Avoiding Jealousy When the New Baby Arrives

Are you expecting your second child? Well most moms who already have one child and who are anxiously expecting their second are very concerned about how their oldest child will feel once this new baby arrives. As a mother you want to ensure your older child that your relationship will remain the same. But what you do not want to tell them is that nothing will change and that everything will stay the same. This just is not true, you will have considerably less time to spend with the oldest child, at least for the first month. What worked best for me and a few other mothers that I know is explaining to your child what exactly will be happening when the baby first gets here. Explain to them that mommy and baby will need to rest when they come home from the hospital. This way they will not be expecting to play with the baby as soon as you walk in the front door.

There are several things that you can do to make sure that your older child is cared for, and that they participate in helping with the new baby. By involving your older child in helping out they begin to feel more like the big brother or big sister. One thing that you want to make sure that you do is have a relative there to help keep the older sibling busy. Also if you are considering breastfeeding you may want to think about purchasing a breast pump. This will allow the older sibling to help out at feeding time. They will be so excited to be able to feed the baby, and it will help them to bond with their new brother or sister as well. They can even help out by getting the babies clothes when it is time to get them dressed, or even something as simple as getting the bath robe or towel after the bath.