title: Sibling rivalry and the new baby: anticipatory guidance and management strategies.
abstract: Sibling rivalry can be found in many families and frequently creates a stressful and challenging situation for parents. The arrival of a new baby often causes older siblings to feel displaced, frustrated, angry, and even unloved. Age, gender, personality and temperament, and parental behavior are factors that appear to influence the degree to which sibling rivalry occurs. Common reactions of older siblings to the birth of a new baby include aggression toward the newborn, behavioral regression, and attention seeking behavior, as well as independence and maturity. Anticipatory guidance is recommended to help parents adequately prepare their older child for the arrival of a new sibling. Strategies for managing sibling rivalry include open parent-child communication, equal treatment of siblings, non-intervention in sibling conflicts, distraction, and separation. Parents can minimize feelings of jealousy between siblings by providing a supportive, nurturing environment that allows each child to feel secure and loved.
authors.affiliation: Detroit Medical Center, Hutzel Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sawicki
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D012801:Sibling Relations