How to Get Along With Your Stepchild?

When you first become a stepparent, it’s natural to question if you should act like a parent right away or wait and see. Also, how do you make sure you get along with your stepchild?

To get along with your stepchild, don’t rush your expectations. Understand that a stepchild is likely grieving the life they had when their biological parents were together. Allow time for your stepchild to spend alone time with their biological parent, and try to find common interests with your stepchild.

With a little effort, you’ll be able to equip yourself with the tools necessary to give the new relationship between your stepchild and yourself the best possible start.

Girl on bench outside looking up at her dad.

How To Get Along With Your Stepchild

The stigma attached to stepparents is powerful, especially because many of us associate them with evil stepparents and demonic stepchildren as shown in the media.

Putting stereotypes aside, the stepparent-stepchild connection is crucial for a family’s happiness and stability, as 50 percent of first marriages and 67 percent of second marriages fail, according to U.S. Census figures.

As a kid develops and matures, a stepparent may be an advocate for her stepchild, an extra adult who cares, and a valuable resource.

As much as we like our spouses, a peaceful household requires a positive relationship with all family members. There are things we can do to help with the stepparenting transition.

Treat Your Stepchildren Like Members of Your Family

If your stepchildren are split between two parents, they usually don’t live with you full-time. You may believe that making a big deal about them when they’re present makes them feel special.

In truth, treating them as special guests would make them feel that they are not a part of the family.

Instead, give them duties, urge them to share responsibility, check their assignments, and attend parent-teacher conferences to incorporate them into the family.

Listen to and respect their thoughts, and compliment them when appropriate.

When children are educated to accept certain responsibilities and tasks for the family as a whole, they feel better about themselves and feel closer to their families.

Respect, compassion, and assisting others are among these responsibilities.

Exchange Your Passions

You never know what new activity you’ll like with your stepchildren if you’re receptive to their hobbies. Also, keep in mind that curiosity is reciprocal.

Give it a try if you’re a regular tennis player or horseback rider and they show an interest! You may meet a new hobby friend.

Have certain traditions that you all participate in.

Remember that the two persons who make up a step-relationship: the parent and the child, build and sustain it.

Make a Good First Impression In a Short Amount of Time

Make the first encounter a brief greeting and avoid extended dinners or pricey presents to relieve the pressure.

Keep your expectations low at first. You don’t want an all-day meeting, so keep it brief.

Anything that puts undue pressure on the kid or appears to be overbearing might backfire and result in the possible stepparent being rejected.

In a meeting full of expectations, no one wins. Allow the child to choose the pace of the connection over time; she’ll let you know when she’s ready for a tighter bond.

For everyone, this is a much better option than rejection.


Find out if your stepchildren are eligible to use your military benefits.

Allow for Grieving Time

Give the stepchild time and space if you’re a stepparent joining a marriage that was preceded by a divorce between two live parents.

The possibility of a child’s parents reuniting is shattered by remarriage.

As their hope fades, children frequently begin a natural mourning process, which they could delay if there was still a chance their parents will reconnect.

It’s worth noting that part of their grief process might involve attempting to wreck a new marriage in the hopes that Daddy will see the light and return to Mommy.

Give the issue time and space while keeping this in mind.

If a parent has died, assist the kid in remembering his or her parent by listening to tales, putting images of the parent in the child’s room, or organizing a memorial activity on the parent’s birthday.

If you believe it is essential, propose counseling as a means to provide a youngster with an outlet and objective support.

Honesty and Trustworthiness Should Be Developed

In every relationship, trust is essential, and it takes time to develop as a child learns how you handle various circumstances.

Make sure you’re paying attention when the youngster speaks. When questioned, keep your secrets to yourself. Take an interest in the activities that the youngster enjoys.

Dishonesty and insincerity can be detected by children. Demonstrate honesty, confidence, excellent judgment, and authenticity.

In one way or another, the kids will find out. If you can acquire their trust, you may become a valuable confidante over time.

Maintain a Consistent Relationship

It’s difficult to wonder if and when you’ll love your stepchildren, or if they’ll love you back. However, don’t rush it.

We may come to love and support our stepchildren as unreservedly as we do our own, but for the first few years, a more realistic objective is just to befriend them.

We can choose to befriend them and act lovingly toward them, but experiencing love sentiments is a mystery that we cannot command or control.

Decide on how you want to address each other: stepdaughter or daughter, stepmother or mother? Will they address you by your first name, Mom, Dad, or some other fictitious moniker?

It may be anything the two of you want it to be, from a conventional parent to a close friend.

Sometimes It’s Okay To Become Lost

Make sure the kids get one-on-one time with their biological parents, as you already have with one biological parent.

This will help them feel safer in one relationship when their lives change.

