HOW DO WE MANAGE WITH A BABY AND A TODDLER?
It is a daunting prospect, since one may have seemed more than enough in the early days, but you will have acquired a lot of knowledge and won` t be a averse to using short cuts to enable you to cope with your day. You will be even keener on labor saving equipment and easy care cloths.
It will probably be easier if you try to fit the older child in as far as possible with the grown-up meals and enlist his father to take charge of the evening bath and morning dressing routines.
Make sure he has his afternoon rest at a time when you and the baby are having yours, even if he doesn’t` t sleep, it` s good policy to put him into his cot or bed for an hour or two as a matter of course with a book or toys.
It is particularly important to make sure he has some interesting occupation while you feed or bath the baby. Often he will want to help and of course you should let him. But after a while the novelty will wear off, and he will just get bored or hostile if he is hanging around watching with nothing special to do. Radio and television programs can be a real help at these times, but try to to avoid the temptation to switch on more often to keep him quite. It is important not to give the ex baby the feeling that he is just being fobbed off and is now an also-ran.
Of course you will have a very busy day but do try to find some special time for him alone, when you can play with him, tell stories and generally make him the centr of the picture. Here` s where a father can be of real help not only in the practical ways we have suggested but in involving himself with the older child and his doings and interests so that the toddler is given a feeling of security and importance in the new family set-up.
Even men who find it difficult to become really intrigued with the development of a small baby find they have much greater rapport with an enchanting toddler who is beginning to talk back and develop skills. Both father and child will benefit. Playgroups are particularly valuable at this time but do try to settle your older child into his playgroup before the baby is born so that he doesn` t see it as a banishment caused by the baby` s arrival but the privilege of his age and maturity. I f your toddler does go to playgroup or nursery school, it` s still important to give him time and attention all to himself when he is at home.
