How to manage sibling fights

The fights between brothers of 6 to 12 years, harmful and annoying in appearance, really constitute an aid so that they are formed in their feeling of sociability, know the insecurity and develop your personality affirming yourself in front of others. The confrontations and the rivalry between brothers at these ages they do not suppose a rejection to the communication between brothers. They serve rather to foster union among themselves insofar as they learn to know "the rules of the game".

However, although sometimes they are exasperating, we must not forget that they are part of the child's normal development.

What to do when the brothers fight?

1. Do not intervene and let it be they who learn to defend themselves.

2. Make authority feel only when things get complicated and do not have an exit for them; or when one is dominated by the other; or when he is his victim.

3. Act with each child according to their way of being, his affective needs and what we expect from him.

4. Know that if in the family there is concern for one another, fights between brothers appear as something natural. They occur for some time and then evolve towards manifestations of cooperation and affection.

5. Our attitudes, reactions and words must be fair so that no one can feel less loved than the others.

6. Give preferential treatment to one of the children just out of necessity: age, health, etc.

7. Highlight the positive values and the virtues of the children.

8. It is essential that they get used to making peace after the fight.

Gloria Elena Franco. Author of Communication in the family. Ed. Word