I was horrified when I read your post.

Your niece is clearly very jealous of her little sister and is acting out against her. At 5 she would know that she's doing something wrong but perhaps not the full extent of the damage she could have done.

Unfortunately, sibling jealousy is a very common issue when a new bub comes along and again I find a 'but'. The 'but' being, she should have gotten over most of these issues by now as her little sister has been around for a while. I agree with some of the other posts that she hasn't been getting heard and this is probably the reason she's behaving this way. I found that each time in our home that a new baby came along that if DH and I make time to spend with each of our girls one on one it reduced the jealousy a notch. Story time is a fantastic way of spending time with the older child as usually the younger child is already asleep in bed and during naps I've found that craft activities help cement the bonds with my older child (now children).

I wouldn't stop these issues from influencing your move, however, I would be keeping a very eagle eye on your niece whenever she is near your son. Have you spoken with your sister about your concerns or is it too confronting for you?

Curl