Two Divs dependant on each other but they shouldn't - html

I'm pretty new to CSS so I was trying out some CSS-Battles just to learn some basics.
I was trying to get a circle with two mountains in it and had the idea to generate two divs, rotate them 45deg and then position them so they would match up with the picture needed.
For testing I painted the second mountain div black.
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
.background {
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
display: flex;
width: 100vw;
height: 100vh;
background-color: #293462;
}
.circle {
position: relative;
display: flex;
background-color: #FFF1C1;
width: 200px;
height: 200px;
border-radius: 50%;
overflow: hidden;
}
.mountain {
position: relative;
background-color: #FE5F55;
transform: rotate(45deg);
height: 200px;
width: 200px;
}
.mountain-1 {
background-color: #FE5F55;
top: 100px;
left: 41px;
}
.mountain-2 {
background-color: black;
top: 170px;
right: 70px
}
<div class="background">
<div class="circle">
<div class="mountain mountain-1">
</div>
<div class="mountain mountain-2">
</div>
</div>
</div>
Result
This was my first attempt. Then I noticed that when I set display of .mountain-1 to none the position of mountain-2 changes which I don't want and don't understand even after searching for solutions.
CSS changed
.mountain-1{
background-color: #FE5F55;
top: 100px;
left: 41px;
display: none;
}
Result
Also when I change the order of the two divs inside the HTML the result changes as well which in my mind makes not the most sense.

The main reason the two <div> elements are dependent on each other is because they both have the position CSS property set to relative. They inherit this from the parent element CSS .mountain.
This means the top, left, right, and bottom properties will be relative to other elements within the same container. To fix this, you need to set each mountain's position property to absolute. This means the position is set purely based on the values you use in top, left, right, or bottom. Also as a side note, if you do not have the parent element's position set to relative, using position: absolute will place the element based on the <body> element. So if you want the element's position to be based on the bounds of its parent, also set its parent's position to relative.
*{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
.background{
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
display: flex;
width: 100vw;
height: 100vh;
background-color: #293462;
}
.circle{
position:relative;
display: flex;
background-color: #FFF1C1;
width: 200px;
height: 200px;
border-radius: 50%;
overflow: hidden;
}
.mountain{
position: relative;
background-color: #FE5F55;
transform: rotate(45deg);
height: 200px;
width: 200px;
}
.mountain-1{
position: absolute;
top: 105px;
left: 40px;
}
.mountain-2{
position: absolute;
top:170px;
right: 70px
}
<div class="background">
<div class="circle">
<div class="mountain mountain-1">
</div>
<div class="mountain mountain-2">
</div>
</div>
</div>

Related

How to wrap parent block around shifted child block?

How to shift a child block?
How to shift the blue block so that it stretches the parent block?
.main {
width: 400px;
min-height: 300px;
background: red;
position: relative;
}
.preMain {
width: 60px;
height: 60px;
background: blue;
position: absolute;
top: 350px;
}
<div class="main">
<div class="preMain">
</div>
</div>
Your issue is that your child block has position: absolute; meaning it no longer affects the parent div. If you want to shift the child block down but still have it affect the parent block you need to change the position of the child. Try something like this:
.main {
width: 400px;
min-height: 300px;
background: red;
position: absolute;
}
.preMain {
width: 60px;
height: 60px;
background: blue;
position: relative;
margin: 350px 0px 10px 10px;
}
Admittedly not a perfect solution but you should be able to achieve the result you're looking for.
Alternately, look to this post here
Hope this helps.
You are using position: absolute, which allows to use bottom and left to position the element correctly.
.main {
width: 400px;
min-height: 300px;
background: red;
position: relative;
}
.preMain {
width: 60px;
height: 60px;
background: blue;
position: absolute;
bottom: 10px;
left: 10px
}
<div class="main">
<div class="preMain">
</div>
</div>

