{"id":33575,"date":"2024-04-10T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T07:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=33575"},"modified":"2025-04-17T21:21:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:21:55","slug":"5-strategies-to-support-positive-sibling-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/5-strategies-to-support-positive-sibling-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"5 strategies to support positive sibling relationships","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat\u2019s mine!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had it first!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet out of my room!\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a parent of multiple children, you may regularly hear these statements, or some version of them, in your household. You may wonder, will they ever get along?<\/p>\n

While sibling relationships can be tricky to navigate, they have tremendous influence on our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiblings give us that first glimpse into what a relationship with a peer might look like,\u201d says Lauren Mitchell, a behavioral health therapist at Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare, part of the MultiCare Behavioral Health Network<\/a>. \u201cThey also teach us important skills about communication and conflict resolution that we carry into adulthood, so the quality of sibling connections matters a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read on to learn how to help your children foster healthy relationships with each other that last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

1. Make time for siblings to bond<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Spending quality time together is the foundation of any relationship. Early on, it\u2019s important to provide regular opportunities for your children to participate in an activity together, such as playing a board game, doing a craft or engaging in imaginative play. You may also consider having your children team up to do household chores.<\/p>\n

Finding activities to help them bond may be easier when children are close in age. But what about when your children are at different developmental stages or have different interests?<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you have to get creative,\u201d Mitchell says. \u201cA good place to start is asking each of them to come up with a list of what they might like to do together. It could be as simple as going out for ice cream, taking a walk around the neighborhood or visiting a park they both like. Some older siblings also enjoy the opportunity to teach a younger sibling a skill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spending time together as a family, no matter the age of your children, also encourages bonding among siblings and can give parents an opportunity to model skills like negotiation and problem solving.<\/p>\n

2. Schedule one-on-one time with each child<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Just as families and siblings need time with each other, each child also also needs one-on-one time with you, and that time should be divvied up as equally as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen children feel like they don\u2019t get enough individualized attention from a parent, it can spill over into their interactions with their siblings, contributing to rivalries and conflict,\u201d Mitchell says.<\/p>\n

Older children and teens may be less likely to want to spend one-one-one time with a parent \u2014 but even if they frequently turn you down, it\u2019s still important to extend the offer and allow them to choose what you do together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf parents stop offering to hang out one-on-one with one child and are only doing activities with another, it can be perceived as playing favorites,\u201d Mitchell says.<\/p>\n

3. Avoid showing favoritism<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While this may seem like a no-brainer, parents can sometimes unknowingly behave in ways that children perceive as showing favoritism. For example, you may allow an older sibling to have privileges \u2014 such as staying up later or playing certain video games \u2014 that aren\u2019t appropriate for your younger child, yet your younger child may accuse you of favoritism.<\/p>\n

What should you do if this happens?<\/p>\n

\u201cTake the time to explain the connection between privileges and responsibility in an age-appropriate way,\u201d Mitchell says. \u201cAnd you may want to dig a little deeper too. Is there something else going on that\u2019s prompting this feeling? Could they benefit from more individualized attention?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another no-no? Comparing one child to another. For example: \u201cYour sister behaves when we go to the store \u2014 why can\u2019t you?\u201d Not only are comparisons to other siblings likely to harm your child\u2019s self-esteem, but they may also be perceived as showing favoritism.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat\u2019s mine!\u201d \u201cI had it first!\u201d \u201cGet out of my room!\u201d If you\u2019re a parent of multiple children, you may regularly hear these statements, or some version of them, in your household. You may wonder, will they ever get along? While sibling relationships can be tricky to navigate, they have tremendous influence on our lives. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavioral-health","category-kids-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 strategies to support positive sibling relationships- MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Parents have an important role to play in helping children foster healthy relationships with each other that last a lifetime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/5-strategies-to-support-positive-sibling-relationships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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