Helping Toddlers Cope with a New Baby (page 2)

Additional Articles/Resources

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Helping Older Siblings Adjust to Their Baby Sib - You've just come home from the hospital with your new baby, and your older child begins behaving in perplexing ways. What's happening here? Maybe you're experiencing something that almost all families experience with the addition of more children to that family, namely, sibling rivalry.

Preparing Your Child for A New Sibling - For parents, the arrival of a baby is a happy event. By steadily preparing your child for your newborn's arrival, you can help alleviate her fears and let her share in your excitement.

Understanding Children - Sibling Rivalryand  Getting Along - Sibling Fights - Sibling fighting, put downs, and arguing among children causes frustration and concern in most parents. Although sibling rivalry can have several reasons, brothers and sisters often fight to get the attention of parents. Article provides tips and suggestions on how to handle this situation.
 
Siblings Are Forever - While friendships come and go, sibling relationships are permanent. Because sibling relationships can be so beneficial in later life, it is important to nourish interactions with siblings in adulthood and among our children.

Before the Baby Comes Home

Before the baby is born, it is important to prepare the older child. This can help a great deal to minimize the feelings of jealousy. Some things you can do are:

• Talk about the pregnancy. Have your older child feel your baby's movements.
• Encourage your older child to help you prepare the baby's room.
• Move your older child to a different room or big bed several months before the baby's birth if she is going to have a change.
• Read books together about what happens during pregnancy as well as after the baby is born.
• Look through family photographs and talk about your older child's first year of life.
• Refer to the new baby as our baby.

After the Baby Arrives:

• Call your older child daily from the hospital.
• Try to have your older child visit you and the baby in the hospital.
• When you return home from the hospital, spend your first moments with the older child. Have someone else carry the new baby in the house.
• Give the older sibling a gift from "the new baby."
• Ask visitors to give extra notice to the older child.
• Have your child unwrap the baby's gifts.

Taken from Helping Older Siblings Adjust to Their Baby Sib.