Newborn Sibling Jealousy:

All children, down deep, love to embrace and enjoy all the attention of their parents. So, when a new baby coming along is announced, many times the older child may not share your excitement. It mostly stems from the older child suddenly experiencing insecurities due to the fact that they really don’t know what to expect. They don’t know what the changes really will be and which ones will involve them.

Then, jealousy can show up. This can show as soon as you begin to put a nursery together. You are now suddenly spending time on a room that really has nothing to do with them at all. Of course, they want you to spend this time with them. The easiest way to get the older child prepared to have a sibling is by selling it to them. Present it to them as an opportunity to become a big brother or sister to someone. How exciting will that be? Tell them how they will be helping to teach the new little one all sorts of things from talking, to walking to playing baseball.

Always remember to include the older sibling in the planning of the new baby. Let them hear the names you are considering and always tell them any good news about the baby when you come home from your doctor visits. This child will, no doubt, need a little more attention throughout this time because once you have the new baby, your time will become a bit more limited. Getting on a good schedule now with the older child will help the transition of the new baby go much smoother.
It is exciting growing your family and it just takes a little extra patience to get everyone all on the same page with the new development. Another good idea is to have a certain time each week that is exclusively for the older child to go somewhere or do something with you. Then, continuing this after the baby is born shows the older child that you value him just like you did before the new baby arrived. This stability will help him to see that you have enough love for a bunch of kids, him included.

Lots of parents allow the older child to visit the baby as soon as it is born or be there for its birth. All decisions that are totally up to you as a family. It is also a nice idea for a grandparent to help by giving some extra attention to the older child, which will help to make him feel all the love from his family. Should this older child act out a bit, wet his pants like preschoolers may, etc., don’t be too alarmed it will soon pass as soon as you are back into some sort of regular family schedule. Adding to a family makes for an exciting time so just focus on the positive of it all and things will end up working themselves out.