My son was a little over 2 1/2 years old when my daughter was due. By that time, my husband, son and I had gotten into a good rhythm functioning as a family of 3.  I would be lying if I said I was not a bit terrified disrupting that carefully sculpted balance of our lives- especially our night time routine.  Fortunately, I had the assistance of the remarkable Rachel Cedar to give me confidence and tools to help make the big jump to a family of 4.

In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with founder and creator of You Plus 2 Parenting, Rachel Cedar, MSW.  For any parent facing the daunting task of adding a new baby to your family dynamics, Rachel offers insight and practical tips to help ease this transition.  This episode is wonderful for parents, grandparents, friends and caregivers to give you tools to adjusting to this wonderful family growth!

What is “Sibling Prep” is and why it’s important.

A good time to get started with prepping your child(ren) and how to begin.

Some mothers who already have two children think they do not need to consider prepping their siblings, what might they find useful about still considering this step in preparation for the next baby?

What to do if your child asks for more details about how the baby was made or how the baby comes out and you’re not ready for a birds & bees conversation?

Some useful tools for preparation.

Tools for the mother to create a new routine once the new child arrives.

What to do your child says he/she doesn’t want a new sibling.

Why play is integral to sibling prep.

How you can prepare for separation from your older child while you are away giving birth or how you can prepare your child for a home birth.

How you can introduce the new baby to the older sibling(s).

How you can address your child’s feelings once you are all home and back together again.

About Rachel Cedar, MSW:

Rachel Cedar is a mother of two young boys and a new baby girl, a social worker and the founder of You Plus 2 Parenting & Beyond the Basics of Toddler Development — a parenting support service based in New York City. She recently published her first sibling preparation children’s book “When Mommy Has Our Baby” and launched the bloggers series “28 Days of Play” tackling the topic of parenting & play and why it can feel hard for parents to truly engage in play with their kids.

Rachel frequently speaks at workshops & events, hosts weekly support groups and webinars, offers private parent coaching services and blogs about parenting tips & toddler development on her website.

Rachel is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with a degree in Psychology, and The Columbia University School of Social Work.

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