ABSTRACT
Parents play an important part in helping the relationship between the siblings take shape. The parent may help her older child to recognize and bear his strong feelings towards his little sibling. The child’s world undergoes a massive change; indeed, for some children, it can feel as if the world has turned upside down and will never be the right way up again when they realize that there is to be an addition to the family. Many children are actively pondering and puzzling over these questions, and parents may be surprised by the freshness and inventiveness of the child’s own explanations. Children are often weaving their own theories about how babies are made, extrapolating from their observations and from their imagination. The parent may need to act as a kind of mediator and protector of her different aged children with their differing developmental needs.