Stick div to border of another div so they stay together during resizing

How can I stick a Square in the middle of a border of another div? I've tried the following approach:
.cont {
position: relative;
background-color: blue;
}
.square {
position: absolute;
height: 50px;
width: 50px;
border-radius: 0%;
background-color: yellow;
left: -5%;
top: 25%;
}
.logoOnTheRight {
max-height: 100px;
max-width: 100px;
}
.logoOnTheRight img {
width: 100%;
}
body {
padding: 50px;
}
<div class="cont d-flex flex-row-reverse">
<div class="square"></div>
<div class="logoOnTheRight p-2">
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/sPuqd31g.jpg" />
</div>
</div>
In fullscreen Square 'sits' on the border as it's supposed to. But when I resize the page square changes position in such way that it doesn't stay on the border. I've noticed that if I specify width in the container cont by px then it works. But I want cont to be 100% width. How can I force the Square to stay on the border of cont during page resize?
If you are using position: absolute you position an element absolute without any relation to other elements.
If you want to position an element relative to another element then don't use position: absolute You can align your two elements to the left/right with flexbox like shown in the answer below. If you want different alignment of items you need to adapt the CSS to get the desired result. Just don't use position: absolute at all if you want to keep it responsive.
There are scenarios when you need position: absolute but this is not one.
In my example I used display: flex in combination with align-items: center; to align items in the center of the box. Check this link for more information about flexbox.
To move the box to the left you can use transform: translateX(-50%);
.cont {
position: relative;
background-color: blue;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: space-between;
}
.square {
height: 50px;
width: 50px;
border-radius: 0%;
transform: translateX(-50%);
background-color: yellow;
}
.logoOnTheRight {
max-height: 100px;
max-width: 100px;
}
.logoOnTheRight img {
width: 100%;
}
body {
padding: 50px;
}
<div class="cont d-flex flex-row-reverse">
<div class="square"></div>
<div class="logoOnTheRight p-2">
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/sPuqd31g.jpg" />
</div>
</div>
You can try this
.square {
position: absolute;
height: 50px;
width: 50px;
border-radius: 0%;
background-color: yellow;
left: -25px;
top: 25%;
}
Instead of using % for left you can use px

Why do absolutely positioned elements in a flexbox center properly on chrome but not IE11? [duplicate]

