By Emma Thomas 

 

This year we welcomed our second child, a new baby boy! 

 

We were all doing well, our 2 year old was sleeping through the night (finally!), I was back working part time and life seemed to be going along smoothly. So obviously that’s the perfect time to add another child to the family. I was very curious how our daughter would go with the transition, so we were conscious about preparing her for the arrival of a new baby. Thankfully she has enjoyed having a little brother, although there were some moments along the way! 

 

Tell your children at the right time

A few weeks ago my daughter (now 3) told me that one of her friends will be getting another baby sister or brother! This was news to me and I was surprised to hear it from my daughter (not from the mum). When you tell your children make sure that you are ready for everyone to know! When I was pregnant, my daughter would tell everyone we met ‘there’s a baby in mummy’s tummy!’. 

 

Books

In my experience working as a Kindy teacher, I regularly used books to introduce a new topic, learn more information and create a starting point for conversations. There are so many great books about welcoming a new baby. These are some of my favourites: 

 

Prepare Together

Involve your children in getting ready for the new baby. Can they help with washing the baby clothes? Setting up the nursery? Maybe they have some toys they’ve outgrown that they would like to ‘donate’ to their new sibling. 

Talking to the baby, seeing pictures of the scans and brainstorming names together can help children feel more connected. My daughter loved ‘helping’ wash the baby clothes and came along to a few doctors appointments with me. 

 

Talk about Them!

Children love talking about themselves, so go back through old photos and talk about them as a baby. This will also help to prepare them for how small (and sometimes needy!) a new baby is! This was one of my daughters favourite things to do, we would go through photos of her and talk about what she had been like as a baby. She loved watching videos of herself. 

 

First Meeting

We wanted the first meeting to go smoothly so I’d spent a bit of time thinking about it! I helped my daughter choose a present for the baby and wrap it before I went to the hospital. We had also told her that the baby would bring her something special! This gave us something to do during the first meeting (because when you’re only 2 years old there isn’t actually that much you can do with a new-born baby!). 

Also, I had the new baby sleeping in the bassinet when my daughter arrived at the hospital, so I could concentrate on saying hello to her, without juggling the baby as well. 

 

Feelings

My daughter was 2.5years old when her baby brother arrived, so she already had a lot of feelings! We’ve been focusing on accepting her feelings and helping her name them. It’s been a transition but she has done really well. We tried to give her special time with just Mum or Dad. She loved being ‘a handy helper’ and getting things for me or talking to her baby brother and passing him toys. 

 

Adjusting to a new family dynamic can be tricky for everyone but a little planning can help things to go more smoothly.