When we first brought baby home from the hospital we were expecting some toddler jealousy. Mainly because I was still breastfeeding my 14 month old toddler when the baby arrived. Turns out, I was completely SHOCKED at the lack of it. Sure, we had the occasional moments of toddler wanting more attention. All of a sudden she wanted baby’s pacifier, or when she needed the immediate attention, the fingers went to the back of the throat to gag herself – which scared mommy half to death each time. But despite that, it was nothing too bad. In fact, we were really happy how easily the transition was and wondered if the sibling jealousy would ever come…
Well…..10 months later, it has arrived!
Most of the time the girls are great together. My toddler (now 2 years old), wants to hug and kiss the baby (now 10 mo), they play together, share toys (for the most part), make each other laugh….
Well that was until recently. There have been some smaller moments of not wanting to share mama. They both now need to be in the ‘center’ of my lap CONSTANTLY. I only have two hands and one lap, so you can imagine this scene. I try to appease both until one winds up smacking the other in the face or one pushes the other out of my lap. The baby is just as guilty of this as my toddler.
But the one thing that has started happening, the thing that has started making me and my husband giggle just a little, and the reason why I was inspired to write this post started happening.
My toddler has seen me nurse the baby thousands upon thousands of times since baby was born. She’s never once had a moment of regression where she tried to nurse again, and this was from the moment the baby come home….But now? Now, she is climbing into my lap, assumes the nursing position, points to her mouth and says “baby food”. That’s what we tell her when she sees mommy nursing baby. We say the baby is eating “baby food”. So now, my toddler wants her “baby food”! EEK!
So, after months of sibling bliss, wondering if this day would ever come, we are finally here. It has definitely made my days extra hard. I know it’s just one of those things that I have to truck through until they learn and adjust to, like most things in motherhood!
Any experiences with sibling jealousy with two so close in age?