I want to place a div (with position:absolute;) element in the center of the window. But I'm having problems doing so, because the width is unknown.
I tried the following CSS code, but it needs to be adjusted because the width is responsive.
.center {
left: 50%;
bottom: 5px;
}
How can I achieve this?
This works for me:
#content {
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
width: 100px; /* Need a specific value to work */
}
<body>
<div>
<div id="content">
I'm the content
</div>
</div>
</body>
<body>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 50%;">
<div style="position: relative; left: -50%; border: dotted red 1px;">
I am some centered shrink-to-fit content! <br />
tum te tum
</div>
</div>
</body>
Responsive Solution
Here is a good solution for responsive design or unknown dimensions in general if you don't need to support IE8 and lower.
.centered-axis-x {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, 0);
}
.outer {
position: relative; /* or absolute */
/* unnecessary styling properties */
margin: 5%;
width: 80%;
height: 500px;
border: 1px solid red;
}
.inner {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
/* unnecessary styling properties */
max-width: 50%;
text-align: center;
border: 1px solid blue;
}
<div class="outer">
<div class="inner">I'm always centered<br/>doesn't matter how much text, height or width i have.<br/>The dimensions or my parent are irrelevant as well</div>
</div>
Here is a JS Fiddle
The clue is, that left: 50% is relative to the parent while the translate transform is relative to the elements width/height.
This way you have a perfectly centered element, with a flexible width on both child and parent. Bonus: this works even if the child is bigger than the parent.
You can also center it vertically with this (and again, width and height of parent and child can be totally flexible (and/or unknown)):
.centered-axis-xy {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%,-50%);
}
Keep in mind that you might need transform vendor prefixed as well. For example -webkit-transform: translate(-50%,-50%);
<div style='position:absolute; left:50%; top:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)'>
This text is centered.
</div>
This will center all the objects inside div with position type static or relative.
I just wanted to add if someone wants to do it with a single div tag then here is the way out:
Taking width as 900px.
#styleName {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
width: 900px;
margin-left: -450px;
}
In this case one should know the width beforehand.
Responsive solution
Assuming the element in the div, is another div...
This solution works fine:
<div class="container">
<div class="center"></div>
</div>
The container can be any size (must be position relative):
.container {
position: relative; /* Important */
width: 200px; /* Any width */
height: 200px; /* Any height */
background: red;
}
The element (div) can also be any size (must be smaller than the container):
.center {
position: absolute; /* Important */
top: 50%; /* Position Y halfway in */
left: 50%; /* Position X halfway in */
transform: translate(-50%,-50%); /* Move it halfway back(x,y) */
width: 100px; /* Any width */
height: 100px; /* Any height */
background: blue;
}
The result will look like this. Run the code snippet:
.container {
position: relative;
width: 200px;
height: 200px;
background: red;
}
.center {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: blue;
}
<div class="container">
<div class="center"></div>
</div>
I found it very helpful.
Absolute Centre
HTML:
<div class="parent">
<div class="child">
<!-- content -->
</div>
</div>
CSS:
.parent {
position: relative;
}
.child {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
margin: auto;
}
Demo:
http://jsbin.com/rexuk/2/
It was tested in Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer 8.
This works for vertical and horizontal:
#myContent{
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
margin: auto;
}
And if you want make an element center of the parent, set the position of the parent relative:
#parentElement{
position: relative
}
For vertical center align, set the height to your element. Thanks to Raul.
If you want make an element center of the parent, set the position of the parent to relative
If you need to center horizontally and vertically too:
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
Searching for a solution, I got the previous answers and could make content centered with Matthias Weiler's answer, but using text-align:
#content{
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
text-align: center;
}
It worked with Google Chrome and Firefox.
I understand this question already has a few answers, but I've never found a solution that would work in almost all classes that also makes sense and is elegant, so here's my take after tweaking a bunch:
.container {
position: relative;
}
.container .cat-link {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
transform: translate3d(-50%,-50%,0);
z-index: 100;
text-transform: uppercase; /* Forces CSS to treat this as text, not a texture, so no more blurry bugs */
background-color: white;
}
.color-block {
height: 250px;
width: 100%;
background-color: green;
}
<div class="container">
<a class="cat-link" href="">Category</a>
<div class="color-block"></div>
</div>
It is saying give me a top: 50% and a left: 50%, then transform (create space) on both the X/Y axis to the -50% value, in a sense "create a mirror space".
As such, this creates an equal space on all the four points of a div, which is always a box (has four sides).
This will:
Work without having to know the parent's height / width.
Work on responsive.
Work on either X or Y axis. Or both, as in my example.
I can't come up with a situation where it doesn't work.
Flexbox can be used to center an absolute positioned div.
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
.relative {
width: 275px;
height: 200px;
background: royalblue;
color: white;
margin: auto;
position: relative;
}
.absolute-block {
position: absolute;
height: 36px;
background: orange;
padding: 0px 10px;
bottom: -5%;
border: 1px solid black;
}
.center-text {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
box-shadow: 1px 2px 10px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
}
<div class="relative center-text">
Relative Block
<div class="absolute-block center-text">Absolute Block</div>
</div>
This is a mix of other answers, which worked for us:
.el {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
margin: auto;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}
This works on any random unknown width of the absolute positioned element you want to have in the centre of your container element:
