Ultimate Sibling Bond: 15 Ways To Encourage It

The biggest thing that I can say about sibling bond is that it can be truly lifelong never-ending love.

A bond you can have with a brother or sister can be one of the greatest bonds in your life.

What is a sibling bond? Or how do you describe a sibling bond?

Sibling bond is that connection you feel with a brother or sister. Love you have for them as your sibling but also as a friend. The understanding that someone is always there for you and you for them. A sibling that will always have your back or be in your corner. Someone who shares your good times with you and your bad. A person that will be there for you throughout your life.

When does sibling bond start?

Sibling bond can start from the moment you meet your new brother or sister at birth. The bonding time can take a while to really form. But for most kids, after they have gone through the whole drama of a new kid in the house, they will start to form a bond.

Kids are different. For some, it may be an immediate bond over feeling protective of their new baby sister or brother. Others it may take a while till the new baby is older and they can really start playing with them.

Some more great info on acceptance of bringing a new baby home can be helpful.

In some cases where the kids meet at an older age such as stepbrother/sister, it may take a longer time.

In all cases, there are ways that you can help them create a strong sibling bond.

How do you encourage sibling bond?

1. Let your child help with the new baby. When your new baby is brought home from the hospital immediately start initiating the other child to help with the baby.
   • This should not be any forced help, only help if they want to. Such as rocking the baby, helping change diapers, and helping feed the baby.
2. Make sure that you are always including your other child with the new baby, so they don’t despise them. And give them the one-on-one attention they need.
   • My daughter had a hard time with her little brother at first. She didn’t like him getting a lot of her attention as she saw it. But we found ways to give her undivided 1 on 1 attention and time away from him so she wouldn’t think badly of him.
   • Try doing things as a family such as reading all together, cuddling all together, playing all together especially as the baby starts playing with toys.
3. Show your child how to make the baby laugh.
   • When my 2 1/2-year old daughter realized she could make her little brother laugh she thought that was the best thing ever. She would always do silly things to entertain him, and he would just laugh. That most definitely started to create a bond between them.
   • Anytime my daughter would walk into the room he’d instantly look at her and laugh if she was being silly. Or if he’d hear her voice, he’d look around the room for her. You could already see that bond between them. I do believe my baby boy had created that bond with his sister at that time.
4. Promote the older sibling to sing songs or read to the younger sibling.
   • Even if they can’t really read at their age, they can do their “pretend” reading. As your baby gets older and can play and move around keep promoting the play time and interaction between them. The younger sibling will soon be able to do a lot more and will be more fun to play with.
   • My children soon became like two peas in a bod. Always playing together always giggling and having a fun time. My daughter had an instant playmate which she thoroughly loved.
5. Family routines can help build a sibling bond.
   • If you start creating a routine in your house such as bath time and bedtime. Why not start a routine of family clean-up-time and reading time? Let your kids help each other out when and where they can. Sometimes they may like cleaning their own room but other times they may see that teamwork is fun. During that teamwork, they can work on that bond.
6. Family traditions are great for helping siblings’ bond. Make family traditions early on. Whether it’s a tradition that you grew up with and you carry over to your family or new ones you make.
   • Holidays are easy to make and have traditions that your kids can be a part of and can do together. Such as Christmas you can have certain things you do each year to prepare for that holiday. It could be making gingerbread houses together, making ornaments, decorating the tree together, making gifts for each other and other family members, and so on.
7. Birthdays are a great way for your kids to show each other how special they are. Help your child make a gift for their sibling or take them shopping for a gift. They will learn how great it is to show their siblings how much they love them. And for the birthday sibling, they will feel special and be thankful for their sibling.
8. When one child is sick teach the other to be empathetic and let them help take care of them. When my kids were sick the other sibling would be sad for them. They would help bring food or water to the sick sibling. And maybe even bring a toy or something to play with. They could read to them or watch a movie with them from a distance if they are contagious. Help your child learn how to help others by serving their siblings first. The receiving child can learn appreciation and how good it feels to be helped/served especially when sick.
9. Sleepovers together are fun. Let your kids have sleepovers in each other’s rooms or in the living room. The more fun your kids have together the closer they will get. Siblings are like friends or are each other’s best friends and enjoy doing things with each other like they would do with other friends.
10. Activities inside and outside at home, crafts, and games. There are so many ways that kids can do things together and build strong bonds between a brother or sister. Any time one sibling is making a craft or doing some type of activity usually the other sibling will want to do it as well. Give them many opportunities to make/do things together. If trying to work on fine motor skills come up with activities for them both. Maybe make it a routine of having a craft day or game day. Have popcorn movie time with just the siblings. It’s fun to watch your kids laugh together as they watch a movie. Family movie nights are fun to have as well but be sure to give your kids some just kids time also. Playing in the backyard, your kids could play sports together. They could build or make things out of sticks and stones, sandbox fun, or whatever your backyard offers.
11. When your kids argue or have a disagreement try and let them work it out. Most of the time they can work it out without you interfering. Show them how they feel sorry when they are mean to their sibling. Teach them to apologize to their sibling and the other how to forgive.
12. Take them out on outings together where they can have fun doing things other than at home. As they get older, they may enjoy different things. Let your kids try out and do things together that each sibling likes to do. Show them how you can do things with someone that you don’t necessarily enjoy but you do it for them. And how you can compromise on things and find common things you both enjoy.
13. Family vacations/trips are great for your siblings to bond. On our family vacations, I wouldn’t let our kids invite friends. I think it’s important to have those special times with just your kids. And it is very important to give every opportunity for your kids to hang out together. My kids have had some great times exploring new places together and have great memories to keep. Camping trips can be a great place for your kids to bond. Read my blogs on traveling tips, ways to help when traveling, and some of our family trips that might inspire you with a family vacation.
14. Let your child be their sibling’s biggest fan or cheerleader. Encourage your kids to attend their sibling’s sports games, school programs, or other activities. Show them how they can give their siblings support and praise. How you can make them feel that they are important and what they do is important.
15. As a parent you can help with sibling bonding by treating your kids the same. Don’t ever show favoritism to one kid or treat one better. Kids will see how they are treated versus the other siblings. That could lead to one disliking the other because of jealousy. Don’t ever compare your kids to each other, that can be detrimental as well. All kids are different, and they shouldn’t be compared. If you say, “Why can’t you do well in school like your sibling?” “Why can’t you play soccer like your sibling?” “Why don’t you keep your room clean like your sibling?” You then are comparing your kids which is not right nor fair. This will make more of a dislike with the siblings. All kids are different and that is a good thing so don’t compare them.

