Prepping Your Child for the New Baby

An essential component of the sibling class, Truesdale says, is to provide parents with a proper vocabulary to use with their children when talking about the new baby. Take cues from your child about when you've talked enough about the new baby or are pushing too hard. "It's OK if the child doesn't want to talk about it now," Truesdale offers, urging parents not to dwell on the idea is the child isn't willing. "Let him come to it on his own."

"I think people really have to listen to the older child," Robinson concurrs, saying that parents shouldn't shame the firstborn kids who aren't happy about the baby, or even express a dislike for the infant. "It's important to work through." In these types of situations, parameters must be set. "Be clear about what's going to be tolerated," Robinson adds. Hurting the baby or asking that the baby be sent away are not options, and an older child should know that.