My kids are always fighting about something. I notice it the most when we are driving in the car to and from school, or in confined spaces such as the house. What is the solution to preventing my children from fighting?
2007-01-21 15:33:05 · 9 answers · asked by Time4Tivo 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Grade-Schooler
Children's ages are 10, 7 and 5
2007-01-21 15:41:49 · update #1
teach them to share by having to help the other sibling out. It could start with small things such as making their lunch...when they do good-use positive reinforcement to let them know you approve of their behavior. Make them apologize when they misbehave. my brother and I fought like we were cats and dogs until about high school - so it may take a while.
2007-01-21 15:41:34 · answer #1 · answered by Sharp Marble 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That isn't necessarily "sibling rivalry". It may just be plain old fighting that siblings do when they're too close to one another.
In the house: Tell them to separate when they start to fight.
In the car: You could try making sure each child has something to keep him occupied while riding. Otherwise, there may not be anything you can do about the car problem. You could, though, tell them if they fight on the way somewhere you won't buy them whatever or do whatever for them once you get there.
Any time you mix an oldest child, a middle child, and a youngest child in a small space you'll get the fighting for one reason or another.
2007-01-21 19:56:26 · answer #2 · answered by WhiteLilac1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are never going to prevent them from fighting. Send them outisde and tell them not to come tattling unless there is bone protruding through skin or severed arteries. Worked everytime for friend of my mom's she had 6 kids worked part time and went to school part time. They would begin fighting in the house and she would send them outside telling them that she didn't want blood on the carpet. Of course no bones were ever broken, no limbs severed. There were a few fat lips, a few blackened eyes. But somehow they survived. They're all a very close knit clan now. Literally a clan, they all have homes on the same street in the same town.
2007-01-22 19:19:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was the same with my brother we were 2 years apart. Maybe you can find something that they all like or have in common like singing songs or something in the car. Or a board game when at home my cousins are 11 10 7 and 5 and they all get along for the most part because the parents try to get them all involved in something they all can do we would always just make sure the lil one can understand it.
2007-01-21 15:49:30 · answer #4 · answered by seb 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My goodness, did you never punish them? If they aren't going to listen to you now, good luck. I have three also, and believe me, if I had to pull the car over to stop the bickering they were in for a bad day. But, since I made sure I had boundaries they were to never cross we didn't have this problem.....for long. You really need to let them know there are rules to be obeyed. You can't be a wimp with tweens and teens. But, it sounds like they already have you figured out........sorry.
I came back in to edit my answer because I believe that CoCoPuff has a valid point. They will continue to have their spats in private. When my kids came to me and had complaints about each other (as long as no physical violence was involved) I told them they had to work it out amongst each other. They need to learn to problem solve. Work as a team. And build trust with each other. But, I didn't allow them to be animals. Now, if they are this way with each other and they can work it out to an agreeable conclusion, well, then I am happy. They are going to have the relationship with each other for the rest of their lives and I am not going to always be there to coach or referee. Good luck.
2007-01-21 17:39:15 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My siblings are all in their 50's and we never stopped fighting ... just seemed to have lulls and make truces when necessary. Our parents never encouraged the rivalry, in fact tried hard to discourage it ... they just barely managed to keep the lid on it. When my last surviving parent passed on, the sibling rivalry exploded and escalated to newer highs (lows).
Good luck.
2007-01-21 16:02:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to start being in charge instead of a friend.I would take prividges away unless they stop doing wrong behavior.If you don't it won't get much better.
2007-01-21 15:42:28 · answer #7 · answered by thresher 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You can't stop that. I fought with my sister and brother in private because I knew Mom would whoop us if I did anything in front of her.
2007-01-21 15:41:00 · answer #8 · answered by ♥c0c0puffz♥ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it would help us if we knew their ages.
I suggest giving them some time away from each other.
2007-01-21 15:39:00 · answer #9 · answered by bb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