The Precious First Borns & Neglected Subsequent Children

By Staff

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 14:43

Before even starting the article, let me confess! This article is not meant to trigger the sibling rivalry that happens at many households. However this article lets out an unpleasant truth!

Younger siblings' suspicions have been confirmed: Parents, especially mothers, favour their 'precious first borns' (PFBs) over the children they have later. Mothers in their young age might be more tolerant to the baby tantrums than they get older. Their inexperience in handling babies will make them more caring to their PFBs than later children.

Mothers will go to any extent in the care of their PFBs. Among examples of attention lavished on the PFBs, mothers admit to rubbing shampoo into their own eyes to test it doesn't sting, pulling prams backwards for miles to avoid direct sunlight and even sterilising the steriliser. Others change their newborns so regularly they go through 150 nappies a week, while some spend half an hour bathing just their baby's head.

However by the time the next children are born, mothers are used to the presence of a baby around them. 'NSCs' -
Neglected Subsequent Children - are regularly left to scream for attention, play with toys that the dog has licked and stew in their own juices until their parents are ready to deal with them. While most mums will confess to having checked on their sound asleep firstborns several times a night, whilst Neglected Subsequent Children are liable to bawl for an age before we even notice.

The term PFB and NSCs were coined by members of the parenting website Mumsnet.