The second happy event is approaching, and preparations are underway to redo the first child’s room to receive the new baby.
Two kids in the same room: The parents are thinking about what relationship the two siblings will have. How will the eldest child coexist with the younger sibling who’ll share their world, their screaming, crying, and playing?
This is how to prepare for the event:
- However small the age difference between two siblings, the older child must be prepared to meet their brother (or sister) because they will probably consider this new sibling an “outsider” to their world and a strong competitor for their parents’ affection.
- It is, certainly, helpful to start talking about the new baby in front of their sibling by saying, “They’ll be awesome, just like you” and “You’ll have a lot of fun in the same room.”
- Have them participate with you in choosing the bed for their little sibling, or the colors you use to decorate the room, as well as the choice of the baby’s first teddy bear, for example. It’s important that they feel like “a part” of these changes and not as though they’re being imposed on them.
- Of course, you must explain to them that their sibling will sleep in your room for the first three months because “they’ll cry a lot” and will be in “constant need of someone to help them with everything”—“not like you.”
- The period of time the new baby will spend in your room will provide mental preparation for the eldest child for the idea of receiving their brother (or sister) into “their room.”
- When the zero hour arrives, entrust your elder son or daughter with some of the tasks in their room, like helping you arrange the newborn’s bed and decorate with the games that “they will play.”
- It’s preferable for the new baby not to be moved to their big brother or sister’s room until they have a semi-regular lifestyle, such as having stopped night feeding and increased hours of sleep so as not to turn the older child’s rhythm upside down.
- The older child should be made aware of some of the safety requirements inside their “shared room.” For example, he can’t climb onto his brother’s (or sister’s) bed at all. He can’t place a teddy bear or games in the bed, either, because they could hurt or smother the baby.
- Agree with them that they will only play with the little one when you or their father are present, and tell them, “We’ll have a lot of fun together.”
- The first “period of coexistence” between two children in the same room may be a little rough, but the time will come when the two siblings won’t stop talking and playing together until the early hours of the evening.