Explaining to toddler when the girl you were expecting turns out to be a boy?
I'm pregnant, and like many pregnant women, I spend a lot of time Googling pregnancy-related things that likely won't happen. Now, ultrasounds have told us to expect a girl, and so we've already named her and told her big sister about her and such. But what if "she" turns out to be a "he?" I couldn't find any info on Google about how to explain this to a toddler, and in the interest of being prepared, I'd like some answers. How do you explain to a toddler that the baby sister they were expected to have is actually a baby brother (or vice versa)? Is it a struggle to get them to accept this after being told the opposite for months? Parents only, please. :)
2015-07-31T06:54:33Z
Thanks everyone! She's 3.5 and mostly knows the difference between boys and girls, but your answers did help alleviate my worries. :3
Jitterbug2015-07-30T13:09:35Z
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When I found out I was pregnant, my 2 year old daughter started saying "Baby Sister" right away. We let her go, and figured there was a 50% chance she was right, and we'd correct it later if she wasn't. We brought her to our gender ultrasound, and found out it was in fact a little boy. We wondered at this point how we would explain this to her. We kept saying "Little Brother" after that, but she still sometimes called him sister.
I'll be honest, when she came into the hospital room to meet her brother for the first time, that's all that mattered. She instantly fell in love with him, and could have cared less that it wasn't the girl she was expecting. Now if you ask her if she wants a sister, she says, "No, I have my baby brother!"
Moral of my story - your toddler will absolutely adore whatever you have, despite what she is expecting! But ultrasounds are so accurate, I'm sure you are having a little girl anyway!
Depending on how old your toddler is. It can be fixed just tell them mommy's doctor says its a boy not a girl. My 2 1/2 year old so struggled because we were calling the baby "brother-sister" and she still days it sometimes and we just correct her. She's only just now also learning a boy and a girl and not even by boost parts just in general femine and masculane still really she only sort if knows. She's also seen multiple ultrasound but honestly she doesn't understand. She says sisters in her tiny sometimes. Toddlers are very smart and do understand shoot more then we think but when it comes to these things honestly I don't think they really get it until baby is here they have no idea regally mommy has a baby in her tummu and even that, for a toddler to talk around there head? My 4 year old brother in law thought I ate the baby so no matter what they won't trumpet understand until baby's here it's not a big deal.
The likelihood that this happens is so small it isn't worth your time to worry about it. If it happens you tell the kid that baby decided to be a surprise. Little kids typically roll with change quite easily.