What is the benefit of sibling bond?

There are so many great benefits in creating and having a sibling bond. While you are young you are first learning how to love others, trust others, and learning in general. With a sibling you have shared experiences as you grow up with your sibling.

When you are young you have an instant playmate. Someone to laugh with and play with. You learn so many things with a sibling. Empathy may be learned through understanding your sibling’s feelings. You learn how to share, how to open up with someone, and truly trust them. A sibling relationship is the first relationship with another person, other than the parents.

You learn what it means to have unending love and acceptance. No matter how old you are or where you live you always know your sibling is there for you.

Sibling bond doesn’t just have to be with a sibling by blood. It can be with a sibling that was adopted, a step sibling, even a cousin or close friend that is like a sibling.

If you only have one child, I suggest letting your child spend a lot of time with a cousin or close friend. Let them feel that closeness as a sibling does.

My kids had the privilege of growing up spending lots of time with their cousins. When they were all together you could see that bond just like they were brothers and sisters. They all still have that close bond even though they are older now and don’t see each other as often. But they all know they could call up any of them at any moment and they would be there for them.

If you have more than one sibling that is wonderful. It can sometimes be a little more challenging with many siblings as you might not get that one-on-one time with a parent. But you would have many playmates and friends. Depending on the ages and things in common you might have a stronger sibling bond with one or two siblings over the others. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have strong sibling bonds with all your siblings. They may be a little different but yet similar in ways

My two kids have such a strong sibling bond, and I am very grateful they do.

I have 5 siblings and we all have very strong sibling bonds too. I cherish all my siblings and am grateful to have them by my side whenever I need them. It’s wonderful to know that I have so many people out there that love me endlessly and that I can confide in.

Unfortunately, I have felt the loss of a Sibling. Two of my siblings have passed away. When you have a sibling who passes away you feel that loss tremendously. It may feel like a piece of you is missing. With that said it shows how strong our bond was and still is.

Even as siblings go off and create families of their own and maybe even move far away, that bond is always there. To me, I would say a sibling bond is a forever bond.

So, help your kids create that sibling bond so that it can last a lifetime.

Do all that you can to encourage your kids to make that sibling bond by the items I listed above.

Realize that it can take time but in the end it will be worth it. And yes, your kids may have that sibling bond, but it doesn’t mean they won’t ever argue. No one is perfect and even a sibling can make you mad but, in the end, you make up. And you know that that brother or sister truly loves you.

Sibling bond means having a lifetime friend and I hope your kids can develop that strong sibling friendship/bond.