Demo
<div class="container">
<div class="box">
<img src="https://picsum.photos/200/300/?random" alt="">
</div>
</div>
.container {
position: relative;
width: 100%;
}
.box {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
It's possible to center an element that has aspect-ratio:1 with position absolute by using calc()
In the following example I'm using a circle because it's easier to explain and understand, but the same concept can be applied to any shape with aspect-ratio:1 meaning that the width and height are equal. (about aspect-ratio)
:root{
--diameter: 80px;
}
div{
position:absolute;
top: calc(50% - var(--diameter)/2);
right:calc(50% - var(--diameter)/2);
aspect-ratio:1;
width:var(--diameter);
border-radius:100%;
background:blue;
}
<div/>
Explanation
As far as I know, this is impossible to achieve for an unknown width.
You could - if that works in your scenario - absolutely position an invisible element with 100% width and height, and have the element centered in there using margin: auto and possibly vertical-align. Otherwise, you'll need JavaScript to do that.
I'd like to add on to bobince's answer:
<body>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 50%;">
<div style="position: relative; left: -50%; border: dotted red 1px;">
I am some centered shrink-to-fit content! <br />
tum te tum
</div>
</div>
</body>
Improved: /// This makes the horizontal scrollbar not appear with large elements in the centered div.
<body>
<div style="width:100%; position: absolute; overflow:hidden;">
<div style="position:fixed; left: 50%;">
<div style="position: relative; left: -50%; border: dotted red 1px;">
I am some centered shrink-to-fit content! <br />
tum te tum
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
Just wrap your content with a new div and use display flex and then use align-items: center; and justify-content: center; take a look...
<div class="firstPageContainer">
<div class="firstPageContainer__center"></div>
</div>
.firstPageContainer{
display: flex;
width: 1000px;
height: 1000px;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
background-color: #FF8527;
}
.firstPageContainer__center{
position:absolute;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
background-color: #3A4147;
}
Sass/Compass version of a previous responsive solution:
#content {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
top: 50%;
#include vendor(transform, translate(-50%, -50%));
}
This worked for me:
<div class="container><p>My text</p></div>
.container{
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}
My preferred centering method:
position: absolute;
margin: auto;
width: x%
absolute block element positioning
margin auto
same left/right, top/bottom
A JSFiddle is here.
Here's a useful jQuery plugin to do this. I found it here. I don't think it's possible purely with CSS.
/**
* #author: Suissa
* #name: Absolute Center
* #date: 2007-10-09
*/
jQuery.fn.center = function() {
return this.each(function(){
var el = $(this);
var h = el.height();
var w = el.width();
var w_box = $(window).width();
var h_box = $(window).height();
var w_total = (w_box - w)/2; //400
var h_total = (h_box - h)/2;
var css = {"position": 'absolute', "left": w_total + "px", "top":
h_total + "px"};
el.css(css)
});
};
#container
{
position: relative;
width: 100%;
float: left
}
#container .item
{
width: 50%;
position: absolute;
margin: auto;
left: 0;
right: 0;
}
HTML:
<div id='parent'>
<div id='child'></div>
</div>
CSS:
#parent {
display: table;
}
#child {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: middle;
}
I know I already provided an answer, and my previous answer, along with others given, work just fine. But I have used this in the past and it works better on certain browsers and in certain situations. So I thought I'd give this answer as well. I did not "Edit" my previous answer and add it because I feel this is an entirely separate answer and the two I have provided are not related.
The accepted solution of this question didn't work for my case...
I'm doing a caption for some images and I solved it using this:
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
figure {
position: relative;
width: 325px;
display: block
}
figcaption{
position: absolute;
background: #FFF;
width: 120px;
padding: 20px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 30px grey;
box-shadow: 0 0 30px grey;
border-radius: 3px;
display: block;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
}
<figure>
<img src="https://picsum.photos/325/600">
<figcaption>
But as much
</figcaption>
</figure>
HTML
<div id='parent'>
<div id='centered-child'></div>
</div>
CSS
#parent {
position: relative;
}
#centered-child {
position: absolute;
left: 0;
right: 0;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
margin: auto auto;
}
http://jsfiddle.net/f51rptfy/
This solution works if the element has width and height
.wrapper {
width: 300px;
height: 200px;
background-color: tomato;
position: relative;
}
.content {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: deepskyblue;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
margin: auto;
}
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="content"></div>
</div>
.center {
position: absolute
left: 50%;
bottom: 5px;
}
.center:before {
content: '';
display: inline-block;
margin-left: -50%;
}
This is a trick I figured out for getting a DIV to float exactly in the center of a page. It is really ugly of course, but it works in all browsers.
Dots and Dashes
<div style="border: 5 dashed red;position:fixed;top:0;bottom:0;left:0;right:0;padding:5">
<table style="position:fixed;" width="100%" height="100%">
<tr>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
<td style="text-align:center">
<div style="width:200;border: 5 dashed green;padding:10">
Perfectly Centered Content
</div>
</td>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
Cleaner
Wow, those five years just flew by, didn't they?
<div style="position:fixed;top:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;padding:5px">
<table style="position:fixed" width="100%" height="100%">
<tr>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
<td style="text-align:center">
<div style="padding:10px">
<img src="Happy.PM.png">
<h2>Stays in the Middle</h2>
</div>
</td>
<td style="width:50%"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
HTML:
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="inner">
content
</div>
</div>
CSS:
.wrapper {
position: relative;
width: 200px;
height: 200px;
background: #ddd;
}
.inner {
position: absolute;
top: 0; bottom: 0;
left: 0; right: 0;
margin: auto;
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: #ccc;
}
This and more examples here.

