Tips for strengthening the sibling bond

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on how to help your children create a strong sibling bond with each other and decrease sibling rivalry
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Tips for strengthening the sibling bond

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I think we are all unique individuals in life. Children are born responding to their environment in a predetermined way. We wire up inside our moms, in a predetermined way. If I walk into a room and I clap my hands very loud, one child will laugh, one child will cry, and one child will look at me inquisitively. Why? I think it's because we pre-programmed to respond to our environment in a certain way. So one individual will maybe more of a jealous personality than the other. There is always going to be sibling conflict and sibling rivalry in a family, but I think there are simple things that you can do very early on to try and mediate that. That includes; positively reinforcing sharing. If a child engages in cooperative play, you really want to support that behavior and reinforce it. You don't want to ever negatively reinforce behavior. At the end of the day, there is always going to be sibling rivalry, but we want to create a cohesive healthy environment for children where they are comfortable, and support cooperative play.

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on how to help your children create a strong sibling bond with each other and decrease sibling rivalry

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Lawrence Kagan, MD

Pediatrician

Lawrence Kagan, MD, FAAP, is a UCLA honors graduate, with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. He received medical training at USC Keck School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In addition to passionately studying neonatal, general pediatric and adolescent medicine at CHLA, he had the opportunity to train under some of the greatest minds in subspecialty pediatrics, diagnosing and managing the rarest and most complicated childhood ailments. Prior to opening Westside Pediatrics, he worked as an attending physician at the CHLA Emergency Department as well as at Cedars Sinai Urgent Care. Dr. Kagan is a native of Los Angeles and is happily married with two children.

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Transcription: 
I think we are all unique individuals in life. Children are born responding to their environment in a predetermined way. We wire up inside our moms, in a predetermined way. If I walk into a room and I clap my hands very loud, one child will laugh, one child will cry, and one child will look at me inquisitively. Why? I think it's because we pre-programmed to respond to our environment in a certain way. So one individual will maybe more of a jealous personality than the other. There is always going to be sibling conflict and sibling rivalry in a family, but I think there are simple things that you can do very early on to try and mediate that. That includes; positively reinforcing sharing. If a child engages in cooperative play, you really want to support that behavior and reinforce it. You don't want to ever negatively reinforce behavior. At the end of the day, there is always going to be sibling rivalry, but we want to create a cohesive healthy environment for children where they are comfortable, and support cooperative play.