Question for those with children close in age....

Bluemeanie_2

I don't get this whole sharing thing with kids. If I knocked on your door and said let me share your car you wouldn't?! Lol

Poppie68

I have 3 girls the eldest is 13 months older than her twin sisters, things like prams and baby dolls we got them one each but smaller things we only ever got one of, i found my shared nicely but if war did break out i sat with them and got the other interested in playing with another toy.

kitschkitty

Siblings need to learn and be able to share BUT they also need to feel that they are individuals and as such that they have ownership of their own belongings.

You need to work out what is theirs together and theirs individually, how they will ask when they want to share each others personal (not joint) belongings, and also how/where are they stored.

Gorgeestwo

My two are 20mths apart (now 6 & 7) and have always shared pretty well, there have been times where we've bought two similar items, but never two the same I don't think, they still get on well and although they do obviously have their moments where they'll argue (I'd be worried if they didn't tbh!) they are few and far between :j they are very competitive though

RadoJo

I think that when they are old enough to understand you can given them the choice - would they rather have two of the same toy or twice as many toys that they have to share. Obviously they might be a little bit young for this now, but it might work when they are older as it will encourage them to see then benefits of sharing.

ZsaZsa

Just under 2 yrs between mine (5 and 3), and duplicates wouldnt work with mine, even with identical toys they'd bicker. We're still working on encouraging them to share, we'll get there!!

Alikay

My previous foster children were sisters 10 months apart, and I found some toys could be shared (dolls houses, Sylvanian animals and similar playsets) but others, like bikes, scooters, dolls and prams were best duplicated as they tend to play with them at the same time.

We tried not to buy identical toys when 2 were needed, and tried to get the item in different styles or colours. Problem came if an item came in pink or blue.....neither wanted what they considered to be the boys' version:rotfl:

sweetme

11 months between my girls (now 15 and 16), I buy two of everything, they still argue regardless :cool:

Old_Joe

When my daughters were young we used to see their mum off to night work (nurse).
Affording only one lot of chips they were split into two portions. The rule used to be for one of them to share them up and the other have first pick of either portion, so there was never any disputes.:D

stiltwalker

Old_Joe wrote: »

When my daughters were young we used to see their mum off to night work (nurse).
Affording only one lot of chips they were split into two portions. The rule used to be for one of them to share them up and the other have first pick of either portion, so there was never any disputes.:D

Same rule in our house when I was a kid - one cuts the other chooses! Only time a problem arose was when my mum had given my little brother 2 pieces of cheese and specified that one is yours, the other is for your sister - little blighter only took a bite out of my piece before handing it over!!!

We have 2 littlies 17 months and 3 1/2 years so just over 2 years between - we're lucky in that they adore each other, but maybe having one boy and one girl is a part of that, plus they both have disabilities and have (wonderfully and amazingly) seemed to twig already that working together helps sometimes. On the occasions that they do pinch a toy off the other or refuse to share the offender gets picked up and plonked unceremoniously plonked in a corner or at the opposite end of the room - 19 times out of 20, by the time they've crawled/wiggled back there are kisses and harmony and sharing is restored. We don't buy duplicates unless it is something they are going to use at the same time - the house is cluttered enough as it is!!! In fact we often take the opportunity to get things that go together ie one gets a dumper tuck, the other gets a digger as they are only going to play with them together anyway.