How To Help Your Family Cope With New Baby’s Arrival

If you’re expecting another child, you’ll have endless things you’ll need to buy from cots and buggies to a portable changing mat. The list really does go on and on. But other than all the practical items you need, a new addition to your family can create a uniquely difficult situation and, when the time comes, it’s helpful to know how to manage the introduction to the rest of the family, especially if you already have young children. That’s why we love these top tips from The Huffington Post on how best to introduce a new arrival.

Although, it can be difficult for many of us, say yes to any help offered out. All your family and friends can sometimes feel unsure of what to do but genuinely want to help out. Accept it and don’t be afraid to ask for support. Whether that is someone popping round to watch the kids for an hour so you can have a nap or picking up the little ones up from school, you’ll be thankful for these moments of rest and time out when you allow yourself them.

Don’t try to carry on day to day without a plan and some level of organisation. Get yourself a calendar where you can write down a rough itinerary for the month ahead so you’ll also have that as reference to go back to, and will always know where everyone is or supposed to be and at what time from and until. One of the most important things to do if you have other children is to make sure you try to keep some level of structure and routine, it will help them and you feel more relaxed and remind them that life is still mostly the same.

Remember to enjoy your baby and not get too wrapped up with trying to keep everyone happy. You can feel the pressure to put extra effort in with your other children, but remember to feel present in the moment with your newborn. You don’t want to miss out on all those important little milestones by being distracted elsewhere – parent and baby bonding is one of the most important times.

If you have older children, don’t be surprised if they have a meltdown or aren’t as excited as you wanted them to be in the build up to the new arrival. There is a lot of change that they may or may not be aware of and some children can feel cross or upset that life may become slightly different for them. Be sure to make them feel reassured and tell them it’s ok to feel however they feel.

After a long day of feeding and nappy changing don’t put too much pressure on yourself to make the evening feel perfect. You’re going to be tired and might not be in the mood to cook dinner for everyone or bath the baby. Plan ahead and make sure you have some batch made dinners in the freezer that can easily be popped in the oven and babies don’t need to be bathed every single evening so give yourself a more relaxed evening to chill out if possible.