How to Prevent Only Child Syndrome Without Having More Kids

My niece Sidney was my first baby. When she was born, we lived together for a number of years. Whenever I went to Target, she jumped in my car. And if I ever missed her bedtime, when I would get back home, I would go in her room to tuck her in at night.🌛 I always wanted a family and now I have a son of my own.

Sidney and Avery are more like siblings than cousins. She looks out for him like a big sister and he loves her the same. 💕

I never want Avery to grow up with only child syndrome. He will be the only child that I birth but he will not be my only baby and will always have his sibling-cousins Sidney and Junie. 🐰🐨🐷

There are several ways to prevent only child syndrome.

It’s really important to allow your child to be a child. I know this sounds obvious but sometimes parents allow their children to get caught up in ‘grown folks business.’

Here’s something I’m guilty of, treat them the same way that you would if they had siblings. That means that closet full of clothes and extra extra amount of toys is not helping. Treat them as if they have siblings. This is why cousin play is so important to me. Allowing Avery to spend time with his cousins gives him a great sense of balance.

Only children tend to have very high expectations and are overly ambitious. Ambition is great, but instead of practicing the piano for hours on end, remind them that it’s okay to play and do other activities as well.

Allow your babes to have a sense of independence. Since they are only children, they are used to us being ready, willing, and available to solve all their problems. This doesn’t help them learn, grow or develop. It’s okay to be there for them as much as you can but allow a little bit of uncertainty so that they can also learn how to solve problems on their own.

At the end of the day, it will be best for your child to be around other kids their age to help break the only child syndrome. If they don’t have cousins or friends that live close, now may be a good time to enroll them in swim lessons, girl/boy scouts, and other activities to keep them engaged and build friendship.