How child number one is always a photo favourite

By LUKE SALKELD

Picture perfect: The new survey has found that parents have more photos of their oldest child in their albums


No matter how hard some parents try, it seems one child is often the favourite – in at least one aspect.

Millions of couples take lots of photographs of their first child while subsequent arrivals get much less attention with the camera, research has found

Almost half of volunteers who responded to a survey said they had more pictures of their eldest child in their family albums.

The presence of fewer photos of younger offspring was most often put down to time pressures, although some parents admitted that they had simply got bored of taking the same old shots.

The photographic imbalance does not go unnoticed by children with 34 per cent of respondents claiming their oldest brother or sister appeared most frequently in family albums.

The survey of 1,413 British adults by Nikon showed that 46 per cent of parents admit to taking more pictures of child number one.

Fifty one per cent said they took roughly the same amount of pictures of all their children, while three per cent took more photos of their younger children.

Educational psychologist Dr Michele Borba believes this apparent favouritism could be a contributing factor in the theory of ‘Second Child Syndrome’, which looks at the impact of birth order on personality.

‘Sibling rivalry is common place in families, especially large families with three or more children,’ she said.

‘Whilst many parents might try to treat all their children the same it can be very easy for those little firsts that the eldest child makes – first step, first word, first day at school – to seem less remarkable with subsequent children.

‘That more photographs appear of the eldest child is a great example of this and often parents do not realise they are doing it.’

The survey also showed that the parents most cherished shots of their young children on the beach, while shots of children eating or performing in school plays were the least favourite.


source: dailymail

Posted in: News Update