Many parents worry about how to prepare their first child for the birth of a second sibling. Here are some tips that you may find helpful:
- Stress the positive. I.e. “You’re going to be a big sister,” rather than “You’re going to have a baby sister.”
- Speak of the “new” baby as being “ours”—not just “mommy and daddy’s.”
- Make any big changes, like moving your older child to a new bedroom, well before the baby is due. You want your older child to feel like she is growing up rather than being pushed out.
- Be sure to continue having one-on-one time with your older child after his new sibling comes into the world.
- Include your older child in preparing for the new baby. Let him help in picking out baby’s clothes, stuffed animals, etc. Let him be your special helper.
