Expanding your family is exciting and a great cause of joy, but it won’t be without its ups and downs! Here are some tips to prepare your toddler (and yourself) for the new baby:
- When you return home with the new baby, present her with a gift from her new sibling. A doll and accessories is always a good idea.
- Your toddler will play up and demand your attention just when you can’t give it, so expect her demands to intensify, especially if you have just sat down to feed the baby! To the best of your ability always attend to her needs first – this will make her feel secure.
- Have a pile of storybooks handy and place one of her little chairs alongside your feeding chair, so that she can sit with you and read a story when you feed the baby. This is a good habit to start, and she will start to look forward to this special time.
- When visitors arrive to see the new baby, let her show them to the nursery, and allow her to help open the baby’s gift, this way she will feel included.
- Avoid saying “don’t touch the baby” too much. She will cotton on that touching the baby gets your attention and will continue to do it. If possible ignore (unless she is feeding the baby a niknak, or holding him upside down!) Never leave her alone with the new baby.
- Use every bit of help offered.
- Take the phone off the hook when you are resting, or at least invest in a portable phone to keep alongside you.
- Limit visitors to a specific time of the day, so that you are not inundated all day. Visitors, while having your best interests at heart can kill you with kindness!
- Stick to your toddlers routine scrupulously – it will make the whole family feel more secure.
- Expect a regression in your toddler’s behaviour. She may demand a bottle or dummy again, or start wetting her bed. Keep calm, give her what she asks for, and know that it will pass with time.
- Try to spend some special time alone with your toddler every day, even if it means quiet time in the garden for twenty minutes.
- Look after your relationship with your partner – remember that you are in this together.
Ann Richardson
Qualified nurse and midwife Ann Richardson, co-author of Baby Sense, Sleep Sense and author of Toddler Sense, all bestsellers, has worked in the midwifery and paediatric fields for over 30 years. Ann has been in private practice for the past 22 years, and introduced the first private well-baby clinics, now a well-known phenomenon at Doctors’ rooms and pharmacies across the country.Passionate about her work and dedicated to ensuring that parents have the necessary knowledge to enjoy and rejoice in their children, she regularly lectures to both professionals and parents on various baby and childcare issues, in particular the effects of the sensory system on infant behaviour, and the management of sleeping disorders. Her specialisation is the treatment of “difficult babies and toddlers”, in particular those with feeding and sleeping disorders.She is a regular contributor to childcare publications, TV and radio. Ann is married with two daughters, and lives and practices in Johannesburg.
Latest posts by Ann Richardson (see all)
- Top 5 baby sleep tips - July 30, 2014
- How to prepare your toddler for a sibling - June 9, 2014
- Your toddler and the new baby – 12 tips - June 6, 2014
published 6 Jun 2014
Tags Related
You may also like
-
No Comments" href="https://all4baby.co.za/toddlers-1-2-years/learning-development-1-2-years/1679/build-childs-confidence-music-lessons/">
Build your child’s confidence with music lessons
-
No Comments" href="https://all4baby.co.za/birth/labour-delivery/1659/preparing-baby-need-pack-hospital-bag/">
Preparing for baby: What you need to pack in your hospital bag
-
No Comments" href="https://all4baby.co.za/toddlers-1-2-years/parenting-a-toddler/1644/using-distraction-change-toddlers-behaviour/">
Using distraction to change your toddler’s behaviour
-
No Comments" href="https://all4baby.co.za/newborns-0-6-months/feeding/1640/white-gold-help-decrease-infant-mortality-breastfeeding-month/">
‘White gold’ to help decrease infant mortality this Breastfeeding Month
No Comments" > Comments