How to Prepare 1 Year Old for New Baby
With a little one at home and another baby on the way, your world is about to plow upside down. You'll double the amount of diapers, tantrums, naps, and nigh of all, dear. But every bit heady as it is to bring a new fiddling 1 into the family unit, your toddler at home may not be as thrilled. It's going to exist a major modify in the family dynamic, and your firstborn might be overwhelmed and unsure of how this new babe will affect him.
Calm their fretfulness and assure them that they withal loved very much–they are simply most to take a new infant brother or sister to play with! Preparing your toddler for a new baby requires some patience and preparation, but with these helpful tips, he'll be excited and prepared to step into the older sibling function.
1. Tell Your Toddler In A Style That He Volition Understand
Information technology's important to cue your child in to what's happening with your pregnancy, especially since he or she volition start to pick up on the concrete cues you lot are exhibiting, such as being more tired, feeling nauseated, and a growing belly. If you child is over the age of three, be certain to break the news early on. Nosotros recommend having this conversation effectually the end of the starting time trimester. Tell him in a fashion that he'll understand and appreciate, such equally "you lot're going to have a new baby brother or sis to play with."
If the child is under iii, information technology'due south all-time to wait until the third trimester to share the news. Children that immature don't have a great grasp of time passing, and may not fully empathise the waiting process earlier a babe arrives. Once your abdomen gets bigger, around the third trimester, he'll first to understand that your body is changing, and that a new babe is on the way.
Information technology'due south helpful to tie the babe's arrival into a season or vacation your toddler can sympathise, such every bit "the infant will be hither by summertime when we all become to the pool," or "your niggling blood brother or sis will be here by Christmas!"
2. Be Prepared For Whatsoever Reaction
It's difficult to predict how your niggling 1 volition react to having a new sibling join him in the family. Some children will be excited, while others will be angry and upset. Some will exist completely confused. No matter how your child takes the news of a new sibling, be sure to reassure him that you lot and your partner love him unconditionally, and that volition never change. If he's indifferent, or takes a while to reply, he may just need some time to procedure the new information. Instead of peppering him with questions or declarations, await until your child comes to you asking questions, and reply them as directly as possible.
3. Demystify Pregnancy By Reviewing Your Toddler's Birth
A great style to demystify pregnancy for your toddler is to testify him pictures of the fourth dimension before he was born. This is likewise a great fashion to help your toddler understand what volition happen over the coming months.
You can start with pictures of what you looked like before your toddler was conceived. Get in fun by asking your toddler what differences there are between those pictures and the way y'all await now. Inquire him if mommy'due south pilus is different. Point out your flat tummy. And then progress through pictures where your belly has grown. Exist sure to tell your toddler that was him in there. Stop with pictures of your toddler shortly after birth. Again, inquire him to wait for differences between what he looked similar then and what he looks like now. This can help prepare him for the arrival of his sibling.
If you have videos of your toddler'southward pregnancy, feel costless to sentinel them with your toddler. Videos can exist more than instructive and informative than pictures. Include videos of you during your pregnancy, of you and your toddler soon after birth, and of your toddler in the showtime few years of life. Through those videos, your toddler can get a sense of what you lot went through when he was a baby. That will aid him sympathize what will happen over the course of the coming months.
iv. Include Your Child In the Pregnancy
Make certain your footling one feels included throughout the pregnancy and all the baby festivities. Accept your toddler with y'all to doctor appointments and allow him hear his new blood brother or sister'southward heartbeat. Show him ultrasound photos and let him experience the baby kicking. The more involved your child is in his little sibling's life, the more than excited he'll exist to footstep into the role as big brother. If your kid is nether age three, information technology's helpful to show him his own newborn photos.
Be certain to explicate how much attention you'll demand to give the new infant when he or she arrives. Endeavour "little babies are small and delicate, and mommy will need to hold him or her a lot of the time like I did with y'all." This will prepare your toddler for what to expect when the new baby arrives.
5. Introduce The New Sibling Calmly After Nascence
Everything surrounding giving birth is chaotic: rushing to the infirmary, dealing with a room full of doctors and nurses, and a well-significant, just impatient, family in the waiting room eager to get a glimpse of your new piddling guy or girl. When it'south time for your toddler to meet his new sibling, brand sure information technology's in a at-home surround, so the focus can be on your toddler and the new baby. If your toddler is one-time enough, permit him hold his new little sibling (with supervision, of course) and explain just how much this new babe is going to love him and look upwards to him.
half-dozen. Show Your Toddler The Proper Way To Interact With Your Baby
You know your newborn is delicate, but your toddler may not be. Instead of expecting him to figure it out on his own and then chastising him for being too rough, set up aside time to guide your toddler through the proper way to interact with his sibling.
Bear witness your toddler his new brother or sister'south tiny fingers and toes. With your aid, let him hold the newborn and feel his or her weight. Ask your toddler how he feels when he gets his finger pinched in a toy and and so tell him that his sibling can feel the same thing. This will help your toddler realize that he needs to exist gentle and then he doesn't hurt his sibling.
7. Maintain A Normal Routine With The Older Sibling
While going from one kid to two is going to alter your daily lives and make things more chaotic, attempt to stick to your fiddling one's routine as much as possible. This will be easier if you lot and your partner tin work every bit a team past setting articulate responsibilities for each of y'all to tackle. The more your older child can stick to the aforementioned forenoon routine, lunch and dinner times, bathtime and bedtime, the easier information technology will be for him to adjust to the new brother or sis in his life.
8. Praise Him For Performing Older Sibling Duties
It'due south important to recognize when your toddler is performing his sibling duties. If he's being gentle with the new baby, kissing him on the head, or helping yous pick upwardly toys, make sure yous admit how responsible and loving he is towards his baby brother or sister. The positive recognition will give him a conviction boost and reinforce good beliefs. If the older sibling starts acting out violently or threatening to damage the babe in any style, right that behavior immediately. Remind him that babies are modest and fragile, and that he needs to exist careful around a newborn.
9. Assistance Them Feel Important
In addition to praising your toddler'due south good big sibling beliefs, assign him historic period-appropriate responsibilities so he feels like he's important to the new babe'southward life. Asking them to help you dress and bathe the baby, or fetch you diapers for changings will requite them a sense of pride that he's part of the process. Every bit ever, remind your older kid that his parents love them more than than e'er, and a house with a new babe brother or sister is never going to change that. Brand your child experience secure by explaining that you're all i large, happy family.
10. Spend One-On-One Fourth dimension With Your Older Child
Spending ane-on-one fourth dimension with your older child can be difficult with a new babe in the firm. Making time for your toddler, though, can aid him suit to the new family dynamic. When your newborn is napping, accept some time to play with your older child. Cuddle up on the couch and read a book or picket a video together. Enquire him to testify yous his favorite toys. Even playing a video game together can be a fun mode to rejuvenate and reinforce the bail you have with your toddler.
How to Prepare 1 Year Old for New Baby
Source: https://www.mustelausa.com/blogs/mustela-mag/10-tips-for-preparing-your-toddler-for-a-new-baby