When you’re out with him and his kids, don’t be glued to his side all the time, and make sure they have enough alone time.

After spending time with their biological parent alone, the kids may be more eager to spend time with you.


Blended families can be wonderful, but what if it doesn’t work out? Are stepparents responsible for child support?

My Stepchild Doesn’t Like Me

Dealing with a stepchild who isn’t fond of you can be challenging, if not impossible. It is, nevertheless, possible to persuade people to change their minds.

Keep in mind that you aren’t the only one who has been harmed.

As a stepparent, you may frequently feel alienated, alone, unappreciated, or unimportant, and your feelings and preferences are unconsidered.

Your stepchildren, ironically, frequently feel the same way.

Your partner, the biological parent of your stepchildren, is frequently caught in the middle, striving to please their children while also attempting to understand you, their partner; unfortunately, they often fail at both.

Observe how the rest of your family is dealing with their feelings and emotions throughout this mixing period.

Consider how you would feel if you were in their shoes. Perhaps this will assist you in better understanding how to interact with them, and in turn, they will be able to relate to you.

Allow this challenge to aid in your development.

Before you move in with your stepchildren, get to know them

Before moving in together, it’s critical to establish a relationship or form a link with your stepchildren. Don’t worry if this didn’t happen in your scenario for whatever reason; it’s never too late to start.

In the same way that an adult needs time to adjust to a new relationship, children require the same amount of time.

While the word “stranger” may have a negative connotation, you are practically a stranger to the youngster.

Security takes time to grow and develop, especially in a youngster who has already had their world snatched away from them, no matter how many years ago.

Time to grieve for the family they formerly knew and time to imagine a new family in their minds are equally essential considerations they must make.

Furthermore, if you’ve ever been compelled to speak with someone you don’t know well or with whom you may have negative sentiments, you know how unpleasant it can be.

When children are compelled to be with their stepparents, they frequently feel this way. Both the kid and the stepparent may feel uncomfortable.

Children also dislike being “forced” to spend time with the stepparent as stepchildren, especially if it entails time away from their biological parents.

Also, when it comes to disciplining the children, make sure you and your spouse are on the same page and demonstrate mutual respect for sticking to the rules and following through with the children.

This is critical for forming a solid family bond, and it may also assist the youngsters in not favoring their biological parent over you, their stepparent.

The children must see their parents be unified on all issues affecting them and their well-being.

All the better if you and your partner can also align with the other biological parent. If both couples’ children live in a blended family, it is critical that the rules be applied equally and that no one is treated differently.

This will, among other things, help the step-siblings overcome any uneasy feelings or resentment and reach the general objective of being one large happy family.

Treat them all the same

If you have numerous children, whether biological or stepchildren, treat them all equally.

Make sure they all obey the same home rules, and if they don’t, give them an equally acceptable penalty based on their age.

On the same note, they should receive the same amount of money or a similar amount of money on their birthdays and holidays. That’ll make them feel like they’re being treated fairly.

If a youngster believes they are not, it may be agonizing. As a result, people may dislike you.

Keep in mind that you aren’t the only one who has hurt feelings

As a stepparent, you may frequently feel alienated, alone, unappreciated, or unimportant, and your feelings and preferences are unconsidered. Your stepchildren, ironically, frequently feel the same way.

Your partner, the biological parent of your stepchildren, is frequently caught in the middle, striving to please their children while also attempting to understand you, their partner; unfortunately, they often fail at both.

Observe how the rest of your family is dealing with their feelings and emotions throughout this blending period.

Perhaps this will assist you in better understanding how to interact with them, and in turn, they will be able to relate to you.

Allow this challenge to aid in your development.

Keep your expectations in check

Try not to push your views about love or what the ideal mixed family could look like on them. And try not to come out as a domineering or hovering stepparent.

Also, allow them to be themselves so they don’t have to pretend to be someone they are not.

Nothing in this world is flawless. Over time, you may discover that your blended family is not what you expected, but there is beauty in life’s faults.

Allow yourself, your circumstances, your stepchildren, and your spouse to be patient with you.

Manage your expectations of everyone and everything; nothing should be given more significance than it deserves.

When you put your whole heart and soul into this mixed family, you are more than likely to reap the benefits.

There are a variety of resources available on this topic, as well as several qualified therapists and counselors.

If you feel that you require assistance, it is usually a good idea to seek out individuals who can assist you.

Above all, try to remember to laugh at yourself and with one another.

 Allowing circumstances or people you can’t control to take control of your life is a waste of time and money. All you have control over is how you present yourself and react to certain situations.

Always do your hardest and be courteous and respectful.

Finally, remember that remarkable experiences and miracles may happen in regular life. No matter how messed up your mixed family is, open your heart and head to its beauty.

