How to Keep Twins From Fighting

Last updated on November 10th, 2023 at 02:58 pm

We asked the twin dad author of these books and the creator of this fantastic t-shirt store — Joe Rawlinson — to give some advice to our fans on how to stop twins from fighting. Impossible, you might say? Check out what Joe has to say below!

This question is something that each of us with twins struggles with regardless of the age as soon as they start interacting with each other. “How do you stop twins from fighting?”

So if your twins aren’t fighting yet, just wait, and it’ll start. And I don’t know if it’s because they’re always together or they’re in the same space or they’re the same age and perhaps have similar dispositions. But they’ll end up fighting one way or another.

Redirection and Reinforcement

Here are a couple of things that you can try to help keep your twins from fighting. First is calmly tell them that when they fight they cannot be with each other. We’ve used this multiple times with not just our twins but our boys as well. If they’re doing something that’s not appropriate we’ll separate them and then redirect them to other activities. So I’ll say, “When you fight or when you hit or when you kick you cannot be with us.” And we’ll then separate them and move them to something else.

Now this also leverages an important technique called the distraction technique which works wonders, especially when your kids are very young. They may be wanting something or to do something but you can easily put a new shiny object in front of them and it may work to get them away from what they were fighting about.

Now don’t just think about how to keep twins from fighting in the moment of fighting. You can prevent fighting before it begins through how you interact with your twins during the rest of the day.

For example, when they are playing nicely together, praise them for their good behavior and the behavior that you want to see them doing. Acknowledge what they’re doing right. This could be through verbal praise, it could be through a pat on the back, it could be through a high-five or a treat or whatever you want to do. Reinforcing good behavior will then encourage them to want that approval and that reward in the future.

Let Your Twins Be Different

Another thing that you can do to prevent fighting is to not force your twins to do everything together. Make sure that they’re allowed to have their own individual space and time and interest in activities.

Let them pursue their different hobbies or interests that they may have. For example, our girls, we put them both in soccer together and one of our girls loved it and the other didn’t. And she dropped out in favor of another activity.

Stop the Comparisons

Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t pile on your twins with unnecessary comparisons. It’s going to be very easy to compare one twin against the other, how one is behaving against the other. And so don’t try to foster that feeling of comparison and who’s better than the other because that may trickle down to the twins where they then use that against each other in their fights and their verbal disagreements.

So how can you stop your twins from fighting? In the moment, separate them, and set expectations. Before the fight begins make sure you praise good behavior and encourage good situations where fighting won’t be something that they would want to do.

This topic was originally addressed on the Dad’s Guide to Twins Podcast Episode 68: Unbalanced Attention, Twin Nursery, Stop Fighting. Picture by Donnie Ray Jones.

Joe Rawlinson is the father of four children, two boys and identical twin girls. He is the author of two books for fathers of twins, “Dad’s Guide to Twins: How to Survive the Twin Pregnancy and Prepare for Your Twins” and “Dad’s Guide to Raising Twins: How to Thrive as a Father of Twins.” Joe also makes unique t-shirts for parents of twins at the Twin T-Shirt Company. You can find more tips and tricks for preparing for and raising your twins at dadsguidetotwins.com.