After a rough few years, we’re finally having a baby! If you all don’t know, my name is Alina and I’m the Social Media Manager here at Rascal Remedies. I have a funny and adorable 5-year-old son at home named Adler and in just a few short days we are getting ready to welcome our newest bundle of joy to our family – a baby girl! Our baby girl is our rainbow baby, which means she is our first child after a loss we experienced in 2020. We couldn’t be more excited to finally have her join and complete our growing family.
One thing I get asked a lot is how I’m feeling about bringing home the baby to my son and introducing them without completely disrupting the life as he knows it. 5 years is quite a long time to be an only child and to say I’m not worried about how he’s going to react is definitely not true. It’s been a struggle for me trying to find ways to include him as much as possible throughout these last 9 months, without making him too overwhelmed with the whole idea. He is so excited to be a big brother and we know he will eventually take on the role with pride, but the waters might be a little rocky to start and that’s totally okay.
People have asked me if there’s anything I’m planning on doing or have done to prepare – and there’s a few things that I have found helpful and some that I’m definitely planning on using when we come home with his sister.
- Tell them when you’re pregnant!
- I made sure to have this conversation in age-appropriate terms, having them know from the very beginning is integral to them feeling involved in the whole pregnancy and I found this was totally true. Having him beside me the whole way through and excited at the same time as both myself and my husband has definitely been helpful.
- Have them help when it’s time to prepare!
- Since it’s been 5 years, there were definitely some new things we needed to get and set up for the new baby. We had Adler help with anything he could, putting away clothing, setting up the crib and bedding etc. He loved it!
- Have them pick out a special toy/gift for the baby and vice versa!
- This was Adler’s favourite part! We went shopping and he chose the sweetest stuffed animal for his little sister and I think it helped him feel more connected. When we come home with her, “she” is going to bring him a gift with his favourite books and some colouring books in it. We also asked beforehand what he would like from his sister, so he really thinks it’s coming right from her.
- Let your older child help once baby is here!
- Adler has already made it pretty clear that he is not willing to help with poopy diapers – but there are lots of other things he’ll be able to help with. He’s always been a great helper around the house so having him help with things like picking her outfits out, grabbing something for mom etc will help for him to feel wanted and needed when his baby sister is around.
- Spend some quality time with your oldest!
- Still getting in some one-on-one time with Adler is definitely going to be something we want to prioritize when it comes to making him feel special. Luckily, my husband has taken quite a bit of time off work so this will help too when it comes to being able to take Adler out on his own to do some fun things that don’t include being stuck at home with his little sister. Adler does also go to school, which will help for him to be able to get that one-on-one friend time instead of being with mom and dad all the time!
It’s definitely a big change that we are trying our best to prepare for, but ultimately, we have no idea how this transition will go until we get to the big day! All we can do is try to make it as seamless as possible for Adler and we hope we’ve done that so far. It’s really hard on me to think about my firstborn not being the only one needing my attention anymore. We’ve always had a really close relationship (of course) and having to switch up our family dynamic has weighed heavy on me, but I know that our family is now complete, and we will all adapt at our own pace. Wish me luck as my family and I take on this whole new adventure!