What happens to the family when a new baby arrives? At this moment, the known family structure is disrupted.

There may be enormous love, tenderness and joy — and alongside them comes exhaustion, jealousy, loneliness, irritation, fear, guilt and sometimes the painful feeling of not being enough.

For the mother, the transition can mean an overwhelming physical and emotional reorganisation: intense attachment, vulnerability, loss of freedom, changes in identity and body, constant responsibility, anxiety, loneliness, anger, sadness — sometimes all within the same day.

For the father or partner, life changes too. Attention shifts towards the baby, intimacy may disappear for a while, responsibilities increase, and they may feel needed everywhere yet somehow left outside the mother–baby world.

For an older sibling, the arrival of a baby can mean both love and loss. Suddenly they have to share the people who once belonged almost entirely to them. Jealousy, regression, anger, clinginess or rejection of the baby may be ways of asking: “Do I still have my place with you?”

And the couple that existed before the baby has changed as well. Less sleep. Less time. Less touch. More tasks. Different expectations. Unspoken resentment. Who is doing more? Who is more tired? Who gets to have needs?

In this presentation / circle / workshop, we will explore what happens inside each member of the family and between them when a baby arrives.

To make room for the feelings that often remain unspoken, understand what each person may be trying to protect or ask for, and explore how connection can survive a period in which nobody has quite enough of anything.

The question becomes: “How will this new family function from now on?”

The workshop is part of the free parenting support workshops offered by BEC and led by expat parenting coach Eszter Sarody.