Description
Popular parenting expert Dr. Laura Markham, author of PEACEFUL PARENTS, HAPPY SIBLINGS, has garnered a large and loyal readership around the world, thanks to her simple, insightful approach that values the emotional bond between parent and child. As any parent of more than one child knows, though, it’s challenging for even the most engaged parent to maintain harmony and a strong connection when competition, tempers, and irritation run high.
In this highly anticipated guide, Dr. Markham presents simple yet powerful ways to cut through the squabbling and foster a loving, supportive bond between siblings, while giving each child the vital connection that he or she needs.
PEACEFUL PARENT, HAPPY SIBLINGS includes hands-on, research-based advice on:
• Creating deep connections with each one of your children, so that each truly believes that you couldn’t possibly love anyone else more.
• Fostering a loving family culture that encourages laughter and minimizes fighting
• Teaching your children healthy emotional self-management and conflict resolution skills—so that they can work things out with each other, get their own needs met and respect the needs of others
• Helping your kids forge a close lifelong sibling bond—as well as the relationship skills they will need for a life of healthy friendships, work relationships, and eventually their own family bonds.
Jackie Baker (verified owner) –
My new favorite book! This book complements Becky Bailey’s book Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline and Daniel Siegel’s No Drama Discipline, despite Dr. Markham preferring the phrase “loving guidance” over the word “discipline.” Research-based advice on why punishment does not teach self-regulation skills in the long-term and how to manage sibling rivalry. Fast read too!!!
Teacher (verified owner) –
I was waiting for this book to come out and was not disappointed! As the mother of two, ages 2 and 6, I found it very helpful. I have already seen a difference with my kids after using some of her suggestions for a week. It is geared more towards parents of younger children, unlike Siblings Without Rivalry which seemed more geared towards older siblings. That said, I think there are things in the book for parents with children of any age. There are helpful scripts and I found that the book was laid out very clearly. Will recommend it to any friends expecting new siblings or looking to build strong bonds between their children.
Joan Schumacher (verified owner) –
Dr Laura has produced a welll researched ‘must read’ for all parents. It is full of specific ideas for every situation,
written in the language of love. I found meaning on every page.
MLDI (verified owner) –
This is an excellent book about fostering close and peaceful sibling relationships. It is full of enlightening ideas and practical suggestions! It is also easy to read. Loved it! Now to put it in practice…
GGH205 (verified owner) –
Where has this been all my life? With 2 kids ages 7 and 5 1/2, I spend most of my waking life negotiating conflict. This book outlines methods that are clearly described and rational. Loved the preceding book “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids” which is a must read
Megan (verified owner) –
Of all the parenting books I have purchased (and there have been a lot), this is the best. She goes into specific circumstances where a vague book might leave you wondering how to handle a situation. This covers everything. And if you need something more in depth on a particular subject area she offers a recommendation on what to read. This is so helpful. I’m a first time mom and I think everyone should have this as a baby shower gift, because there is nothing you can give a mom that would help her more than this. I am planning to have another child but even if I don’t I still think this is a great buy!! Great for preventative parenting. Avoid some of those fights with certain methods or help your child become more loving and nicer to those around him. It covers everything!
Jo Clendon (verified owner) –
An excellent, encouraging book full of wisdom and kind, practical advice. Written for real people, who have good days and bad days! One of those books I wish I had at the start of my parenting journey, but never too late. One I dip into frequently for a top up.
Jami L. Miller (verified owner) –
Great ideas for parents of siblings.
Kay F. (verified owner) –
Love the positive loving approach and great usable strategies she has for each situation. This is one of the rare parenting books that makes the parenst feel good! We love our kids and want to do the right things with them and just need some tools to help us with the important work of raising loving happy children!
JennyM (verified owner) –
the author advises to skip straight to the last section if you are pregnant and have a child. I feel that this section helped me and my 2.5 year old tremendously and is a must for anyone to read while expecting!
Livingston (verified owner) –
My spouse and I have a newborn and a 2.5 year old at home, and this book has been our go-to tool for dealing with sibling relationships (we’re both only children, so siblings are new territory for us!). We also own and have read Siblings Without Rivalry, and the content, while very complimentary and respectful, is NOT the same. The two books are different, offer different perspectives and content, but are still in the same vein. As others have said, this book is especially good for kids under 4 or 5, and for tips to use when adding a new baby to the family. I am SO glad I found this book when I did and wish I had purchased it sooner in pregnancy (2nd trimester – I didn’t get to use a lot of the tips for pregnancy sadly).
We practice RIE and Montessori parenting philosophies and this book is very complimentary with those “respectful parenting” approaches. I especially love the author’s use of concrete details and examples – you will walk away from this book with MANY phrases and responses to fall back on to use in a variety of situations.
My *only* gripe — and I nearly knocked it down to 4 stars for this — is the author’s use of the male pronoun. This book HEAVILY relies on “he”, “him”, “his”, etc. to refer to child – often two siblings, and brothers. I find this incredibly distracting and lopsided when it comes to gender equality, at best. The book almost exclusively talks about male children and siblings! My two children happen to be girls, and I find it hard to relate at times. Furthermore, when the female pronoun is used, it is used very briefly, and the book switches back and forth between male and female haphazardly. Not very intuitive, and it’s hard to read at times. Kinda frustrating. It almost seems as if the author wrote exclusively with the male pronoun and during the editing process just tossed a few females in there, here and there. PLEASE address this issue in future editions.
