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When a second child appears in the family, the main task of parents is to alleviate the negative feelings of the older child, who may feel forgotten.
Simple advice from experts will help prepare the child for the appearance of a brother or sister in the family.
- Preparations for the upcoming arrival of a new family member should begin during pregnancy. Talk to your child more often about the imminent appearance of a sister and brother: tell how you will need an assistant, and discuss the possible name of the baby.
- While you are in the maternity hospital with your newborn, the older child with his father or grandmother can visit you in the postnatal ward. And you and your family should give the baby enough attention so that he does not feel neglected.
- Despite the many worries and fatigue, try to give the older child the appearance that both children are given equal attention. For example, while feeding a baby, talking to an elder, or read a fairy tale.
- Experiencing and protecting the baby, try to “drive a wedge” between him and the older child. When they are together, avoid the situation when you caress one and scold the other. Such situations lead to the emergence of children’s jealousy.
You will make your life much easier if you gradually and carefully introduce the older child to the newborn and give enough attention to both.
