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How to Handle Sibling Rivalry

Since time immemorial, the term ‘Sibling Rivalry’ has found its existence. You can find its existence everywhere, from mythological stories to the real life ones. The word sibling denotes for kids related to the same family or you can say brothers and sisters. But, what are the major causes for such rivalries. Check out the given below instance.

“Hey! You have worn my favourite shirt, take it off now!”

“No, it’s my shirt!”

“Mama….he has worn my shirt and he is not taking it off!”

Such a scenario is common for parents having more than one child. Conflicts between the siblings are quite common, but sometimes they also become best friends.

Causes of Sibling Rivalry

One of the major causes for such rivalry is the competition between both the kids for almost everything. They want to have everything first, whether it is a toy or parental attention. Such fights between the kids lead to frustration and will be stressful for the members of the family. Here are a few causes behind the frequent kids fighting.

• Kids are quite possessive about their belongings, such as a book toy or a dress. This possessiveness leads to conflict, when the baby brother/sister picks up their toy or dress.

• Sometimes parents pay more attention and time to one kid due to his/her health or any other emotional issues. This would lead to jealousy and the other kid will be more aggressive.

• Individual personality and temperament of a kid are two significant factors during such conflict.

• Behavior of Parents is another key factor in Sibling rivalry. For instance, if parents resolve their differences in a respectful and productive manner. This behavior will be quite visible in kid’s attitude. On the other hand, if parents are disrespectful and aggressive towards each other then you should not expect a decent behavior from your kids.

How to Prevent Sibling Rivalry

Although, sibling rivalry is quite a common scenario, still it is not pleasant and creates tension and stress in the house.

In order to prevent or reduce the frequency of sibling rivalry, you can follow these steps:

• Whenever fight happens between the kids, try to avoid it. It would be advisable to avoid your presence during the fight, as both the kids would expect your favour. Until they are not causing any physical harm to each other, leave them to resolve their issues on their own. This is the best way to teach them.

• When the kids are calm, leave them alone for sometime. This would give them sufficient time to understand their fault.

• Never try to put blame on one child, as figuring out one will lead to more anger and frustration in him. Moreover, when both of them are fighting that means both of them are partly responsible.

• Try to make your kids understand the significance of acceptable behaviour. Make them learn that there should be no slamming of door, name calling, yelling etc. Such behaviors are not acceptable in house, as it disturbs the peace of house.

• Set an example to your kids by behaving nicely with your spouse.

Gaining parent’s attention is a key factor in Sibling rivalry. So, you should make it a point to spend considerable amount of time with your kids and make them feel secure and important!