Tiny Playmates

When I brought my third child home from the hospital he was barely able to keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time. He wanted to cuddle, snuggle and nurse. His big brothers had some other ideas in mind. They were ready for a new playmate to join in their brotherly fun.

At the time I had two choices: I could be one of those "This baby is not a toy!" kind of mothers or I could find a way for Benjamin and Alex to embrace their new sibling that was more appropriate for a rambunctious 3-year-old and a fun-loving 6-year-old.

Luckily I have a husband who is a bigger kid than them all so I put my creativity together with his energy and we invented some games that helped my older kids bond with new baby Ethan. Not only did they help ease the transition, but they gave us some great pictures and a lot of good times. I hope these ideas will help you take the time to foster some sibling fun right from the start. There's nothing better than it!

You may have taken a class about massaging Baby, but with this exercise, Baby is the masseuse. This is something I actually started before Ethan was born. When we would sit down to read books at night, he would often kick. When the kids were sitting on my lap, they could feel the kicks against their back and enjoyed getting a "massage" from their baby brother. After he was born I could lay him on their backs and pat his hands for a little tension breaker.

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