeding, both parents being involved etc. 

Welcome With Love : This is a cool story about a home birth and a wonderful way to talk about birth as a safe, natural, normal event that is important to the whole family.