Parenting
By Kate Duggan - www.kateduggan.co.uk
Introducing a new baby to the family Getting ready to welcome a new arrival and wondering how to prepare your children? These tips should help. Before the birth You might want to wait until after the first (or even second) scan to tell your children about the pregnancy. It won’t be long before they spot your growing bump or overhear a conversation and want to know more. There are some excellent picture books available to help prepare young children for the arrival of a sibling. My daughter’s favourites included ‘Too Small for Honey Cake’ by Gillian Lobel and Sebastien Braun, and ‘There’s a House Inside my Mummy’ by Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban. Be prepared to answer endless questions, and try to help your children understand what changes they can expect. As the due date gets closer, you might want to talk about where the baby will be born, where the baby will sleep, why you might be too tired to play, and so on. After the birth As you already know, the first few days of having a newborn can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Toddlers tend to be naturally quite demanding and haven’t exactly mastered empathy. They may well struggle with sharing your time. Try to focus on quality time, rather than quantity. Fifteen minutes spent playing a game together will often earn you half an hour of peace while they play on their own. Snuggling on the
sofa to watch a film as a family with popcorn and hot chocolate can feel like a real treat (and they hopefully won’t mind if you doze off for a bit). Double buggies are usually incredibly cumbersome, so a baby carrier is a good investment. It’ll make getting out to the park, shops, library and so on a lot easier. Look for one that offers good support to your baby and your back, and is easy to get on and off. The Izmi baby carrier (£80) ticks all the boxes. It’s a buckle carrier but as comfortable as a fabric sling, suitable for newborns through to walking, and (crucially) machine-washable. It’s worth having a few small presents on hand for your children when friends and family arrive with gifts for the baby. “Ooh look, the baby got a present – that means you get a go in our lucky dip” will help to stop jealous tantrums in their tracks. Maybe pick up a few picture books (ten for £10 from The Book People), novelty pencils and a few small teddies from the charity shop. Young children often like to feel that they’re helping out, so try to involve them where you can. There will be times you just want to get on and do a task quickly, but other times children could ‘help’ to make the bed or sort the washing. Even a simple “This milk feels the right temperature to me, what do you think?” will help cement the ‘we’re all in this together’ feeling. Just don’t ask too much of your children or blame the baby every time you can’t do something. No point encouraging sibling rivalry before the baby can at least answer back.
To advertise in The Villager and Town Life please call 01767 261122
43
