Are there differences in raising a boy and a girl?

[sursyot]

Hi I am having my second baby my first is a girl and now it will be a boy, I've been around girls my whole life and never actually took care of boys and I am a little nervous about it.

[carpe_diem]

How lovely - so you will have one of each 
By the time he arrives I feel sure you will automatically know what to do - it will be natural for you to get it right.
I had two boys and a girl and it wasn't difficult to adapt from one to another.
 
The only thing I found to be a bit different was that I used cloth nappies and found that boys need  a bit more padding at the front. 

It is said that boys and girls tend to reach their development milestones at different ages - but then that happens so gradually that it is no problem. There can be similar differences between two boys development stages all children are different and have different natures.
 
You grow with your child from the first day - so you learn to cope. Enjoy how different they are as well as how similar 

[sursyot]

thanks so much for your advice.
Yes that feeling came with my daughter, when I became mom for the first time, I kinda felt what she wanted.
Thanks for reminding me!!!!

[carpe_diem]

Thanks and karma to you  to encourage you on your way

Having a second (and 3rd 4th etc if that happens  ) is so much easier because you already are a baby expert - know the routine . . . so you have more time to adjust to the differences between them.
Also just think how your big girl will love to 'help' look after her new little brother 
In fact there was 19mths between my first two - the boy was really useful fetching things for me, and he was so proud of her 

[sursyot]

Yeay 

I got my first karma thanks...

thats sound great she loves to help, I wanted at least two having a single child seems so lonely for me, I enjoyed growing up with a younger sister.

[koala girl]

You'll do great and it'll all come naturally.  My daughter was 2 1/2 when my son came along.  I was a little intimidated because I too only knew girls until that point.  As carpe_diem  said the only difference is in the diapering department.  Everything else just falls in place.  You'll be amazed at how much love you'll have for both your kids!  Congradulations!! 

[sursyot]

Yes, I am pretty excited already tomorow will be 37 weeks and I am going crazy already...cleaning, rearranging and folding and refolding his cloths..going gaga 

[koala girl]

How exciting! I'll be thinking of you.  Please let us know when he arrives.

[sursyot]

thanks, sure will let you know, when my little one comes.

[Nikita]

Somewhere in here I was discussing this very topic, and the upshot of it was...similar to age 4 or 5, then incredibly different.  In fact, being a woman, I'm naturally clueless about how to raise a boy. So I turn to books like those by Steven Biddulph on raising boys, maximising manhood etc.  and i've learned... they are completely different to us.  Like from another planet different. And they cant be raised the same, it takes a whole different approach.  Boys naturally play with boy things, like cars, and guns. And avoid girl things. It's weird, but true. And if they do "girl" things, they instinctively know they aren't supposed to, like when my son was into his sisters things as a toddler, but embarrassed if I caught him playing with girlie things (I never said anything to indicate it was "not masculine").

[lawrencelb]

Well said, Nikita -
I have been around lots of kiddos over the last 10 years (in my profession), and yes, boys are inherently different than girls!  It is amazing how anything within a 2 foot reach of a boy can be turned into a weapon (even when the parents work tremendously hard to keep the boy from being exposed to any sort of violence). Boys' play skills are also so much more "rough and tumble" than girls (as a whole of course - I've known plenty of little girls who go after rough and tumble games too - my daughter included).  Even though my own little boy is only just a year old, I certainly can tell differences in how he "views" the world.  I feel so blessed to have been given one of each gender - I am enjoying it tremendously.   

Carpe_diem is right too - it is amazing how much the older one will want to help with the younger one...and the best thing in the whole wide world is watching the love flow back and forth between my two precious babes.

To sursyot - I wish you well - the moment a new life joins us in this crazy world is truly an amazing gift  - keep us posted on his arrival! 

[laidalays]

I've been my whole life surrounded by women as I haven't had any brother and I have three sisters. The thing about it is that I would have preferred having a daughter instead of a boy what I have. I suppose because I had some fear about not knowing how to deal with a boy. Now I suppose it is more or less the same. Although we adults tend to treat boys and girls in a different way. We are more talkative and kind with girls, while we for example are more strict with boys.

[sursyot]

Hello,

just want to let you know Junior is here born on sept. 2 at 5:24 pm...weight 6lbs 5 oz and 18.5 inches long...

[carpe_diem]

Awww     Many congratulations !!

What a sweetie he looks - he is certainly letting everone know that he has arrived 

What does your DD think of her little brother?

Here's Karma for you both

[nhockaday]

Aww, what a sweetie! Congrats!

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