Adding on to the family when you already have a child (or more)

It’s a dilemma faced by many parents – how will my older child or children adjust to a younger sibling? Will I be able to give them all enough attention? Will the older one(s) feel unloved? Pushed aside?

I was very lucky. I had these concerns too. I worried about my oldest son, who was 22 months when his sister was born, would feel pushed aside and unloved. I prepared him as best I could by reading sibling books, talking to him and just loving him as I did. I needn’t have worried. My daughter’s introduction into the family was seamless. My son accepted her and loved her and the sibling rivalry only began later on when they could start irritating the you-know-what out of each other.

Then, I became pregnant a third time. I, again, worried about how it would work. Again, I needn’t have worried. It all came together so easily. I was so lucky, so blessed. Of course, as with the first two, sibling rivalry did kick in big time at some point, but the infant introduction was very easy in our family.

Last month, Jennifer Shakeel, who blogs at More4Kids, wrote about helping older siblings adjust. Her post, Helping Older Siblings Adjust to the New Arrival, has some good advice in it. If you have any concerns about bringing baby home to older siblings, you may want to go read it.

~~~~

Tags: sibling rivalry, older siblings, pregnancy blog