h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Example:

A family has one child (I wall call it no.1). A baby (no.2) is born and gets - naturally - a lot of attention

No.1, who's been used to having all attention him-/herself becomes jealous.
If No.1 is very young he/she will not be able to express this in words, but in actions and emotions.

Sulking might be one of the signs - unfortunately this might not be recognized by the parents as a sign of feeling neglected and/or jealous, but will only make them irritated, telling no.1 to stop 'behaving like a baby' - which will only make no.1 even sulkier.

To avoid this, be sure as a parent to share the attention equally (if possible) between no.1 and no.2, and be attentive to signals from no.1.

Also try to be fair - it is understandable that you will want to defend the smaller one if no.1 is being a bully, but this might also cause jealousy - 'you're always on his/her side!'

I have only one younger brother, so I don't know if this goes for no.3 or more children, but I would guess so.
Talking to friends makes me suspect that the age difference matters - the smaller difference, the greater risk of jealousy.

Odd - I thought that parents were partly to blame and actually able to do something to prevent chivalry between siblings - but I seem to be the only one supporting this point of view, because it's not even mentioned in this entry...

Also, what seems to happen is that while all this older sibling "bullying" is going on, the younger child can see the older one as a role model to have/want to play up to. Later on in school years, the older child can be viewed or treated as a personal bodyguard and it seems likely that although the jealousy is experienced in younger years, the elder usually defends their smaller sibling with scary ferocity. With such a bitter rivalry behind them, if any foreign person interferres in their "battle," those guys are quickly dealt with. Well, most of the time anyway. Or was I just lucky with my big brother?

No, you're right - whenever I and my brother had a fight, and someone tried to interfere we would postpone the fight and turn against the intruder instead, united.

Sounds brilliant to me. My girlfriend has a faily large family (she's one of seven!). They used to fight like cat & dog (still do occasionally) but woe-betide anyone who tries to join in!
Imagine being in the middle of a small nuclear explosion! They all close ranks and deal with whoever, then get back to ripping each other apart! I just sit back and watch whenever this happens - much more fun than being verbally shredded!

Ain't it weird how small quibbles seem to strengthen our relationships when others interrupt. What a funny thing, life!

Ain't it weird how small quibbles seem to strengthen our relationships when others interrupt. What a funny thing, life!

Ain't it weird how small quibbles seem to strengthen our relationships when others interrupt. What a funny thing, life!

Oops!! Sorry 'bout that...

Have you also noticed that families can develop their own speech patterns and vocabulary? When my girlfriend's lot get together, I pity anyone trying to eavesdrop! We've been together 6 years and I still can't understand them when they get started!
Stopped trying now, not worth the headaches!!