Why it’s worth taking a second baby refresher course

In mid-May I found myself spending a morning wrapping sticker books, art activity packs and little storybooks. They were all things I had bought for Baby Girl to keep her entertained on a rainy day, but instead of keeping them in a plastic bag, they now looked like lovely presents.

The idea was to have little presents ready for Baby Girl if friends or relatives stopped by with presents for Baby Boy and it looked like she was getting jealous. This was one of the brilliant tips we received from midwife and founder of antenatal course provider New Baby Company Vicki Scott, when she kindly gave Daddy T and me the opportunity to test her Your Next Baby course to review.

The New Baby Company refresher course, which covers all the basics on breastfeeding, the first weeks with baby and establishing a routine, also includes a section on how to prepare an older child for a new brother or sister, which had been a key concern for us. It was great to be able to sit down with an expert like Vicki, who has worked with so many families and could give practical and easy-to-follow advice on how to handle sibling challenges too.

In addition to tips regarding dealing with jealousy, she also highlighted that it would be nice for Baby Girl to have a present for her new brother since he would have one for her. It didn’t take me long to react. Two days later Baby Girl and I were in Pure Baby on Fulham Road and I tried showing her some baby boy clothes to choose from and the baby toy section. She first suggested to get him a ballerina tutu, and then some pink beads, but after a bit of guidance she picked out two cute Rubbabu mini vehicles–a police car and an ambulance–and was thrilled to be able to wrap them up at home and made a lovely card to go with the present.

Sometimes it’s clearly worth spending one and a half hour to get a long list of brilliant tips from a midwife and professional with tonnes of experience!

Tags: Antenatal course, Becoming a big brother, Becoming a big sister, Big sister present, London, New Baby Company, Private course, Refresher course, Second baby course, Siblings, Vicki Scott