Isn’t the picture self explanatory? Look at the girl’s expressions when she is looking at her new sibling. So much of curiosity, excitement accompanied with lots of question. Our today’s post revolves around new sibling.

Every family gets excited when they hear the news of their new addition. Bringing home a newborn is a little different the second time around. They start to think of all those things that need to be taken care of before the baby arrives. One of them is preparing your first child for a new sibling. With the second baby, you’re likely to wonder how your older child will react to having a new sibling.  Every child feels their sole right on their mommy. Accepting the fact that soon my mommy is going to be shared by someone else other than me is quite hard. That doesn’t mean they are not happy. But their little brains are not able to process this new information very easily. We have to help them to do that. So, what can we do? That’s today’s topic is – How to prepare your first child for a new sibling?

 

• Don’t think they will understand when the situation arrives: Spend lots of time together. Reassure kids you love them forever; they’ll never be replaced. Tell them they are going to have a life-time gift in the form of a new sibling. This leads to the second point.

• Talk to them: It sounds so easy right? But sometimes it’s not. It is the most important point. You have to dig in to know what’s going on inside their brain. Not all kids are expressive. And at such moments when they are trying to adjust with this news, they either show their curiosity by asking lot of questions or they go in a shell thinking that mommy will not be spending time with me. Yes, because that’s what come their mind.

Also, their friend circle or what they get to hear outside the house plays a very important role in building their thinking. With all of the changes that a new baby can bring, some older kids might struggle as they try to adjust.So, try not to let them anticipate the future.

• Prepare them in different ways: Every child has a way of understanding things. Depending upon your child’s maturity level, you can pick your way. Some like things to be told through examples, others by asking questions. Have patience and answer their questions to your possible extent.

• Involve them in the preparation for the baby: They feel important when we ask for their inputs in preparing for the new sibling. It can be anything – deciding name, picking baby stuff etc.

• Have lots and lots of patience: They will not open up very easily about their feelings. Make them feel comfortable that they can discuss their queries with you. Be prepared to answer the same question more than once because like any other complex concepts, this topic will also take some time to grasp.

• Let them know about your stay at the hospital: Sometimes we don’t know how long we might have to stay at the hospital. But give them a rough idea about your stay and more important that they will not be able to accompany you there.

Last but not the least,

• Tell them how important they are in their sibling’s life: When they know that they hold a special place in their baby brother/bay sister, they feel honored. Also, they might be picturizing themselves playing with their sibling from Day 1 so make it clear about the waiting time for that moment but what are the other ways to have fun together.

These were my experience on how to prepare your first child for a new sibling. I followed almost all these point with my daughter to prepare her for her baby brother. And it worked very well.