When a child has siblings, he stands to gain much in exchange for learning to share his favorite toys. In fact learning to share and problem solve is one of the most critical lessons children learn from siblings. Studies concerning families with multiple children have been ongoing over the decades, and many of the results are surprising only to those who didn’t grow up with siblings themselves.

A child can thank his siblings for:

• Helping him adjust and cope to new situations with less anxiety and stress.
• Teaching him to take risks and how to mitigate those risks on his own.
• Giving him the opportunity to find his own space and inner drive.
• Being there to watch over him – even when they don’t want to.
• Helping him gain an extra sense of responsibility.
• Performing better on tests and in many different academic areas.
• Keeping him healthy – one in ten only children develops asthma; for children with siblings, only one in two hundred will develop the breathing condition.
• Divorcing less as an adult – children with siblings have a more innate understanding of the opposite sex and how to work to get along.
• Being a willing or unwilling confidant to all the puzzles of growing up.