Preparing For New Baby!

Remembering the excitement of telling your little one that they will become a big brother or sister can be such a special time! I remember telling our daughter. I don’t think she even understood what was going on, but seeing how excited she was just, from seeing how excited we were was pure joy.
As the time comes to welcome the new baby into the world parents can start to become nervous. In this blog I will be going over some tips, tricks and ideas that will help your toddler transition smoothly into their new role as big brother or sister.

Making sure your toddler is sleeping well!

Bringing home a newborn is very overwhelming. As a second time parent you know how challenging sleep or should I say lack of sleep can be. You can have an amazing little sleeper straight out of the hospital, however sleep deprivation is inevitable.

Speaking From Experience….

Writing from my own experience with this, knowing what I know now, I would have saved myself from the stress if only our toddler was sleep trained. Because my husband worked out of town as many spouses do, I can’t even count how many nights I sat in the hallway wondering who I should comfort first. I would bring our toddler to bed with me and run to feed our newborn as our toddler would be up crying for me in my bed. It was an absolute mess. At that point is when I reached out for help and trained both girls. As I wished so many times I had her sleep sorted out before welcoming our second daughter, it was not too late to sleep train and it was the best decision we made! Which is why it is so important having your toddler sleep trained before welcoming baby number two, if not earlier.

A Little Helper!!

One thing I suggest to all parents is get your toddler involved. Before even brining baby home you can get your little one involved by getting their help setting up the nursery. Picking out toys or blanky’s with help them feel like they are involved with the process. Putting things in the dresser or helping pack the diaper bag with some toys. All of this will help them feel included as they will soon begin the big transition.

Another task I find important for big brothers or sisters to help with is the sleep routine. So many parents skip a bedtime routine due to mom and dad not wanting to leave the older sibling alone for long. A proper bedtime routine right from a newborn stage is so important for healthy sleep habits. This cues a baby that it is time to calm down, relax and get ready for sleep. So instead of skipping this, include your toddler to help sing songs or to pick out the books. This will also help your toddler feel like they have a huge role in this new beginning.

Nervous About Noise?

I think this concern goes through every parents mind when they have two children and one is not the best sleeper yet. I know I speak about white noise a lot and this is because I LOVE white noise. It honestly does not have to be loud to be super effective. A very good tip that I try and share to every parent using one is that if you put the white noise against the joining wall that the noise is coming from. It blocks out almost everything. I have used it with both of my girls until my oldest has decided she no longer needs it. Now I have it and I use it all of the time for myself. I suggest that you purchase one that doesn’t turn off after a certain amount of time and one that you can also use batteries. We bring one camping with us and it works like a charm for those mid day naps as well as night time noise.

Last But Not Least…..

This is a big one that I like to focus on. When bringing home a new baby your life is filled with feedings, diaper changes, changing clothes, trying to get baby to sleep and so much more. As much as we don’t do it on purpose sometimes those older siblings feel left out. Did you know that a huge factor for night waking’s for toddlers is separation anxiety. Like I mentioned I know none of us do this on purpose however try to make some one on one time for your toddler. Even if it’s just a trip with the two of you to the grocery store and stopping for ice cream. These lil moments mean the world to them. This will help with the separation anxiety and also will help with your toddler not acting out to get attention.

Conclusion

In conclusion brining home a sibling can be difficult. Using these helpful tips will help ease the transition. Make sure your letting your toddler know they will be moving into a huge new role but they are still your little love.
Thanks you so much for reading and I hope that this helps some of you out. If you have a little one on the way and are wanting to get the sleep training process going let me know and we can set up a time to chat and see what your goals and concerns are.