Everything will fall into place once you have faith and believe that it will.

When the Stepparent Doesn’t Like the Stepchild

Love is complicated for everyone, regardless of who they are or what they are going through. Love, on the other hand, can be a bit complicated within stepfamilies.

Particularly in the case of stepparents and stepchildren. This is due in part to one of the most distinguishing characteristics of the stepparent-stepchild relationship: love is ultimately a choice.

People become stepparents by falling in love with a spouse who also has children from a previous relationship.

You didn’t necessarily pick your spouse based on who their children are or the traits they possess, any more than their children had a say in who their parents fell head over heels in love with.

Stepparents and stepchildren are “forced” into a relationship whether they want it or not in this fashion.

Many stepparents make a concerted effort to form an instant relationship with their partner’s children.

Some people rush towards intimacy and family unity with their partner’s support, which can be easy, hard, or nearly impossible depending on the age of the children and the nature of the connection between your spouse and their ex-partner.

Feelings of love and warmth for your stepchildren, on the other hand, do not appear anywhere because you want them to, because you love your spouse, because that is how family members should feel about one another, or because society expects or demands it.

Whatever feelings you may or may not have for your stepchild, the truth is that love is something that develops with time.

When you first meet someone, or as a mother or father bonding with your newborn infant, or even as an owner bonding with your new dog, you might have tremendous feelings for, or be irresistibly drawn to them.

You could also be concerned about someone’s sentiments and wish to keep an eye on their overall well-being.

Love, on the other hand, isn’t something that comes immediately or instantaneously in any relationship. Love is, at its core, a choice that is followed by a sequence of behaviors.

There’s no avoiding the truth that getting there takes time, shared experiences, the bravery to be vulnerable, and a commitment of time and energy to make the connection work.

Even then, it’s possible that it won’t happen.

So what do you do, then? How can you get through it if you truly do not like your stepchild?

Common hobbies help individuals bond on a personal level, and they may help bridge the gap between people of various ages and life experiences, which is critical for stepfamily success.

If you can’t tolerate your stepchild, try to discover anything, anything, that you have in common with them.

Regardless of how you feel about your stepchildren, act and treat them with care and respect.

It’s also worth remembering that stepchildren might be difficult, unpleasant, or plain unlikable as a show of devotion to their other parent.

Understand where your stepchild is at and what they are capable of based on their age, developmental stage, and experiences of being cared for and parented by each of their parents (both before and since the separation).

This may be quite beneficial, especially if you have little or limited experience working with children.

Your expectations of what your stepchildren can or should do when they come to live with you may not be in line with their skills.

Request that your partner assists you more or take on more of the practical parenting responsibilities.

It’s a positive thing if they can change even some of their children’s behavior or attitude. However, don’t expect them to modify all of the kids’ behavior overnight, if at all.

If your stepchild acts in a way that is directly disrespectful to you, you and your spouse should set limits with them in the same way that you would with anybody else who was behaving badly or disrespectfully toward you.

My Stepchild is Being Disrespectful

When stepchildren are rude to their stepparents, the stepparents are understandably unhappy.

The fact is that a child may never appreciate their stepparent, but they must understand that they will not be tolerated if they are disrespectful or annoying.

As a result, you and your partner must stand unified in asking that your children treat you both with respect.

Let’s be clear about what constitutes disrespect. Parents must exercise caution since it is difficult to change a child’s behavior once it has been ingrained.

Children teach adults what not to ask them and what not to expect from them by being nasty.

And homes in which the children teach the adults how to act rather than the other way around do not operate properly.

Have a meeting with your partner and all of your children. Set the expectation that you will both follow the rules in the same way.

The repercussions for disobedience should be well-defined and applied consistently.

For example, if the family’s children insult their stepmother or stepfather, they should be aware that they would forfeit their electronic rights for the remainder of the night.

In other words, disobedience and contempt should not be tolerated. When explaining this to your children, you and your spouse must present a united front.

Encourage your children to be themselves

Last but not least, children must be allowed to communicate their feelings and opinions, and those sentiments and thoughts must be accepted at face value.

Children have no say when two adults decide to merge their families. As a result, the children are left feeling helpless.

As a result, if you attempt to hold a family meeting without first soliciting their views, children may likely get defensive or feel intimidated.

Provide acceptable means for the children to express themselves so that they do not have to play out their emotions behaviorally.

They don’t get to dictate how the family runs if they express themselves, but it does imply they have a say.

In addition, the child’s biological parent is generally the best recipient of this information.

It is a lot simpler to sort out problems if birth parents can talk to their children about them, and it is much easier for the two people to agree.

So the goal isn’t to silence the children but to provide an environment in which they may securely and correctly express their emotions.

Remember that no rule or circumstance has to persist indefinitely.