Saturday, September 17, 2016

There is a generous amount of discussion about how a child feels and behaves when a new baby brother or sister arrives. Some children are pleased and excited, some are not, and almost all experience some jealousy regarding the attention the new infant receives. The older child is accustomed to receiving lots of notice from the parents, and now he or she has to share that attention. It's not unusual for signs of sibling rivalry to show up.

What is discussed less is the nature of the family before the second baby, when the family consists of only the parents and one child, what a family triangle is like. This is an interesting system in and of itself, whether another child ever arrives or not. When another child does arrive, though, there are adjustments for everyone, not just the firstborn, as the triangle takes on a new geometric shape.

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