Fostering a child means providing him or her a stable family life for a certain period. Often, this leads to child adoption. There’s no doubt about getting in touch with a fostering agency in London to become a foster parent as a noble act. However, there are certain things that you have to keep in mind to make this one-of-a-kind experience more wonderful — for you, the foster child, and your kids.

Here are six tips on how to introduce the child you’re fostering to the little members of your household.

Know your foster child. Before taking a foster child to your home, it’s a must to gather as much background information about him or her. Coordinate with your fostering agency London and ask about the kid’s history, behaviour, and general preferences. This will help you make it easier for the child to adjust to his or her new environment (which he or she’d need to share with your own kids).

Set realistic expectations. While fostering is fulfilling, it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. This is why you have to set realistic expectations. For instance, treating all children in the household equally is considered unrealistic. Understand that you have to take care of them depending on their specific needs (meaning, there’ll come a point where you’d need to focus on one child over the other).

Talk about it with your kids beforehand. If you plan to foster a child through a fostering agency in London, you have to tell it beforehand to your kids. This way, you can also set their expectations: Someone else will be living in your home — and that you’d need their cooperation and understanding so that this experience will generally be a pleasant one.

Do a tour and talk about house rules. Once your foster child is ready to live with your family, you have to introduce him or her to your kids as gently as possible. Also, one of the first things that you’d need to do is to take him or her on a tour. While at it, make sure you discuss the house rules: Make both him or her and your biological kids understand that the rules shall apply to all members of the household.

Never force anything on anyone. Implementing house rules is essential. However, there are things that you can’t simply impose on your foster child. For instance, you shouldn’t force him or her to call you dad or mom. Additionally, you have to be mindful of body language and other signals. If he or she has previously been abused, it’s not advisable to force him or her to make physical interactions with you or your kids.

Understand that rivalry is part of family dynamics. Anyone who reaches out to a fostering agency London should know about the responsibility they’re about to take. As part of proper expectation setting, you have to understand that at some point, "sibling" rivalry can happen between your foster child and your biological ones. Though this is part of family dynamics, it still should be addressed sensitively and not be taken lightly. Use a warm and sincere voice when teaching both parties and attempting to reconcile them. Whenever needed, seek professional guidance from fostering staff members.