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Jealousy and Babies:

Babies and jealousy go hand in hand; in fact, they are practically synonymous. It doesn't matter if your baby has several siblings and are accustomed to sharing the parents' attention on a regular basis or if they are an only child.
It doesn't matter, because when it comes to mommy and daddy, babies do not want to share. If mommy or daddy are showing attention to another baby, your baby will very possibly do whatever it takes to get the parents' attention back.
Some babies love to look in the mirror. Mommy holds the baby up to the mirror where they can see themselves and tries to explain to baby that it is them in the mirror. They don't understand the way a mirror works, though, and when they see mommy in the mirror holding that baby, they are likely to get extremely upset and jealous. Many parents don't realize what is going on when a baby starts crying when they are looking in the mirror, but it makes sense that your child wouldn't want to see mommy holding another baby. And to them, that's what is going on since they have no way of understanding yet that it is them looking back.

Babies also tend to hate sharing their toys. They likely don't want anyone to touch any of their stuff, and this is even truer if they are an only child. The only way to help your baby get over this jealousy is to expose them to it as much as possible.

While it may sound like a mean thing to do, you should hold another baby while your baby is sitting there. If your baby starts to cry, you should tell them that it is okay, that you will pick them up in just a minute. You will not want to make them cry for very long over it, but you need to let them see that you will pick them back up and that it is okay if you give someone else some attention for a few minutes.

One thing you will have to watch out for, though, is when your baby gets so jealous that they are mean to a baby you are holding. This, of course, doesn't imply that your baby is mean, though, it is just something that many babies do. They are showing you they are mad, but they tend to take it out on whomever you are giving their attention to. You may be holding a little baby, and your child may crawl or walk up and hit the baby or bite them to get their point across.

It is really important to not let your baby get away with this type of behavior, even though they are young. You have to tell them no in a firm voice and make sure that they can tell by your tone that you disapprove of what they did. One thing to know about this, though, is that they will most likely get their feelings hurt when you do this.

They are already concerned that you are giving your attention to another baby, and then when they tried to take their spot in mommy's lap back, they get into trouble for being mean to the other baby.

It may be a hard thing to do, but it is necessary. Luckily, this is a phase that doesn't usually last too long, especially if you make sure to show your baby that it's okay for you to pay attention to another baby or person, and that they will get their parent's attention back shortly.




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