How to center a child element in CSS, even if it is larger than the parent?

I would like to create a css class so a div can be placed in the center of its parent. The code I am using is:
.centered {
position: absolute;
margin: auto;
bottom: 0px;
left: 0px;
top: 0px;
right: 0px;
}
It works if the parent is larger than the child element, or has the same size:
https://jsfiddle.net/cy8dn1km/
But if the child is larger, then its center is not positioned at the center of its parent. Instead their left borders will be at the same place, and the child element will be extended only to right:
https://jsfiddle.net/797L7nce/
Something is wrong with the horizontal centering.
How is it possible to fix it using CSS only (without using CSS 2D/3D transformations), without adding new container elements?
Add left: 50%; transform: translate(-50%, 0);and remove right: 0px;
.centered {
position: absolute;
margin: auto;
display: block;
bottom: 0px;
top: 0px;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, 0);
}
Demo
Here is a solution without using CSS 2D/3D transformations. You can use display: flex with flex-direction: column (this is important) on parent element and display: table on child element.
body,
html {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
}
body {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
background: green;
}
.centered.d1 {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
flex-direction: column;
}
.d1 {
background: yellow;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
}
.d2 {
background: red;
opacity: 0.7;
width: 250px;
height: 250px;
display: table;
}
<div class="centered d1">
<div class="centered d2"></div>
</div>
If you know the dimentions of the elements you can use the left/top position at 50% with negative margins of half the element size.
I have updated your fiddle here: https://jsfiddle.net/797L7nce/2/
.centered {
position: absolute;
display: block;
left:50%;
top:50%;
}
.d1 {
background: yellow;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
margin-left:-25px;
margin-top:-25px;
}
.d2 {
background: red;
opacity: 0.7;
width: 250px;
height: 250px;
margin-left:-125px;
margin-top:-125px;
}
Ok i tried without 2D CSS :
Change absoluteto fixed and add some margin: auto;
JSfiddle here
body, html {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
}
body {
position: relative;
background: green;
}
.centered {
position: fixed;
margin: auto;
display: block;
bottom: 0px;
left: 0px;
top: 0px;
right: 0px;
}
.d1 {
background: yellow;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
}
.d2 {
background: red;
opacity: 0.7;
width: 250px;
height: 250px;
}
<div class="centered d1">
<div class="centered d2">
</div>
</div>
You're almost there. Just set the absolute positions to the same (large) negative number, to make enough room for the auto margin:
.centered {
position: absolute;
margin: auto;
bottom: -9999px;
left: -9999px;
top: -9999px;
right: -9999px;
}
https://jsfiddle.net/797L7nce/9/
Adding the below CSS to .d2 will solve the issue.
.d2 {
background: red;
opacity: 0.7;
width: 250px;
height: 250px;
position:absolute;
left:50%;
margin-left:-125px;
}
You can check the demo here
In Bootstrap 4:
to center the child horizontally, use bootstrap-4 class:
justify-content-center
to center the child vertically, use bootstrap-4 class:
align-items-center
but remember don't forget to use d-flex class with these
it's a bootstrap-4 utility class, like so
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center" style="height:100px;">
<span class="bg-primary">MIDDLE</span>
</div>
Note: make sure to add bootstrap-4 utilities if this code does not work
I know it's not the direct answer to this question but it may help someone

Vertical centering with relative and absolute positioning in flexbox

I'm using absolute and relative positioning for my .box, but as you can see the text doesn't seem like it's top: 100%.
Can someone explain why this is?
Like why is the text (some text is going here) spilling into the child element when top: 100% was specified?
.box {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: flex-start;
height: 200px;
margin: 0 auto;
width: 90%;
border: 1px solid red;
}
.child {
position: relative;
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
border: 1px solid orange;
}
.childschild {
position: absolute;
top: 100%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}
<div class="box">
<div class="child">
<img src="dog1.jpg" alt="Picture of a dog" width="250" height="250">
<div class="childschild">
some text is going here
</div>
</div>
<div class="child">dfd</div>
<div class="child">dfd</div>
</div>
.. why is the text ('some text is going here' text) spilling into the child element when 100% was specified?
Because you've applied the transform property to the element:
.childschild { transform: translate(-50%, -50%); }
This tells the element to shift backward 50% of its width along the x-axis and 50% of its height along the y-axis.
So first you're telling it to be top: 100%. Then you're telling it to backtrack 50% of its height, which puts it back over the .child element. You can remove the transform and it will work as intended.
Try this instead: transform: translateX(-50%); (demo)
A more complete explanation with illustrations can be found here:
Element will not stay centered, especially when re-sizing screen
The problem is because in your transform you are applying -50% to Y-axis , which means will subtract that 50% from top:100%, So it will be has it you stated just top:50% with no transform
Either you only apply the transform to X-axis removing the Y-axis, as stated by #Michael_B, or you can use this code below to vertically/horizontally center the text just below the box:
position: absolute;
top: 100%;
right: 0;
left: 0;
margin: auto
Note: I changed your img to background-img (optional)
.box {
display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
justify-content: space-between;
height: 200px;
margin: 0 auto;
width: 90%;
border: 1px solid red;
}
.child {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
border: 1px solid orange;
}
.box > div:first-of-type {
background: url("//dummyimage.com/100x100");
position: relative
}
.box > div:first-of-type div {
position: absolute;
top: 100%;
right: 0;
left: 0;
margin: auto;
width: 50px;
text-align:center;
background:red
}
<div class="box">
<div class="child">
<div>some text is going here</div>
</div>
<div class="child">dfd</div>
<div class="child">dfd</div>
</div>
If i understood you correctly, this could help you..
Try using margin-top: -10px;, it will reduce top's space by 10px. You can also try marign-left,margin-right and margin-bottom.