Spend time with your sibling child

The most signficant thing you can do for a your sibling child is to spend time with him or her. Do whatever you can to give a sibling your one to one time with you. Ask friends to help with care or domestic tasks, ask for respite care for your disabled child, or take a sibling out of school for a few hours. You need regular one to one time to develop a relationship with your child and for him or her to feel special and loved. Younger siblings need daily chunks of time for routine activities each day like playing and being read to, older teenagers may be fine with a shorter chat time each day and a long chunk of time with a parent each weekend. Ask your child what they would prefer.

The things that matter to siblings are:

• Parents watching them in school shows, sports matches, or at other events
• Parents spending time with them doing fun things like games, going shopping, playing sports, cooking, craft activities, going to the cinema, swimming, making things, pretend play, doing hairstyles,..
• Parents helping them with homework or other learning or helping them sort out their stuff
• Parents giving them the full focus of their attention while they talk about school, friends, worries, a film they saw, football, clothes..
• Parents spending regular time each day being available for chatting, playing or helping