Sibling Class

On Monday afternoon, we took Ian to the hospital to participate in a sibling class. One of the labor and delivery nurses gave an hour and 15 minute class to all the older siblings-to-be. Ian was very excited because (a) Daddy dropped him off at school that morning, (b) he got picked up early from school, (c) BOTH Mommy and Daddy went to pick him up, and (d) I told him he would get to see a movie at the hospital. The whole way to the hospital he said, "We going to the hospital to see babies and a movie!"

First, the nurse gave us a tour of the maternity ward. The kids lined up at the window of the nursery and she went in and held up one of the newborns for them to see. Ian seemed pretty interested. There were only two new babies in the nursery that day and Ian pointed that out to us. Then she showed the kids the recovery room and let them sit on the bed while she moved it up and down, but Ian didn't want to sit on it. He kept saying to me, "I wanna see a movie!" We went back to the classroom and she had cookies and juice for everybody. Ian just wanted juice, no cookies (he had been eating his raisins before), but Mommy and Daddy had a cookie. Then she showed us a movie with Prof. Higabigaby. He was pretty silly, but it showed a little girl who was about to become a big sister and everything she had to do, then it demonstrated how babies "talk", what babies eat, how to hold a baby, etc. When the movie was over, Ian's assessment was that the baby in the video was "crying and sleeping". Then the nurse had baby dolls for each of the kids to practice their holding techniques ("only when Mommy or Daddy is there") with a "good lap", i.e., sitting up straight, legs together. They also were allowed to change the baby's diaper. Ian didn't want to hold the baby at first. Then he made a connection to Baby Greg, one of the infants at school. "It looks like Baby Greg! It looks like Nicole's brother!" Actually, Greg is much chubbier and bigger, but close enough. After that, he really wanted to hold the baby and he was very careful. Each baby had its own pacifier, but there was only one plastic bottle to go around. Ian said, "I wanna feed the baby." So we waited our turn and then he fed the baby the bottle. When one of the kids asked for the bottle, I asked if the baby was done and Ian said, "Not yet. Almost done." A few minutes later, the baby was done and Ian passed the bottle on. Here he is practicing to be a big brother:


Ian didn't want to practice changing the diaper though (smart kid). At the end of the class, each kid got a certificate, a balloon, a pin, and a book about being a big sibling. Ian was very excited about the balloon. If you click on the picture, there is a video in the album of Ian and Daddy blowing up the balloon.

It was a successful class and I think Ian will make a very good older brother!