My 3 year old son and 11 month old daughter Playing together. It’s not always a competition. They have fun too 🙂
Having one child is tough, but having two comes with a whole different set of challenges. My kids are two and a half years apart, and even though they are younger I’ve noticed some sibling rivalry occur and sometimes it can be overwhelming. As the first born, my son was so used to being the “baby” of the family, and it was always just me and him during the day. With the arrival of his younger sister things have changed and he has found himself fighting for my attention. I think that it’s amazing how much love your kids have for you when they are little, they crave the attention from you and always want to be with you. I try to make time for them both individually as much as possible, but I have noticed that he gets impatient. He loves her and I do not doubt that at all, he is affectionate with her and always eager to help. However, crying, tantrums, and even set-backs have occurred over the last 11 months.
So What should you do when this happens? Well what I have learned is that you must, absolutely must make time for both of them. I know it sounds so hard to do, especially when you have one child under the age of one. The good thing is, there is hope yet. I decided to conduct a little research on the matter and decide what works best to get them to play nice. According to FisherPrice.com I found that dads have a very important role when it comes to this issue. Have dad play and grab the attention of the older child, so they don’t feel left out. It also says to read to the oldest child and explain to them what’s happening in the family, sometimes kids have a hard time expressing themselves and books can help ease this process.
Even though my son is a little “rough around the edges” with his little sister I see that he protects her and loves having her around. It’s just taking a little longer than expected to get used to. It’s almost been a year to date since I brought her home from the hospital, and although things haven’t been super easy along the way I am fortunate enough to say: “they are both alive at the end of the day” LOL. We can do as much research as we want, but we have to put things to practice and live it before we can move forward. I have found that making time for them together and individually is important. Try and take the older one for a walk, just you two and you will see changes in the behavior. These things take time and every child adapts at a different rate.
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