A Real Baby Brother or Sister – Are Your Other Children Ready?
Having your first baby was a challenge, now you have another one on the way. Your children may understand they are “having a baby”, and are excitedly playing with dolls and looking at pictures. Are they ready for a real baby brother or sister to join the family? More importantly, are you ready?
You already know the basics of taking care of a baby, so those fears are not creeping in. This time your fears are all about the interaction between your other child, and the upcoming baby. You are probably concerned about jealousy, and feelings of abandonment you children might feel. You can take many steps to help everyone be prepared for the new baby.
The first thing you need to continue doing is talking about how they will need to treat a real baby. You little child probably has pictures of playing, dancing, and doing fun things with the new baby. You can help by starting to show them how gentle they will need to be. Take a baby doll, and start having them handle it carefully. Teach your children the new baby will be this small.
The next thing you need to start talking about, and showing your child is how they will be involved with the baby. Ask them questions about helping with throwing diapers away, bringing bottles, helping to entertain the baby. The more involvement you can have from your children, the more easily they will accept and enjoy the new baby.
You need to start mentally preparing yourself, also. Plan how you are going to split time between your baby and your other child. You cannot become so focused on the real baby of the family, and forget about your older babies. They need your time, and your attention, too. You will need to learn to split responsibilities with your spouse. This way you can both take care of the baby, and still have time for the other children.
When you start buying a few items of newborn clothing, show them to your children. It is a good time to discuss how small the baby is going to be. By seeing the tiny clothes it will help them understand the real baby is going to be about the same size as a doll.
One more thing you need to do as often as possible. Let you children see a real baby. Whenever you get an opportunity to let them see a newborn infant, have them look, and explain this is how small and helpless their new brother and sister will be. If you take a little time to prepare and discuss the new baby with your small children, they will easily accept the new arrival. They will be excited to help, and to be involved. Your job will be to keep a close eye on them, and give them the time they need, too. It is going to be a fun transition for your small family. A transition you are all going to enjoy.