Preparing Your Kids For A New Sibling
You are excited to have a new child joining your family, but this can cause some fears and discontent amongst older siblings. We have some great tried and true tips for Preparing Your Kids For A New Sibling. Every family dynamic is different, but these tips are some of the most widely used and successful.
Have them help you prepare the baby room. Getting them involved in the basic process of preparing for the baby can go a long way toward introducing them to the idea. Letting them see the place their new brother or sister will be can help them get use to the idea and feel like they are a part of this.
Involve them in the pregnancy. From letting them attend doctors visits to having them help choose the baby name it is super easy to get your kids involved with your pregnancy. Ask for their help while showing them that being a big brother or sister is going to be a ton of fun.
Spend quality time alone with them before the birth. Set aside some special one on one time for both you and your spouse to spend with the older sibling(s). Make sure their love tank is full and they know how important and special they are to you. It can be a great time to share about their birth story, or to buy a special big brother or big sister shirt for them to wear.
Spend time around other babies. If they have never been around a baby before, take the time to babysit or spend time with a friend who has a baby. Letting them get use to the needs, smells, and sounds of a baby can hep this transition go much smoother.
Older siblings can adjust easily when you follow these tips for preparing your kids for a new sibling. By taking the time to prepare them before the birth, you will make the transition much easier.
We involved my oldest one as much as possible when I was pregnant. Now they are best friends.
It is definitely good to prepare them and to include them as much as possible.
My kids keep bugging me for another sibling! I am not sure I would have to prepare them much but I know my littlest I would. So this is great!
And expect the possibility of regression when you bring home baby. I’ve brought home 2 babies and both girls regressed at first. It’s normal.
I should have prepped my daughter for having a baby brother around. I guess I was lucky she was obsessed with him!
I flt an insane amount of guilt when pregnant with #2. In the long run, a sibling is the best gift yu can give them!
These are some really sweet tips. It’s such a hard thing to do because you can never anticipate how they’ll react, especially if they’re young.
When I was pregnant with my son, I sent my daughter to a “big sister” class at the hospital. It was a great way to get her involved and prepare her for not being an only child anymore.
Great tips. I have 5 little ones, I have had to experience this with all of them. It is definitely not an easy process.
These are great tips. We prepared our son for baby Sara’s arrival for months so he was very excited when she finally came!
My step children adjusted well to Bella when she was born however my step daughter had some issues like if I still liked and cared enough for her too since I had to be so busy with the new baby. It is really hard for siblings to adjust some times the boys reverted back to acting younger then they were for attention. Sticking to some boundaries seem to help us. If you can find a sib shop that helps parents get some skills they can use to help the kids transition that would have been easier then just wining it like we did. WE did talk to them but I think a sibling shop would have helped a lot for them to understand the special needs our daughter has. She’s 7 and they all have adjusted well to her and treat her like a sibling so life will get better it just a matter of adjusting and time and lot’s of love patience.
Those are great tips. I involved my eldest with my pregnancy
These are great tips for preparing your child for a sibling. It can be a difficult transition for some kids.
It is such a huge change when there is a new sibling! THese are great tips!
My daughter is an only child, so she didn’t have to prepare for this. These are wonderful ways to prepare though!