Tips to promote sibling harmony

Cayen and Cayson gets along fabulously well. Cayson will laugh adoringly when Cayen tries to entertain him, and stop crying when Cayen sings for him. 

Even if Cayson pulls his hair, Cayen will let him do so without flinching and even laugh about it. Cayen also takes care of baby by rushing in to help sing songs if he hears baby crying. 

To achieve this, I think that these 6 steps have helped. 

1. Manage expectations
When Cayson was still in tummy, we tried to inform Cayen on the upcoming arrival. To initiate him, we bought some storybooks about being a big brother and babies to start the brainwashing. 

2. Welcome gift 
Before Cayson is borned, I bought some Paw Patrol figures (Cayen's favourite then), and gifted to him on day 1 of Cayson's arrival. It was baby's gift to him! Brownie point scored again! 

3. Daily brainwashing 
Tell Cayen that Cayson loves him a lot and vice versa. Exaggerate all the small things . "Look! Cayson loves you so much! He always smiles when you sing to him!" 

4. Focus on the older one initially
In the first few months of baby's birth, Ah Pa actively brings Cayen out for walks every evening and Universal Studio almost every week. At home, we also trit to spend lots of time on him as opposed to just fixating our attention on baby. Also when he's at home, we don't carry baby as much, or would carry them both. Basically, don't let the older one feel neglected or that life has changed for the worse. I think this must be the single most key item. 

After he knows that the attention on him is not diluted by the baby, life thereafter becomes easier. There's not much jealousy or rivalry even as we spend more time with baby or carry baby a lot later on. 

5. Engage them in games
Cayen is into Pokemon and ah Pa and him have this game of physical Pokemon where Ah Pa would pretend to throw the raspberry and pokeballs and Cayen would jump and swerve. Sometimes Ah Pa will hold Cayson's hand and do the throwing while Cayen jumps and swerves. Overtime, Cayson got the hang of it and would be very entertained by this game and any other games with Cayen inside. 

6. Creating some kind of routine 
Every month as Cayson wakes up real early, Ah Pa will bring Cayson into the room to wake Cayen up by touching him or making noise. 


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