How do I prepare my child for her new sibling?

The arrival of a new baby can bring many changes to a family. Parents spend a lot of energy on preparations, and after the baby arrives, much of the family's attention involves caring for the newborn. All this change can be hard for older siblings to handle. It's common for them to feel jealousy toward the newborn and to react to the upheaval by acting out. Personally i did a few things before the arrival of my second child. 1) I brought him to my gynae appointment and explained to him what was going on. 2) Explaining day by day what is happening, especially when it comes to purchasing things or fixing stuffs for the younger sibling 3) Shows them examples of other families with more kids. Telling them how the elder siblings looked after of the younger siblings. Above were the tips i used on my child. For more, you can read at the below link too. They give a further explanation on how and what to expect from your child. http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sibling-prep.html

When I found out I was pregnant, I had asked if my daughter wanted a sibling and she had asked for a sister to play My Little Ponies with. I told her that if she behaves, perhaps I'll grow one in my tummy for her and she got really excited and even started naming the baby. When we found out about the baby's gender, a boy instead, I had told her that she wouldn't have to share her Ponies since it's a boy and she made me buy a toy car that very day itself! As the weeks go by, I started asking her if she's excited, if she would show off her brother, if she will help care for her brother and when the day itself came, she was nothing but full with love. 7 months on and she's the most fiercely protective big sister that I've ever seen.

My friend started to refer to her baby bump by name to her 3 year old son as soon as it was prominent. She'd refer to the bump as his little sister right from the start and would tell him that she was living inside her as he did once and will come to stay with the family in a couple of months. This created an awareness of his sister's existence even before she was physically there. When the baby was born, my friend and her husband presented their son with a gift saying that it was from his sister