Title: (Optional) Describe ways to integrate a newborn into the family.
Course: Child Development and Parenting (19255-36)

Description should include caring ways to

- celebrate the arrival of a new child by birth, blended family, adoption, or foster family
- recognize the caregiver’s feelings, fears, and dreams or aspirations regarding a newborn child
- prepare other children in the family for the new member
- plan for childcare during the birth of a sibling
- prepare a child to attend a sibling’s birth
- prepare a child to meet a new sibling after birth
- reduce the stress of adjustments for the new child, the parents, family members, and pets
- access resources for assistance
- consider the characteristics of a newborn (e.g., temperament, illnesses, colic, allergies) and their outcomes on new and existing family relationships.

Process/Skill Questions:

Thinking

- What are the consequences for an older child of welcoming a new baby?
- Why is it important to anticipate the feelings and needs of other family members when welcoming a new child into the family?
- How can parents integrate a new child into the family in caring ways?

Communication

- What values and beliefs might influence people to become foster parents? Adoptive parents?
- What factors might influence people to adopt or foster children with special needs?
- What stresses might an adopted or foster child have regarding entering a new family?

Leadership

- What adjustments do parents need to make to ensure the physical and emotional care of a new child?
- What adjustments do other family members need to make to lessen the stress of a new child?
- How can family members be encouraged to integrate a new child into the family in caring ways?

Management

- What are some ways to prepare other children for the arrival of a new baby? For the arrival of an older child?
- What steps can parents take to lessen the tension of a new (older) child’s first day and night in a new home?
- What management skills do parents need to integrate a new child into the family?
- How can parents prepare other children for witnessing a sibling’s birth?
- How can parents make sure other children do not feel abandoned during delivery?