Watching my son last week with his new siblings has encouraged me to read up on the sibling relationship. As an only child myself, I don’t “get” the sibling things my husband and his brother share.

The visit last week, though wildly successful, also pinpointed some areas that we can be working on with our biological child before his new brother and sister arrive. Nothing major, but our son naturally fell into the “Big Brother” role, complete with the occasional very bossy tone of voice (and about very minor things, at that). Though we spoke to him when these “infractions” occurred, we also realized that clearly this was a pretty major transition for our heretofore only child!

I also watched the kids that we are adopting and how they related to each other and my son. Since my daughter has been the oldest sib, and protective of her younger brother, I was interested in seeing how introducing a new and older sibling would play out. It really ended up being more of the “older kids” (she and my oldest son) versus “The Little Kid” (my youngest). It remains to be seen how this will develop once the kids get here, but the beauty of it so far is that, by all accounts from people I know with more than one child, everything I witnessed last week was extremely normal! And all of this in their initial days with each other!

I’ve ordered a few books on Amazon about sibling relationships and birth order. Until they arrive and I can read them to see if they are worthy of recommending to you, here are a few great resources I’ve culled while scouring the Internet:

Preparing for a Sibling’s Arrival

Hoping to Adopt a Sibling

Preparing a Sibling

Pre-Adoptive Preparation

http://www.nysccc.org/Conferences/Conf2004/Preparing.htm

Sibling Relationships/Sibling Rivalry:

Sibling Attachment

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (with bibliography for adult and children)

More on Sibling Rivalry

Sibling Conflict

The Joys and Complexities of Sibling Relationships

Fighting Siblings

Siblings and Peer Relationships

Consequences

Adopting a Sibling Blog

Boards and Forums:

Adoption.com

Articles on Various Topics:

Stories of Siblings

Biological and Adopted Siblings

Older Sibs


Siblings by Age

Sibling Preparation