The Benefits of the Brother-Sister Dynamic

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Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and North West went to Disneyland to celebrate the toddler’s second birthday. (Photo: Kim Kardashian/Instagram)

Now that we know Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are expecting a baby boy, there’s lots in store for North West, a soon-to-be big sister.

Kardashian announced the sex of her unborn baby on Instagram Sunday by posting a sweet photo of West reading to their 2-year-old daughter. She captioned it: “Previous moments like this when we were traveling on tour with you are what I live for. You’re such a good daddy to North & you will be the best daddy to our new son too.”

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Rumors had been swirling for weeks as to whether the newest Kardashian-West member would be a boy or girl — talk heightened by the couple’s long struggle to conceive, which Kardashian has called exhausting and frustrating. Now that the family is expanding, what’s in store for the children?

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Kanye West reads to his daughter North West. (Instagram/Kim Kardashian)

The benefits for kids who grow up with siblings are well documented — not only do they have ready-made playmates and acquire life skills such as patience and sharing, they could be better at navigating social situations because they learn to problem-solve early on (which, the study noted, may help them avoid divorce down the line). Kids with siblings may also be less prone to depression and be kinder and more empathetic individuals. Interestingly, siblings may also slash their odds of becoming obese due to all that time spent chasing each other around and the fact that parents of multiples tend to consciously dole out smaller “kid portions.”

But the brother-sister relationship is unique.

“Boys who grow up with sisters have an easier time relating to girls [when it comes to dating] because they’ve been socialized to do so from a young age,” Catherine Salmon, associate professor of psychology at Redlands University in California, tells Yahoo Parenting. While parents can certainly influence the manner in which little boys interact with girls, adults don’t tend to get involved in such nuanced relationships unless there’s a specific problem (for example, if a little boy is harassing a female classmate).

And girls with brothers tend to be more nurturing and maternal. One study found that having a little brother even delayed the age at which girls have sexual intercourse, due to parental expectation that daughters will be more responsible than boys, and help raise their younger siblings.

North West and her unborn brother will especially benefit from their birth order due to their ages. By the time her brother is born, North will be 2 and a half (the average age gap between U.S. siblings) — and kids who are more than two years apart experience less conflict, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, due to developmental differences.

Another factor in their favor is that they’re opposite-sex siblings. Boys and girls tend to have different interests and hobbies, and less overlap in those areas can mean less conflict. North and her brother also won’t likely compete for the same friends, since, after the age of 2, young children gravitate toward same-sex pals due to having similar play styles, using gender stereotypes (“boys play with trucks; girls play with dolls”) to filter potential friends. Finally, says Salmon, “Teasing between sisters tends to be a bit more mean-spirited, whereas it’s less pointed [and personal] between siblings of the opposite sex.”

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