Sibling sequence

6 min

«It's normal for children to compete with each other»

Social pedagogue and supervisor Katalin Nef says that jealousy between friends often occurs. You should react if a child slips into the role of victim or is suppressed.

Development

3 min

«Our youth was characterised by pathological competition»

Twins Eva and Rita Fleer, 30, rivalled so fiercely as teenagers that they had to be physically separated. Eva now works as a teacher and trainer for subject-orientated communication with babies in Bremgarten BE. She has two daughters, aged 3 years and 9 months. Rita is an economist and lives in Baden AG.

Development

2 min

«Because jealousy is not taboo for us, we quickly find undramatic solutions»

Selina Meyer, 33, and Mirco Marti, 40, live in Solothurn. The special needs teacher and the self-employed plasterer have two daughters and a son together. Between Lilly, 9, Nola, 6, and Diego, 2, there are always turf wars. The parents also admit to sometimes being jealous of the other's role.

Development

2 min

«The two must also find their own solutions»

Linda, 39, Event Management Clerk, and Patric Thomann, 40, Kitchen Planning Project Manager, live with their two sons in Boll BE. Jealousies between Liam, 6, and Robin, 4, quickly lead to fisticuffs. The mum says that the parents do their best not to intervene too quickly.

Development

2 min

«I have to organise exclusive time for one child»

Brigitte Müller has two young sons. In everyday life, the single mum is sometimes unable to do justice to both children, which leads to rivalry.

Development

4 min

My brother, the daredevil

Whether siblings influence each other depends primarily on their relationship. This also applies to their risk behaviour.

Development

8 min

Successful first-borns, creative stragglers?

There are many popular assumptions about the influence of sibling order on development. Only one stands up to scientific scrutiny.