Andrea (verified owner) –
Now that I’ve finished it, I’m going right back to the beginning and starting again. Let me tell you, this stuff is HARD work. But it is SO worth it. I saw changes in my son’s behavior toward his baby brother the very same day I implemented Dr. Laura Markham’s ideas. I get off track and things go south, and I have to continually bring myself back to this way of parenting. I am reparenting myself through parenting my kids. I’m tired, I have no support system, some days I just want things to be easier magically, but when I take time to care for myself I wake up refreshed the next day and ready to practice more love, fun, and empathy. Thank you so much for this book, it is gold for our family.
Lynda Connell (verified owner) –
Dr. Laura’s describes a loving and practical approach to influencing and shaping good behavior in children. She uses realistic examples in her book and teaches the parents how to bring safety and love into any situation.
Whitney (verified owner) –
One of the best books I have ever read. I recommend this book to every parent I know. The information is useful and feels right!
LInnea96 (verified owner) –
Very helpful for teaching my littles who are 19m apart how to solve problems and love each other. The new ideas will really come in handy.
jeremy650 (verified owner) –
Not done the book yet but lots of good advice
Katastic (verified owner) –
Love her site, book is similarly great. I first read it before my toddler really hit her tantrummy stride, and I secretly thought I’d never get frustrated/angry like the examples in the book–ha! Consider my FTM pride demolished. Toddlers are hard. Get this book, you’ll need all the tools you can get!
Danielle Gedney (verified owner) –
This is the best parenting book I’ve come across, and I’ve done a lot of reading. Concepts in this book will help your kids for years to come. Worth every penny!
Blackbird (verified owner) –
Great tips for preparing the first child for the second and managing the house with a preschooler and a newborn. Highly recommend for that. I bet it’ll help a lot when they are older and actually interact too!
Kristyn Funner (verified owner) –
Starting reading this right before the birth of our second child. I’m so glad to have this knowledge! My firstborn has been having difficulty adjusting, of course, but this book has given me some tactics for helping him and starting these brothers off right.
Katie O. (verified owner) –
I really appreciate the encouraging tone the author uses throughout the book. She acknowledges the difficulty of parenting as she reassures her readers that it is possible to promote a more peaceful way of handling conflict. It exists! I can see evidence of it in my own home, though we are all far from perfect.
Sban28 (verified owner) –
I haven’t read this but it was recommended by another parent with more than one child. I bought this as a gift for my bestie. She says it’s very helpful!
Diana (verified owner) –
Great book for parenting siblings in a respectful and patient way. I love that this book specifically covers the expecting baby and new baby stages of the sibling relationship.
Trumpet Player (verified owner) –
Great book and theory. Super hard to implement and get use to but it does work!!!!
Doris (verified owner) –
These were bought as a gift for a friends children and they love them.
Ms. Ella Mathew (verified owner) –
Really good content so far (I’m only on pg 23), though I can’t find a bibliography or chapter notes. Am I missing something?
Tammie S. (verified owner) –
This book is giving parenting advice on how to stop the fighting between siblings. It teaches instead of getting frustrated with the children, you point out to them that what they are doing is wrong and tell them what the right behavior should be. There are all lot of practical suggestions in this book that are very beneficial to having the day run smoother and to keep the parent from having the meltdowns.
Thank you to Laura Markham and Goodreads.
TuBob Shakur (verified owner) –
The advice is seemingly sound. But when you’re navigating the issues that this book addresses, seriously, who in the Heck wants to create time and space to read 300+ pages.
Mom2two (verified owner) –
This book is so helpful in understanding how to calm tensions between siblings. I found a few of the insights absolutely mind blowing. I always thought I shouldn’t intervene in my kids’ fights – that I should let them work it out. But she explains why kids sometimes need our guidance or they can get into bad habits where on kid always gets his way just b/c he’s bigger. We shouldn’t be the judge, telling them who is right, but we should coach them in expressing themselves and coming up with win-win solutions. This book will have an immediate impact on how I help my children work through their differences.
The Budget Babe<span class="a-icon a-profile-verified-badge"><span class="a-profile-verified-text"></span></span> (verified owner) –
Finally a book with concrete tips! I recommend her first book too.
Paola M. (verified owner) –
Best parenting book I have read (and I’ve read a lot). As I finished it, I bought the first book. Practical, that is what I liked the most.
Kelley S. (verified owner) –
One of several parenting books I have read on how to work with your child, not against them. Lots of good advice and good tips to get started.
Samantha Motto (verified owner) –
Practical examples on how to care for multiple kids. Other gentle parenting books didnt seem to have a realist application for moms of multiples. This book still affirms the dignity of each individual child while giving the parents practical ways to actually do this in their every day lives.
Cindy (verified owner) –
A gift for my daughter and son in law. They’re finding it helpful raising two young boys.
Mohammad Ammar Bharmal (verified owner) –
A good read for kids
Amanda Frisby (verified owner) –
Good book! Lots of good insight. Could have been a little cheaper but definitely worth it.
Sophia (verified owner) –
Love this book! Would highly recommend to anyone looking for help.
Jen (verified owner) –
Such an easy read, I gifted this book to another parent, and shared my copy with another.
donna desiano (verified owner) –
Very informative book!
Michelle (verified owner) –
We’ve used many of the unique suggestions to great effect. This book has plenty of practical advice as well as the high quality of information you might have come to expect from Dr Markham.
BigMamaD (verified owner) –
This book is so helpful! If you’ve read any of the “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen” series, or “Siblings Without Rivalry”, you will love this! It has real life-scenarios, with sample scripts of how to coach kids through conflicts and meltdowns. The techniques work really well, and I can already see my kids making progress just after a month of trying the ideas. It’s the parenting book I wish I had a few years ago. I highly recommend it!