Across the Same Words collection
A new baby
15 prepared situations from 5 family areas. Choose the moment that is closest to yours.
A new baby at the other houseTwo Homes · New peopleResearch on how children adjust to a new sibling describes them watching the whole thing happen: the belly, the preparation, the homecoming.→Toilet training goes backwards for no clear reasonTheir Own Body · When it’s more than a phaseRegression is common and it usually has a dull explanation sitting in plain sight: a new baby, a new room, an illness, a move, a change of daycare.→New bed, new room, new babyEvery Night · When the night is not the usual oneChanges land badly when they arrive together, and they usually do: the new baby needs the crib, so the older child gets a bed, a different room and a rival inside a fortnight.→Telling them a baby is comingTwo Children · Before the baby comesA two- or four-year-old does not hold nine months in their head.→"Where is the baby right now?"Two Children · Before the baby comesChildren this age build explanations out of whatever parts they already have.→"I don't want a baby"Two Children · Before the baby comesA child who says this is not predicting how they will behave.→Big changes before the babyTwo Children · Before the baby comesMoving out of the crib, giving up the pacifier, starting daycare — each of these is a loss on its own.→The helper who was invitedTwo Children · Before the baby comesSmall children help spontaneously and reliably — but only while it is their own idea.→The first meetingTwo Children · The first weeksThe first time a child sees their parent after days apart, they need the parent — not an introduction.→Going backwardsTwo Children · The first weeksA child who suddenly wants a bottle, wets the bed, or asks to be carried again is not losing skills.→Rough handsTwo Children · The first weeksA three-year-old poking the baby's eye is usually doing research.→The feed is when everything happensTwo Children · The first weeksFeeds are long, they repeat all day, and during them the parent is visibly unavailable and visibly holding someone else.→Everyone came to see the babyTwo Children · The first weeksVisitors do a predictable thing: they walk past the older child to reach the newborn.→When the adult is not okay eitherTwo Children · The first weeksThe weeks after a birth combine broken sleep, a recovering body, a newborn who cannot be reasoned with, and an older child who has just lost half their parent.→A new baby in the houseBoth Parents · With other kidsFrom your child's side, a new baby is a demotion announced without consultation.→