Top 5 Tips To Help You Prepare Your Firstborn for the Second Baby

Love + Patience + Understanding = Easy Transition

Call it a realignment of forces, transmutation of tasks, multiplicity of roles—whichever way you look at it, electing to expand the family will entail modifications and innovations from everyone in the family. It is not simple but it does not have to be complicated. One of the most important things you need to do is to prepare your firstborn for the second baby.

As parents, we must be sensitive to these emotions. According to Ani Rosa Almario, school director of Raya School, expectant second-time parents can ensure a more secure and assuring environment by adopting these tips:

1. Talk the walk. Making certain that the situation is clearly explained will prevent your firstborn from being overwhelmed. Maintaining constant communication will assure them that in spite of the changes, this new development should not be a source of confusion or anxiety.

2. Prime and proper. Ascertain that the values of sharing, responsibility, and caring for a sibling are inculcated in your firstborn before a second baby even comes. Projecting possible scenarios once the baby arrives will prep them into accepting the adjustments. Ideas like sharing toys, clothes, and even the room must be subtly imparted so that they won’t feel that things are being taken away from them because of the new presence in the household.

3. “I’m part.” Make them part of the whole experience. Taking them with you during monthly check-ups and showing them the progress of the life within you will help your future little ate or kuya appreciate this phase in your family’s journey.

 

Click here to learn more tips on how to prepare your child on having a younger sibling.

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Here are more tips on how to prepare your child on having a younger sibling.

 

4. Mighty bond. When the second baby finally arrives, establish special bonding activities just between you and your firstborn. This will prevent them from feeling that they are less loved or less special compared to the newborn.

5. Role playing. Giving them their own “baby” will help them understand what parents are. By letting them mimic your actions, you will also be creating a fun and delightful way to instruct them on how to care and nurture their baby brother or sister.

6. Helping hand. Intimating that being “ate” or “kuya” is a special role will give your child a different sense of importance and responsibility. Ask for their assistance in wiping the baby’s mouth or in changing diapers. Kids love it when they are helpful, it also adds to their self-worth.

 

It helps if you really take the time to prepare your firstborn for the second baby. These tips are just a start. Look for more ways to ease the transition period for a more harmonious arrival of the second baby.

 

Source:
Ani Rosa Almario, school director, Raya School

 

Photography by Patrick Martires