Mums have a soft spot for first borns

Younger siblings’ suspicions have been confirmed: Parents, especially mothers, favour their ‘Precious First Borns’ (PFBs) over the children they have later, concludes a new study.

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, reports The Telegraph. 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.

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

Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, told the Daily Mail that most mums agree that they treat the first child differently to later children. "Precious First Born syndrome is something we can all relate to – 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," she said.