There's nothing like the excitement of bringing a new baby home – unless of course you're greeted at the door by one very unamused 2-year-old screaming to take that "thing" back from whence it came.

A new baby changes the family lifestyle, which can be daunting for young children. To ease this transition, you need to prepare everyone – including big brothers and sisters – for the change that's about to take place.

Depending on the age of your child, Betsy Brown Braun advises parents not to break the news of the pregnancy a full nine months out. "Nine months is a very long time to a young child – way too far away for a child to anticipate," says the child development specialist, founder of Parenting Pathways Inc. and mother of triplets. "When Mom begins obviously to show or when the child notices, then it's time to break the news."

Stacy DeBroff, author of The Mom Book (Free Press, 2002) and founder of Mom Central, agrees. "Give the child a time frame he or she can understand for when the baby will arrive, such as right after your birthday, around Christmas time or just before nursery school ends for the summer," she says.

Explaining the process may prove a little trickier. Braun says that for the very young, you may try to describe the event this way: "Mommy is growing a baby in a special place in my body called the uterus. The uterus is right next to my tummy, so it looks like it is in my tummy. But only food goes in a tummy! The baby will grow in my uterus for nine months, until it is ready to be born. Then you will have a baby brother or sister."

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