“I don’t want to go to daycare today”

 It is human to struggle with transitions, but no one on earth struggles more than our gorgeous toddlers.

Some days it feels from the minute their chubby feet hit the floor they are crying because you cut their toast in triangles instead of squares and every little thing is a battleground!!!

They don’t want to get into (or out of) the car or the bath and they are definitely not listening when you tell them it’s time to stop playing and put their shoes on for day-care.

So, what’s up with that?

Why is it so hard?

And more importantly, how can we bring more peace to tricky transitions for our toddlers?

 

Firstly, why is it so hard?

Because these little humans, are just making sense of their world. Their emotions and brains are still developing. So, they cling to routine because it helps them feels safe, and they drag and stomp their chubby feet to let us KNOW.

The thing is, I really get...

When my eldest son  was about 14 months he fell in love with a green block he simply called "Green”. The block was a part of a 5-piece puzzle that his family day care educator gave him for Christmas, and he grew very fond of the square green block over the 4 other shapes and proceeded to take it everywhere.

He slept with it, ate with it, he bathed with it and once left it at a beach about 2 hours from our home and you BET we drove back to get that block!!

I remember thinking it was so strange, it wasn’t cuddly or nice to sleep with, he'd never had a special blanket or toy he was attached to and why on earth this green wooden block?? I remember worrying that he may need that green block next to him as he sat for his driver’s licence or when he got his first job he loved it so much.

In hindsight it’s a bit clearer that at that age, he had begun day-care. He was starting to get a sense of himself as a separate being from us. I think that “Green”...

How to let your child know they are the centre of your universe in one hug.

 Despite what the Hallmark cards suggest no child actually permanently occupies the centre of their parent’s universe 24/7. It’s just not possible.

We love our children to bits, they are undoubtedly at the centre of our hearts and our minds and a perpetual priority but, babies aside, no parent can devote their every waking moment to a single child. All parents have competing demands on their time, their energy and their focus. There are jobs parents need to do - paid and unpaid - to provide for their children.

There are relationships to maintain, physical and mental health to take care of, responsibilities to relatives, the never-ending debacle of washing, not to mention the demands of multiple kids. No one child can ever really be the permanent centre of a parent’s universe, because, as a parent, keeping a child’s world ticking means we have to keep ourselves ticking. 

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Having a baby? Three things that are good to know, and the ONLY thing you really need to know.

Working as an Obstetric Social Worker in a busy maternity unit, I am often told by new parents that “nothing could have prepared them for what it is REALLY like to become a parent”. 

 Often they tell me they really couldn’t have pictured the huge mix of emotions, the challenge of feeding a newborn, and the healing that takes place in the first weeks. 

When we start to talk about the process of adjustment that is taking place for them and their baby, they will often tell me that they already feel completely overwhelmed by the information overload. So much advice out there, so many opinions and how to know what to listen to. 

I often reflect on what we should be telling parents to be. What parents really need to know. So I have aimed to keep this piece really simple. 

1. Your baby will take time to adjust

 For the first 12 weeks your baby...

If you are expecting another baby, I’m sure you would have imagined introducing your newborn to your other children in the hospital. Perhaps you thought of your toddler cuddling your newborn in your hospital bed with dad operating the camera, ready to capture the perfect moment for eternity, or anticipated them peeping into the clear hospital bassinet with a big grin.

Current visitor restrictions in many hospitals in Sydney right now impact the way older siblings meet a new baby for the first time. So many parents I work with can be really sad and worried about this, and this grief is valid.  However, there are some benefits to making this introduction at home.

I certainly anticipated the perfect introduction of a new sibling when I had each of my four boys, but the reality was not nearly as idyllic.

Despite my high hopes, this is what really happened. While I lay with my new baby in the ward, I could hear my toddlers the minute they got out of the...

One of the things parents expecting a second baby are often visualising in the lead up to the birth is the moment their older child and newborn will meet for the first time.

Chubby toddler hands gently holding onto the clear hospital crib looking at their new sibling, a magic moment that many mums picture though the nine long months of pregnancy and all of its ups and downs.

After all, one of the reasons we have more than one child is often because we want to provide a sibling for our older child.

Our subconscious vision is for siblings who will be allies for life, a shoulder to cry on, someone to help you move house, and share adventures with. A friend who will always be there.

In addition, something rarely talked about is how a mother may be feeling in this moment. Her first child is the baby that opened up her heart to motherhood and the idea of another person being able to hold as much space can feel overwhelming.

Many mums feel anywhere from a tinge of sadness to a great...

When I had my second baby I had read and heard two things about smoothing the transition for my older son:

1. Don’t have the baby in your arms when your older child visits in hospital, and 

2. Get him a present from the baby. 

It seemed reasonable and that was the full extent of my preparation to becoming a mum of two. 

If you asked me now, was that enough preparation? I would say no.

It’s not that these things are wrong, it’s that I wasn’t aware of how big the transition would be for my child and how to help him. Without this understanding when his behaviour got tricky (which is so normal at two, or three or four) I viewed the problem as his behaviour – not the need for connection with me.

I survived the year that followed the birth of my second child. Just.

Then I watched friends struggle though, and now through my work so many parents tell me that their experience was the same as mine: Hard, lonely and confusing.

Many...

 The addition of a new baby into a family is always a big change: but a second, or third baby can be a particularly rocky transition for the child that used to be ‘the baby’.

The older child, very often a toddler - has just had their world ROCKED but doesn’t have the words to wrap around how they are feeling. 

Parents are adjusting as well. There is increased sleep deprivation, physical healing, increased pressure on relationships, and often with one parent needing to take time off to care for the baby there is increased financial pressure as well.

Despite all of this pressure every single parent I meet though my work is so focussed on helping their older child with the adjustment, the number one question they want to know is: ‘how can I make sure my older child doesn’t feel left out?

The answers lie in connection, boundaries and being with big feelings. Here are my top five tips:

1. Ease up on the ‘talk’ and focus on...

Most parents will be familiar with the sound of siblings fighting, bickering and squabbling; the build up of tension is often audible from another room, soon enough one child is yelling, “THAT’S MINE!” …. The scream and then very often…. a WHACK.    

 When I work with parents of two or more kids and ask about the thing they are struggling with the most in their family life the number one answer is siblings fighting.

 One of the greatest hopes many parents have is for their children to be friends. Beyond not enjoying the constant sound of screaming & bickering on a day-to-day basis many parents share a deeper hope that the humans they’re raising will - one day - be there for each other when we are not.

 Our subconscious vision is for siblings who will be allies for life, a shoulder to cry on, someone to help you move house, share adventures with and even be a best man or maid of honour at a wedding.

A friend...

Published in Kidspot this month, Genevieve's tips for welcoming a second baby. 

When I had my second baby I had heard only two things were needed for a smooth transition -  don’t have the baby in your arms when your older child visits in hospital and get him a present from the baby. 

This advice is at best not helpful, and at worst leaves you completely unprepared for the changes at play when introducing a new baby into the house.

What I wish someone had told me was that the introduction to a new baby isn’t about the union in hospital, it is about connection, boundaries and spending time with your toddler.  For more click here