3 Ways of Welcoming: A framework for introducing a new sibling
One of my favorite mom memories is when little Juliana (just shy of age 3) picked up baby Charlotte from her bassinet, carried her to the living room, and plopped her on the floor. At first I thought Julie had just brought one of her dolls out to play with. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was not a doll but rather my precious newborn! Both of them seemed perfectly content, by the way. To this day, I have no idea how Julie – who wasn’t even as tall as the bassinet – managed to get Charlotte out and carry her down the hall. Another favorite memory is of tandem nursing. Julie enjoyed nursing until she was somewhere between 3 and 4. Cuddling Julie on one side and Charlotte on the other seemed to be the penultimate experience of motherhood to me. Oxytocin is a beautiful thing. And when I was birthing baby Philip: Charlotte (age 15 months) visited for a bit at the birth center while Julie (age 4) swam in the expansive birthing pool with me while I labored. She eventually fell asleep,...