Stay at Home Moms
butterfly62682
member
How far are your children spaced?
butterfly62682
member
I have always wanted to have my children close in age. I grew up with a brother that was only 2 years 8 months younger than I. We were really close and still to this day have a great relationship.
When I was 19, I had my oldest DD. She will be 11 next month. My youngest just turned 1. It is a really huge age difference. DH and I plan on having more but we are really not sure of the spacing we want.
So how far apart are your children spaced? Did you do this on purpose? Do you like how far spaced they are?
~ Cassie ~
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Re: How far are your children spaced?
DD1 Feb 2010
DD2 Sept 2011
1 and 2 are 18 months apart, 2 and 3 are 19 months apart and 3 and 4 will be 3Y9months apart.
We didn't do any of the spacing on purpose. I don't know any different than the 1.5 year spacing, so this last spacing will be a new one for me.
It's harder when they are younger and they are closer together since they're all needy at the same time.
Every age span has its advantages and disadvantages.
GL!
Our kids are 2 yrs 8 mo. apart. They will be 6.5 and 4 years old when the baby comes. We would have had closer spacing, but I've had two losses.
My brother and I are 4.5 years apart and are very close. My DH's brother is 2 years younger than he is, and they never talk. I don't think it really matters as far as sibling relations go.
I will say, however, that my friends with wider spaced kids seem much more sane than my friends with closer spacing.
So sorry for you losses. I, too, have experience two losses.
By the time my firstborn was your second child's age, I already had a newborn.
My kids are 12.5 months apart. We did it on purpose for a number of reasons--financial (less time out of the workforce with back to back kids), logistically (easier to travel with 2 kids who have similar interests vs a 6 year old and a 1 year old), and personal (we both had positive experiences with friends/family members who had closely spaced siblings, while I was an only and hated it/DH had big gaps between his siblings and they were never close).
I really love this spacing. For me, it worked well because when I was pregnant I got to rest a ton since I had a baby who still napped 3 times a day. We didn't have the kind of social calendar like we have now so if I felt crappy and just wanted to lie in bed all day I could just throw a whole bunch of toys in my bed and he would be entertained. It was great. He was too young to be jealous so he transitioned fine when he brought the new baby home. He was fairly new to walking so he was much more entertained by exploring vs holding the baby.
Now that they're both toddlers, they can entertain each other and don't need me all the time. They are super close and my son is so nurturing towards the baby. He never acts out towards her.
I'm new to SAHM so this is my first post on this board...
I'm like you. We had our first when we were 17 (not on purpose obviously) and she will be 9 yrs old on Halloween. We just had our 2nd baby 3 weeks ago and honestly, I LOVE the age gap between them. I'm sure you know how helpful it is having the older one. If I were you though and wanted more kids, I would try to have the the next one as close to your 1 year old as possible. Good luck with everything and I'm sure your decision will be whatever is best for your family
DD & DS are 20 months apart. We love it. Wouldn't change a thing.
I hope to have our 3rd when DS is 20 months (so I'd get pregnant just before his 1st birthday).
We don't have LO #2 yet but they will be almost exactly 20 months apart. DH wanted another ASAP, I was not ready until DD was 8 months. It took a few months TTC. We both wanted to get the infant & pregnancy part out of the way so we could enjoy our complete family.
Your LO is beautiful.
It is very nice having two with such an age difference. I don't know how I could have gotten through the last year with out my oldest help. She is so wonderful.
We only have one so far, but have been trying for our 2nd since the week DD turned 1, with an early loss in February.
We wanted about 2 years. Now, it's looking like it will be close to 3 years or more. At this point, I am trying to let go of my *ideal* and am just praying that we will be able to have more than 1 child at some point.
DD2: Lucia (Lucy) 07/13
Ours are 16 months apart (not planned) and I love it. It was definitely harder in the beginning and crazy at times, but it was a lot easier than I had anticipated. However, I was blessed with 2 amazing sleepers that still take naps at the same time. If you are sleeping, anything is manageable
We are still thinking about going for one more, which would be very different. But we are now in a neighborhood with a ton of kids all different ages and lots of things for kids to do, which makes a huge difference. GL!
DS 3.12.08
DD 7.11.09
DD 8.01.13
Mine are 20 months apart. DS was a big surprise, we were hoping to have our kids closer to 3 years apart.
At first, it was tough. Now I'm super happy with the way things turned out and I'm glad my kids are close in age. I think there are pros and cons to both having kids close together and widely spaced.
Ours are spaced just over 4 years apart. We didn't start trying until DD turned 2. That is more because I wasn't ready to have another baby than caring how far apart the kids would be spaced. Then it took us a while to get pregnant, so this is the spacing we ended up with.
