Sharing his or her loving and protecting parents is the last thing a tiny tot or a young kid would want to do. If not catered properly, this feeling might give rise to a sibling rivalry amongst the children. Forget welcoming, the older child will start detesting the thought of having a sibling who according to him will become the focal point of all your care and attention. It all depends on you as parents to deal sensitively with this issue.
Make Your Child Welcome His Younger Sibling
It is not a rocket science to understand your child’s psyche. He or she ultimately needs all your love and attention. If you understand and follow the steps as mentioned below, it will be easy to help your child welcome a new sibling into the family.
While Planning Pregnancy – It is important to start preparing the child ideally in the phase when you are planning a new child so as to give your child ample time to get acquainted with the idea of having a new sibling.
Talk to your child about how valuable it will be to have a younger sibling who will look forward to him like a role model always and follow his footsteps.
Try to make it look to him that it is combined decision of you both along with the child to adopt the idea of new baby.
During Pregnancy – Give plenty of support and reassurance to your child who might or might not show his worry outside but naturally would be insecure from inside.
Try to involve your child maximum in preparing for the baby discussing various things about the baby like how will the baby be, what reactions to expect and so on.
During this period you can also teach your child how to be gentle, protective and loving towards the new baby. But be careful not to overdo it. Your child must not feel cornered.
After the Birth of the baby – This is the most crucial phase. Never get swayed away completely in the love of the newly born that your elder child feels neglected.
Always point out to your child that the new baby likes him.
Do not make him feel grown up suddenly, the feeling will automatically dawn on him with time.
Involve him in various chores around the baby like finding changing of clothes or fetching a feeding bottle etc.
Never scold him for rash handling of the baby; it might be completely unintentional.
Mother should give ample time to the child while father takes care of the newly born, and vice versa.
Both the parents try to have a nice family time with the child when the younger one is asleep.
Request your friends and relatives to show equal affection towards both the kids.
You might encounter problems while following the above steps and it all might not be as easy as written above; but try to have patience, as it is very important for the healthy development and growing up of both your children.
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About the Author: Hi, this is Allen Jennifer from Livesnet, a site devoted to helping people find the perfect baby gears for their needs, and offer tips on daily problems. I love to write about parenting tips and baby product reviews. Why not visit our website to see my hot reviews on mamas and papas stroller.
