WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN YOUR CHILD IS JEALOUS OF A NEWBORN? FIVE WAYS TO DEAL WITH IT
The ‘love and belonging’ needs are the basic needs for growth and healthy development of a child as the famous Psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains.
Your children need it and the main source they are looking up to for fulfilling them is you. Well, this is the nature of us, human beings. We crave love and attention. And, when we lack it, we try to get it one way or the other. When it comes to children, the person who takes that attention away from them becomes an enemy. Whether it is their elder younger sibling or someone else. Meanwhile, they might develop some stubborn, aggressive behaviors that were never expected. But don’t worry, this happens with all of the kids at this stage and there are ways to make the situation better.
Your child is very excited to have a new baby as their friend at home, right? Then what happens to them suddenly that one day you see them hitting your baby with toys? Well, that baby took away the limelight that you always gave to that child.
This article explains the basic measure to keep your baby safe and help the older baby’s transition.
1. USE MORE STUFFED TOYS
Before you start working to improve your elder kid’s relationship with the new baby, take precautionary measures to protect the baby. You can bring more stuffed toys instead of other heavy ones so that even if they try to attack the baby, it causes no harm. This is the least that you will be expecting but having a stuffed toy can save you the injury.
2. TRAIN YOUR ELDER CHILD TO BE CAREFUL AND RESPONSIBLE
Now comes your training that carries huge importance. Yes, you will have to take both of your children’s development side by side and give no less importance to any. This is what you agreed to before conceiving the second child, right? If not, this is what it is. But, don’t worry, the better you train your child, the easier it is going to be.
The best way to do it is to start making them responsible. This is not the kind of response that you are thinking, it starts with small activities. Telling your kids that they are now ‘big babies’ or that they are ‘grown-ups’ now fascinates them. They always like becoming leaders. So, you can train them for small acts like wearing and taking off clothes by themselves. Also, tell them to take care of the new baby like to bring their toys, teach the baby to clap or to speak, or hold the baby’s feeder. This will not only make them more responsible but also more careful about their younger siblings.
Believe me, teaching such small acts will make your older moppet more adorable than ever before.
3. PLAY AND SPEND TIME WITH ELDER KID
Making your kid ready to be ready to take on an elder child’s responsibility is not always simple. For you, they should still be your baby. So, taking away all your attention is never going to prove healthy for them. So, the next important thing is to find time to play with them. When the baby is asleep or when they are just playing on the bed, you can play hide and seek, Lego, or anything else with the elder kid.
This will make them realize that you have not stopped loving them, it is just that you have more kids to take care of.
4. DEVISE GAMES WHERE YOU PLAY TOGETHER
Not just that you have to play with the elder kid, you have to devise games where all of you play together. This way, you will train your kid to deal with the baby, to touch the baby softly, and the ways to play with them without causing any harm to them.
5. INVOLVE THEM IN DIGITAL ACTIVITIES
As your child is growing you should start making them more involved in other activities rather than just sticking around you. This will also help them through this phase. Digital activities are necessary to be introduced but in a very controlled manner. To allow only age-appropriate content and healthy activities use FamilyTime as it is the best way to monitor digital activities while remaining busy with your other child.
You can enjoy its three-days trial for free with all the features. Have fun with this app and your little moppets.