ETA: So far, the 4 year spacing has worked out really well. DD1 is super lovey with DD2. She loves to be around her younger sister. She's also old enough to handle the fact that DD2 is colicky and needs a LOT of attention. I can't imagine having a younger toddler and baby with colic. I know people do it, but that's a crazy amount of stress for a littler one to live with.
They will be 4 years 3 months apart. Had I not had m/cs, they would have been exactly 3 years apart, or 3 yrs 3 months, or 3 years 5 months, or 3 years 9 months. So this isn't what we planned, but I am super excited about it now.
My sister and I are 3 years 11 months apart - 4 school years. We were very close growing up and VERY close now. She is my best friend.
For my family, I am excited that I got to do the baby years and toddler years with just one and then get to start again when my DD starts preK in the fall (a few months before the baby is due). Granted I'm making lemons out of lemonade because this isn't what we were trying to do, but I am thinking it is going to have a lot of pros. My mom had the same situation and talks about how nice it was to have so much time with me as a baby since my older sister was 4 and starting school.
It's funny how this has ended up very similar to my childhood.
Our plan was 18-24 mo, but I had 2 miscarriages. I like the spacing. I think A&T are closer than T&D - but D&A are really close too.
They are 3 years apart (and my boys are 1 minute apart). No we didn't do it on purpose. I was actually hoping they'd be closer in age, but it took a while to get pregnant.
My sister and I are almost 5 years apart. It felt like a lot growing up. We lived in different worlds.
There is a 14.5 year difference between Jordan and Ben. I always thought that I'd have my kids a few years apart, but sometimes shiit happens and your plans don't always work out. It has its advantages and disadvantages, like any age gap.
I am 38 weeks pregnant and there will be just shy of 4.5 years between Ben and Alex (this baby). I'm exited about the spacing between these two. Ben really 'gets' it and is super excited to be a big brother. I know that it will still be an adjustment for him, but I think it will be easier for him than if he were younger.
My two will be a little under 4.5 years apart. I'll get back to you in about 3 months on how well that's working out!
We weren't sure we were going to have more than one. When we did decide to try for one more, I would have been ok with up to a 5 year age gap, but not much more. DH and I decided to give it 6 months of trying shortly after DD turned 3.5 and see what happened. Surprise, I got pregnant on the first cycle (at age 37)!
I grew up with a brother 5 years younger and I didn't think I'd want my kids to be so far apart, but when it came down to the reality of parenting my DD, I absolutely wasn't ready to consider TTC another child until my first was 3.5.
I don't thrive on the chaos of early childhood. I like that DD can do a lot of things herself now and I'll have plenty of one-on-one time with the next baby during his toddler years as DD will be in school all day. I also like that I won't have two kids in college at the same time. In fact, they'll probably be 5 years apart in school because with a September (or maybe late August) birthday, DS will probably not be eligible and/or ready to start kindergarden when he's just barely 5 years old.
Married to J since 5/05, Mommy to T (10/08), L (08/10) and C (02/13) who was born at home.
My girls are just under 22 months apart, and it was perfect for us. They've gotten along swimmingly and things just worked.
Initially I had hoped to repeat things and have another with that spacing, but alas things didn't work out as planned, and after a loss in December, we're cautiously expecting baby 3 on Christmas.
While at first I was a bit disappointed, I now feel like this is the way it should be. My two older girls play nicely together, love each other and both are so excited for their new sibling. Hopefully in December they'll be singing the same song!
When the new one comes, DD1 will be 4y8mo, while DD 2 will be 2 y11mo.
12 months apart for the first two. 2.25 years apart for 2 & 3.
Not totally planned. Working out ok but stressful at times.
DD and DS are 2y9 months apart, but I've had two losses also. DD and Gabe would've been 1y9m apart. I wanted my kids close in age, but now that DD and DS are this age gap, I like it. We are considering having one more, and will probably push toward a 2.5-3 year gap.
My brothers are 6 & 7 years older than me. We started getting really close once I turned 21.
I always wanted my children somewhat close together because my brother is 11 years older than me. He was away for college when I was 8, so we didn't really grow up together. My family has always been really close knit though, so that always helped. He has always been there for me and I know the age difference could have been a lot worse. Now we are closer than ever and talk every other day. I only see him every couple months, but he lives in California so I guess that is still pretty often considering the distance.
Ours will be exactly 2.5 years apart which is what we wanted. If we have one more after this one I would like our oldest to be under 5.
W : 01.11.13
#3 : due 11.02.15