There's A House Inside My Mummy

We have just had our second child. I was worried about the transition for my eldest. The age gap is 2 years and 7 months. We started reading this book every night in the last two months of my pregnancy and I credit it fully for the smooth transition. We pointed to the pictures and labeled each person and him, myself and his dad. And at the end you see the baby in the mums arms. And we talked about the family unit and baby joining. I truly recommend this to anyone

I bought this book whilst pregnant with our second child as i'd heard good things about it and we wanted to gently introduce our son to the idea of having a new baby brother/sister and thought a bedtime story about it would be the best approach.It turned out that the book really is as good as people say, we had a lot of fun reading it and our son loved looking at the pictures and telling us what he thought was happening in them. He was around 18 months old when we started reading this to him (and 23 months old when our second child was born).I have had a brief look at the other reviews and noticed some people felt unhappy as the book is about a boy and the baby also turns out to be a boy, so perhaps it will feel less relevant if you have a little girl and are expecting another girl, but i imagine it would still be helpful as it is a nice story and can be used as a way to introduce the idea of pregnancy and babies to young toddlers regardless of gender. To be honest, for us it was perfect as we had a boy and were expecting another so it was ideal and the more we read it we could see that our son was really starting to identify with the main character and get used to the whole idea. We read this so often that now our second son is here and we don't really read it anymore i actually miss it!I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has a toddler and a new baby on the way.

This is a wonderful book. It explains a topic which can be really difficult for small children to understand in a toddler-friendly way. I bought it for my (then) nearly 2-year old when I was pregnant with her baby brother. It explains many of the things that happen to mummy when she is pregnant in a way that makes it acceptable to toddlers and helps them understand what they can do.I was very tired, particularly at the end of my pregnancy and my daughter really related to "mummy falls asleep before she's got undressed". The pictures are really good and the book has become a firm favourite with my daughter. Best of all she was really prepared for a new baby coming into the family and I think it really helped her cope with a difficult time when I was in hospital.Can wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone with a toddler who is expecting the arrival of a new sibling.

I should start by saying that my son will only be 27 months when our new baby arrives next month, so maybe he is a little young to appreciate the whole concept of a new baby. I bought this book a little hesitantly, as reviews were a little mixed, but it seemed the best pre-baby book available. On the whole, I would recommend it, although not unreservedly.What I don't like about it:I personally find the text rather annoying and not at all clear for a child to understand. Plus as our new baby will be a girl, I find the fact that they refer to the baby as ''he'' a bit off-putting. We don't really tend to read the text anymore, and just use the pictures to have a conversation.I also think there could be a few more pages of post-baby life. Most of the images are of the pregnancy phase, which is fine, but then there is only one picture of the family with the new baby, and also in this the mum is holding the baby. I would like to have had at least a few pages of what life is like afterwards (or even a companion book?) so that we can explore life once the baby has arrived. Also an image of the little boy and the baby together would be nice.What I do like about it:The style of illustration is really nice. I should say that the child in the book is a small boy, so my son instantly recognizes it as him. I don't know whether a girl would connect with it quite so strongly.For us, the illustrations are very much things my son can related to, so really the book more than anything seems to be helping him talk about his life. For example pictures of the boy brushing his teeth, reading a book, playing with the parents and a wooden train set. There are also a few places in the book with strips of small drawings (as though they were on the wall), and my son loves naming all the various things.The images of the mum with a large tummy definitely seem to make sense to him - especially the one where she is asleep on the sofa! Previously when I would nod off, my son would try to wake me up. Recently he puts his fingers to his lips and tells his dad and the dogs ''mummy sleepy'' - which is nice for me!All in all, I can't really tell whether the book is preparing him for the new baby (we'll see how he reacts next month!) but I do like the book. My other approach is to talk about Peppa and George and CHarlie and Lola, both of which he's very keen on, and I emphasise the fact they are brothers and sisters.

I bought this for my son who will be two JUST after my second child is born and he loves it. In fact, he demands it every night at bedtime! Despite his age he has become "wee baby" daft and will point to my tummy to confirm that the "wee baby" is there. He is about as excited as such a young child could be about the prospect of a new arrival and I think this book has helped.There are many good features - the rhyming verses, which are not too long; the lovely pictures, with lots to look at and talk about apart from the baby; the prominence of Dad throughout and a strong impression that the current child is very much loved, cherished and played with, which does somehow manage also to imply that this happy picture will only be better with the addition of the baby. What is even better is the tongue-in-cheek humour, which has given me, my husband and my friends much amusement (e.g. "I just can't wait to meet him, I hope that he's alright. My Daddy says be patient, as his door is rather tight"!)

We bought this book when I was expecting my second child to help my daughter (who was coming up to 2) understand what was happening to mummy. My daughter really identified with the child in the book, and the simple rhymes were easy for her to remember at an age where repetition was very important to her. The illustrations are brilliant too, she loved playing "spot the..." with all the background details.I was very ill during my pregnancy, so the fact that this included the mummy getting sick really helped my little girl. I loved that it was so positive. She loved the book and now, aged five, still knows it by heart and loves reading it to her little brother.Its not technical, if they're old enough to wonder how the baby got there or how it gets out then this isn't the right book. But I'd recommend it to any toddler expecting a sibling.

So we bought this at the beginning of my pregnancy of baby #2 to try help our 2 year old understand what was going on. Since then, it's become her very favourite book, and asks us to read it to her every night. She has had many conversations with her unborn baby sister via "Mummy's tummy telephone" and loves when we ask her to identify the different objects shown in the background of the images. How much she will understand when baby is here I can't yet say, but it's certainly helped her understand why mummy's body looks so different, why mummy is sleeping so much, and why she needs to be more careful around mummy too. Fantastic buy for expectant mothers!

This is a lovely book! We got it for my son when I was expecting. It really helped him understand what was happening to me. Really like the details like how I was so tired and not always get so great. My son chose me to read this majority of nights at bedtime. Still chooses it and his brother was born 2 months ago! He now gets to the last page and names all of us like we are in the book.I was recommended it by a neighbour and I have already recommended it to another friend having a second baby. She got it and loves it too.

un cuento muy bonito, nos ha servido mucho para ayudar a preparar la llegada del hermanito con a mi hija

It's a fun and clever book, but it is for an older child...probably age 3.5 and above.

Very cute book, I think it helped getting our child excited about having a sibling. The sweet rhymes are good for a bedtime read, the drawings are quite relatable and have lots of household objects and situations which also help develop language and recognition skills. Very happy with our purchase!

We're expecting our second baby and wanted our toddler to understand he will be having a sibling soon. This book did just the trick and the best part is he enjoys reading it so much he asks to read it almost every night - it's become his new favourite book. Highly recommend especially if your first child is a boy as it may be more relatable considering the character in the book is also a little boy. :)

There’s A House Inside My Mummy is such a sweet, reassuring book for young children. My eldest and I read it every day while I was pregnant — he was two when his brother was born — and it really appealed to his age and level of understanding.The story is simple and easy to follow, and it sparked lots of lovely conversations about the baby in mummy’s belly, helping him feel included and excited rather than confused. It became part of our daily routine and was a gentle way to prepare him for a new sibling.Highly recommended for families expecting another baby, especially with toddlers.