Tips for Introducing New Children into Your Home

Introducing new children into your home when you already have your own children can be a difficult transition for everyone. Whether you are becoming a foster parent, caring for a family member's children, or any other situation that causes you to welcome new children into your home is far from easy. When I welcomed a 5 year old into my home when I already had 3 children of my own, the transition was very difficult on all the children. While it was difficult, I wouldn't do anything differently because we used tips we had learned to prepare everyone with the new member joining our family.

Set Up a Meeting

Prior to introducing new children into your home, set up a play date or a meeting for the children to meet one another. It will be easier on all children involved if they know who is coming into the home and who the new children will be staying with. A child will feel more comfortable entering the home if they do not feel like they are moving in with strangers and the same goes for the children already in the home.

Set up a meeting spot in a neutral place. Do not have the meeting in your home, if possible, because the new child will not feel comfortable and will feel like the outcast of the group. Instead, set up a meeting place at a park or recreational area where they children can play together and simply be children with one another.

Prepare the Children

Before introducing new children into your home prepare all children involved with what is going to happen. Sit down with your children and explain to them that a new child is coming into the home. Explain that time with each child is going to become more limited but no one is loved any less. Tell your children to expect some turbulence in the beginning while the new child adjusts to living in a new home. Try to have your children empathize with the new child about how they would feel living in a different home with a different family.

Sit down with the child that will be entering your home as well. Explain to the child that they are welcomed and they will be treated no differently than the other children in the home. Let the child know that every one is excited for them to be joining the family. Find out some of the child's likes and dislikes prior to them entering your home so you can provide the child with some of the things they are interested in.