5 Tips to Help your Child Adjust to a New Sibling

A new baby in the house is bound to bring excitement to your first born. If he had shown a lot of excitement before birth, things might change after the baby is born.First born’s normally experience their first bouts of jealousy when the baby is born. They start realizing that the new born is the object of everyone’s attention. You must understand that it will take some time for him to accept the changes that he is faced with. Sibling rivalry is inevitable and it is the thought in the mind of sharing of parent’s love that bring about this jealousy.

Here are some tips to help your child adjust to the new addition in the family:

Gifts

1. Your new born is sure to get a lot of gifts from your loved ones. Your first born is going to be jealous over the attention and gifts being showered on the new baby.
2. Without your first born’s knowledge, ask your close family and friends to buy gifts for the older one too. They will feel included to receive gifts along with his sibling.

Alone time

1. Just because you have a new child, you stop doing things that you have always done.
2. Make your first born understand that things don’tjust change when a baby arrives; you still love him and will spend time alone with him.
3. Leave the dad responsible for the new baby for an hour or two so that you get to spend some quality time alone with your first born.

Make him feel special and important

1. Make your new born feel special. Involve him in the care of the new born. Make it seem as if he is important by making him do stuff for the baby like putting on socks, or rock the baby in the rocker. You should give the impression that without him nothing can get done and that the baby really loves him.

Bonding with the baby

1. Nothing can cure sibling rivalry and jealousy better than the siblings bonding with each other. Encourage your little one to bond with the baby. Allow him to carry and cuddle the baby.
2. But remember never to leave the new born and the first born together alone unsupervised.

Grief

1. Help your first one deal with his grief of having to share you with the new baby. It can be heart breaking to have to share your mom with another person. Jealousy can do strange things to a person.
2. Talk to your child about what his feelings are for the baby and try explaining things of him having to be an older brother.
3. If he wants to sit it out and not get involved with the baby then let him, it might be his way of dealing with the grief. He will get over the grief sooner or later.

Force your child to grow up

1. Remember that your first born is still a child too. Just because he has a new sibling, doesn’t mean he has to grow up immediately. Do not force him to grow up. Let him take his own time to be responsible.

I hope these tips help you and your child deal with the arrival of the new baby.Last bit of advice: Love, kisses and hugs. Your kids can never get enough of them from you