Episode 91: Why Your ADHD Child Baits Their Sibling (and Why Telling Them to Stop Never Works)

***Join Managing Sibling Conflict & ADHD Session***

Why does one child seem to know exactly how to push their sibling’s buttons, then keep going until the whole house explodes?

Sibling baiting is incredibly common in ADHD families. It can look small from the outside. Standing too close to a prized possession. Making a particular noise. Saying the one thing they know will get a reaction. But underneath that behaviour, there can be much more going on.

In this episode, Credentialed ADHD family Coach Sharon Collon is joined by registered Psychologist Jacquie Ward to unpack why ADHD sibling conflict can escalate so quickly and why focusing on who started it often makes things worse.

They explore boredom and low-arousal states, rejection sensitivity, fairness, emotional regulation and the role parents can unintentionally play when they step in as the referee.

Because when the same fights happen again and again, the answer is not another lecture about being nice to each other. It is understanding the predictable pattern and knowing what to do when it starts.

👀 In This Episode, Sharon Covers

✅ What sibling baiting and “rage baiting” actually look like

✅ Why an ADHD brain may seek stimulation by provoking a sibling

✅ How boredom and low-arousal states can contribute to conflict

✅ Why rejection sensitivity can turn a small interaction into a huge emotional reaction

✅ How asking “Who started it?” can intensify the conflict