Sibling Interaction

We have been a family of four for ten weeks now and it has been an adjustment for all of us. My biggest fear at the beginning of our ‘four’ journey was would Ethan accept Little E and thankfully Ethan adores his little sister. There is still a long way to go on their sibling journey but it has been a very positive start.

Ethan doesn’t know how to interact and play with other children, this of course isn’t helped by the fact that he is non-verbal. This issue with interaction is an autistic trait. It’s very sad to watch your child in a room full of children and they look totally alone.

We always said that having another baby wasn’t for us it was for Ethan. We didn’t want to have another child so that they could look after Ethan. The fact of the matter is that the odds of Little E being autistic is one in five, she may also need support herself as she gets older.

We wanted Ethan to have a sibling so that there was someone else in the world that would love him unconditionally. Someone he could interact with in his own special way. A friend for life so he isn’t so lonely in the world full of other children.

Over the past few weeks there have been hints of interaction between them. Of course this is all led by Ethan, but it is led by Ethan and he isn’t just ignoring his little sister.

The first sign of this was when Ethan spent the day playing with the DVD cases. He decided to ‘read’ one of the booklets to her. He kept placing it on her lap and found this very funny.
 
The other day I put Little E in her cot whilst I got ready and put the mobile on. Ethan found it fascinating and they spent time together watching it. I asked Ethan to point out the elephant for her meaning the big one, but Ethan pointed out the one on the material of the mobile. 
Ethan has also spent time pointing out the animals on her play mat. Through this we have discovered that Ethan knows how to say cow and also the noise that it makes. 
 
They even watched the TV together yesterday as we prepared the dinner. Well Little E didn’t really have much choice as she was in her bouncer and it was facing towards the TV. 


Of course we have no idea if Ethan and Little E will have the connection we wish them to have, but I’m so glad we become a family of four so hopefully there is a chance.

22 thoughts on “Sibling Interaction”

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      He does adore her and we are so pleased. Can’t wait for her to be bigger so they can ‘play’ together x

  1. It’s lovely that Ethan is taking notice of his sister. I have two experiences, my eldest is autistic and has a sister 17 months younger than him. (We didn’t know he was autistic at the time) They are both now adults but are still close having grown up together. It hasn’t been plain sailing all the way, but it has been nice having someone else there for him. Now, my 9 yr old is autistic and she has two younger siblings. She is really close to her sister who is 2 years younger and I can already see that they will have a special life time bond. Fingers crossed that Ethan and his sister will also have this bond xx

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      It sounds like you have had positive experiences with your children, even if there were a few little bumps along the way. We all fall out with our siblings every now and then ;0)

  2. I’ve been following your darlings on Instagram and they are adorable! You never know, Ethan might just start communicating with his sister in surprising ways. #SSAmazingAchievements

    1. Jane - Our Little Escapades

      Thank you, I really hope he does. I have always said he has his own language. Perhaps she will learn it and translate ;0)

  3. Lovely to read how there is starting to be interaction. There’s only 18 months between T and D and we used to call them “The Pack” because they’d follow me everywhere. Interaction is only on their terms but they are extremely protective towards each other, even if they might not like each other at times!
    #SSAmazingAchievements

  4. What a heart-warming post and I just adore the photographs! I am certain that having a sibling will be the making of Ethan and Little E will adore her big brother too 🙂 Thanks for linking up to #loudnproud.

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