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"  &amp;quot;My daughter, Brenna, now 7, was 5 when I gave birth to Scott. Instead of pushing her to take on her big-sister role, we focused on keeping her individual life as routine as possible: She kept up her schedule of playdates and activities, and we let her dictate when and how much she wanted to be involved with Scott. At first Brenna didn&amp;#039;t acknowledge her new brother very much, but when she realized that the structure of her life didn&amp;#039;t have to change, she warmed up to him and began asking to hold him or feed him a bottle, and now she loves Scott very much. I think our approach helped mitigate some of the competition for attention that&amp;#039;s common when a new sibling arrives.&amp;quot;--Ellen Bremen, 40, Seattle  &amp;quot;When my son Trace was born, I put a sign on our front door telling visitors to ask my 3-year-old son, Trent, to show them his new baby brother. That way, Trent felt like his big-brother role was very important, and he adored Trace. But please don&amp;#039;t ask me how they get along now, 10 years later!&amp;quot;--April Tilley, 42, Winston-Salem, NC &amp;quot;I made sure to involve my 4-year-old daughter, Jessica, in caring for the new baby. Though it usually took more time, she helped me change diapers (with assistance!) and bottle-feed the baby. Jealousy never became an issue.&amp;quot;--Angie Foley, 46, Princeton, WV &amp;quot;To prepare my 2-year-old daughter, Carrera, for her new sister, we bought several big-sister books, and we used a baby doll to explain her new role to her. We visited my friends who had babies so she could see what a real baby was like. And once the baby arrived, we asked Carrera to pick out a special welcome gift for her, and then we bought a gift for Carrera from the baby. All of these things helped ease her into becoming a sister.&amp;quot;--Sara Smith, 32, Lancaster, KY &amp;quot;When I gave birth to my son, Jarrett, I made the mistake of asking my husband to take Rebecca, my 3-year-old, on outings so I could focus on the baby. I soon realized that this wasn&amp;#039;t helping Rebecca deal with having a brother, so I switched tactics: When my husband got home from work, I&amp;#039;d hand Jarrett off to him so I could give Rebecca some un-divided attention; this helped her get through the difficult time. When I had my third child three years later, Rebecca took it in stride, as did Jarrett, who had never been an only child and so probably figured, What&amp;#039;s one more?&amp;quot;--Karen Schiff Freeman, 39, Solon, OH &amp;quot;I made it easy on myself: I had twins!&amp;quot;--Maree Carlo, 24, Flemington, NJ &amp;quot;To prepare my then-5-year-old daughter, Brandi, for the arrival of her new brother, I encouraged her to help choose the colors and theme of the nursery, and she really enjoyed decorating. When our friends and family stopped by to see the new baby, I made sure they spent some quality time with Brandi too. The transition from one child to two turned out to be quite smooth.&amp;quot;--Barbara Stanley, 55, Blairsville, GA Share your smart mommy strategy!  REDBOOK wants to know: How do you encourage your kid to eat healthier? Send your advice to lpalmer@hearst.com (subject: Mom Strats) along with your name, age, city, and state. Your quote could appear in a future issue! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/mom-kids/advice/a6294/preparing-for-a-new-sibling/>