Sibling Jealousy and the New Baby: Why Your Older Child Regresses (and What Actually Helps)

Your potty-trained three-year-old suddenly wants a bottle, talks in baby talk, and hits the new baby. They're not being bad — and they aren't going backward. In Part 6 of our Big Emotions series, we decode sibling jealousy: why it's really an attachment alarm (the fear that your child's "secure base" is being redirected), why that turns a big kid into a baby again through regression, the one mistake that makes it worse (forbidding the feeling), and the two moves that actually settle it — naming the jealousy and "filling the cup" with predictable one-on-one time. Grounded in mainstream developmental psychology (Bowlby & Ainsworth's attachment theory, the secure base, CDC/AAP guidance). Regression after a new sibling is framed as common and usually temporary. ▶ Big Emotions series — Part 6 of 7. Next: the finale — Helping Kids Through Sadness and Disappointment. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:20 What you'll learn 0:52 Jealousy Is an Attachment Alarm 2:03 Why the Big Kid Becomes a Baby 3:23 The Mistake: Forbidding the Feeling 4:43 Fill the Cup 5:59 Recap ⚠️ General education, not medical advice. Every child develops differently — if regression is extreme or persistent, talk to your pediatrician. — Powered by 1865 Free Money · Digital Excellence · Atlanta, GA · https://1865freemoney.com