Introducing Baby to Siblings

Preparing siblings for changes

Sometimes older children find the arrival of a new baby stressful.  The best way to help your children manage this stress is to prepare them for the changes the new baby will bring.  Talk to your child about what things will be like after their little baby brother or sister comes home.  You can help your children with the different emotions they feel about welcoming the new baby by talking about these feelings too.

The video ‘Polly becomes a sister’ was developed by www.toddlerfunlearning.com  You can watch it with your older child and discuss how they are feeling about the change, this will help them prepare for the baby’s arrival.

When baby is is not ready to come home from the hospital straight away

Sometimes baby is not ready to come home from the hospital straight away.  Your older children may find it hard to understand why their baby is taking so long to come home.  This can be made more difficult because children cannot visit the special baby care unit. Tiny Health have created a booklet designed to help toddlers and young child to understand the neonatal unit, click here to download the booklet.  You can read this with your child to help them understand why baby needs to stay at the hospital.