The big sibling box 

The BIG sibling box 

I don’t know where I read about the big sibling box but as soon as I read it, I knew it was something I had to do… 

Essentially, the big sibling box is a box of goodies that a new baby “gifts” to the older sibling. 

For me, this performed three functions

  1. My son was occupied and could be occupied while I fed the new baby,
  2. He thought his sister already knew him so well that she knew what he liked.
  3. On a subconscious level I wanted to do everything I could to make him associated her arrival with excitement rather than jealousy and trepidation. 

The big sibling box doesn’t have to be expressive or impressive. I wrapped up an old box and put a combination of cheap things in, some books and one big toy. 

If you’re interested in this concept read on for what I put together, when we gave it to him and how he reacted. 

The Big Sibling Box, just want you need to keep your older child preoccupied when you are trying to attend to your new baby!

Our Big Sibling Box

At the time that our second was born, my son was 2.5 years old, had just started day care, moved to a big boy bed and we were about to immigrate. Got to love complex chaos. 

I was really worried about how he was going to adjust the arrival of his sister, let alone all these other things that he had going on.

As I said, I stumbled across this idea and it seemed ideal.

In the lead up to the arrival of our little girl I needed to be busy but you know you’re meant to relax. So this was also a perfect combination of work to keep me distracted but busy!

Our Big Sibling Box was just an old nappy box wrapped up in small bits of wrapping paper.

The Big Sibling Box I made for my son when my daughter was born. I just wrapped up a nappy box in different pieces of wrapping paper.

How to make your Big Sibling Box

You can make your Big Sibling Box out of whatever you have at hand.

As I said, I just used a nappy box. But just use whatever you have whether its a wooden box, shoe box, cardboard box. A pallet box. That is probably the easiest thing to use for little kids. And then wrap it up in spare bits of wrapping paper.

For older kids you can use a tin or a glass jar. Older kids will be more responsible so using something like this would be fine. Imagine a glass jam jar for older girls, teen girls filled with little notes, teeny stationary and a bracelet.

Some ideas for your Big Sibling Box 

What you put in your Big Sibling Box is really up to your child and what interests them but here are some ideas:

  • Bubbles. If your kids are like mine, they love bubbles.
  • Puzzles, puzzles are such a great option. You can lay all the pieces on the ground, right way up before you start a feed and then leave it to them with just a bit of instruction.
  • Die cast cars or little cars. Two cars are good because then they can race the two. 
  • Duplo is a real winner if your child is interested in LEGO. Building and playing may last through a whole feed. 
  • Play-doh. If you can handle it. I can’t. I just can’t handle play-doh but it is a great activity. 
  • Coloring in sheets. There are so many places online now that you can get coloring sheets and activity sheets for free. If you don’t know about these great sites, drop me a line and I’ll point you in the right direction. 
  • Books! 
  • A beanie boo.
  • Stickers and sticker sheets.
  • Dolls – barbies or babies.
  • Fridge magnets.
  • Wooden building blocks.
  • Paint with water. NOT paint with paint brushes – you don’t want to have to get stuck into supervising when you’re trying to breastfeed.
  • An etcher-sketcher!
  • Binoculars. Can you imagine what they could see staring through the windows.
Big Sibling Box - its a great way to make your older child feel special and connected to the baby. It also helps keep your bigger child distracted when you need to attend to baby.
  • Crayons, pencils or something to write and draw with.
  • Big brother or big sister t-shirt.
  • Special bubble bath.
  • A slinky.
  • Glue or glitter glue and paper strips so they can stick to their hearts delight.
  • A chocolate, lolly or packet of sweets. One or two treats for when you’re in the hospital and they need something and there is nothing to distract them when they need attention.
  • Glow in the dark stars.
  • DVDs – we still have a dvd player and it is a great distraction for short bursts of time.
  • A big brother or sister badge.
Big Sibling Box - its a great way to make your older child feel special and connected to the baby. It also helps keep your bigger child distracted when you need to attend to baby.

I also wouldn’t put cards in because that’s another game you would have to play with them.

Special Gifts 

I included a special gift in my son’s Big Sibling Box. But, and this is an awful disclosure, I can’t remember what it was.

How bad is that. It could have been a really big dump truck or some tools. I found that giving him a present from his sister made him think that she knew him already. 

Here are some other ideas for special gifts 

  • A game that they will love: Operation, Hungry Hippos,
  • A dolly, character or figurine.
  • Bracelet or necklace.
  • A camera to capture all the special moments.
  • Dress up dress and dress up princess shoes.
  • A big teddy or soft toy. Something to cuddle when you can cuddle mom.
  • Remote control car.
  • Chalk board or drawing board.
Big Sibling Box - its a great way to make your older child feel special and connected to the baby. It also helps keep your bigger child distracted when you need to attend to baby.

Just remember to keep the presents small enough and few enough to fit the size of the box.