How to Prepare Your Toddler for the Arrival of a New Baby

• If you find yourself in the middle of an activity with your older child when your baby begins crying, wait a minute or two before responding to show the importance of what you two have been doing. This will help keep the connection to your older child strong.
• If your child and the baby have separate rooms, tell your older child that her room will be off-limits to the baby and ask her to keep her toys with small parts there. Offer to get a gate to keep the baby out. This way your child doesn't have to keep her door closed all the time and feel isolated in the process.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the ongoing sibling contention. My husband, an only child, asked me recently when Kyle and Brooks (now 13 and 11) would stop fighting with each other. "Gee," I said, "I don't even think that they fight all that much. I've seen much worse." He responded, "You have got to be kidding! Seriously, when will this end?" I reflected and reassured him that the arguing should resolve at least by their early 30s!