How to prepare your toddler for the arrival of a new baby

Whenever a baby arrives in this world the parents of the new born celebrate the particular occasion with a great deal of joy as well as excitement. But have you ever experienced the reaction of the sibling of the newborn? Well to your utter surprise you will notice the other kid throwing tantrums because of a strange confusion and jealousy. Even though this kind of a reaction by the sibling of your new born may frustrate you and worse in some cases the parents may even regret their decision of bringing in a new baby as their attention towards the sibling would now decrease a little.
 

You should start making your efforts even before you introduce the new born to your other kid. Here your patience and understanding will be the key as it will ultimately decide the way your newborn’s sibling reacts to the change that has been brought in her little world.
 

What can you do to prepare your toddler before bringing in the newborn?
 

A proper time frame should be given to your child in order to give her a general idea of the time during which her sibling would arrive like at the time of her birthday or at Christmas time. Hospital where your delivery will take place should be shown to your kid. Explain to your child about the people who will take care of her during your absence. You can explain to your kid the time when she was about to come in this world in such a manner that she is able to relate with the new born who is coming at your place.

• Show videos to your kid or read out books to her which describe to her the experience of becoming an elder sister. Engage your kid in activities that give her a hint of what is to come such as decorating the room of your soon to come new born with your kid.
• Get your kid into the habit of sleeping in the new bed if you have plans of using your elder child’s crib for your newborn. Get the crib removed from your kid’s room for some time. This would prove helpful as your elder kid will not demand its possessiveness when you get it back for the newborn. Purchase new bumpers and bedding for the new baby.
• Some major changes should be made in the routine of your elder kid like providing toilet training or making him give up bottle or a pacifier way before your delivery time.
• The new routine of your elder kid should be started way before your delivery. Send your kid to a day care school or program in order to distract her and it would also help her to get a little prepared for the changes that are to come in her life soon.
• Get your child to spend more and more time with caregivers, grandparents or your hubby so that you can attend to your newborn and leave your elder kid with the other members. You should babysit the baby of a relative so that your child can get used to a newborn around her.

What to tell your elder kid when you are nursing the newborn?

You should explain to your elder kid that milk is made by a mother for her baby and nursing is a method by which a baby can eat. Explain to your kid that by nursing baby will feel better if he is scared or feeling bad about something. 
 

Tandem nursing is something which should be explained to your elder toddler lovingly. You should make your toddler see the fact that the newborn cannot eat solid foods similar to your toddler and so he requires quite a lot of nursing. In addition you should never hide breastfeeding from your elder kid as it will help your child to understand the fact that a child is fed in a healthy manner through breastfeeding and it is in no way a shameful act.
 

While your newborn is nursing you may talk to you toddler or get him to turn pages of a book as you read out to him. You can also play games like ‘Simon Says’ or play fun games while having your food together with your toddler. If you are tired from attending your newborn and feel like having a nap while your elder kid doesn’t you should adopt some ways like childproofing a particular room of your home so that your little kid cannot run around in the bathroom while you rest. Bring in some cool toys which your toddler will enjoy playing with without disturbing you much.

It is definitely not an easy task to deal with the extreme reaction of the sibling of your new born. After all your elder kid is also a child and you really cannot make him see sense by scolding or hitting him. This would lead to the sibling getting rebellious. It is an uphill climb for the parents of a new born to the sibling acceptance.