GTKY: How close in age are your kids? Ideal age gap?

1faceinacrowd

Thought this would be a fun GTKY. I'm curious to hear what you guys think.  

STM+...
What is the age gap between your kids and the new baby?
What, in your opinion, is the "ideal" age gap?
If you plan on adding more after this baby, when do you think you'd like to start trying?

FTM...
If you're planning on having more after this one, how long do you think you'll wait before trying again?
What, in your opinion, is the "ideal" age gap?

Curls919

I'm due within a week of DS's 3rd birthday. My ideal age gap was between 2 1/2- 4 years. I'm glad that DS is old enough that he'll be in school most mornings so I will still have my lazy snuggly baby time and not feel like I'm ignoring him. And hopefully at 3 he'll be able to understand more of what's going on 

nanner26

FTM here. I've always thought 2-3 years was ideal. My sister and I were 4 years apart and were never in school together or anything. I think we might have been closer if we were closer in age. Just an assumption though. 

bananers

My sons will be 3 years and 3 months apart. I would have preferred closer to two years apart (especially since we will have two boys) but life, jobs and my stupid body foiled those plans. That said, DS1 is becoming more independent lately and he went through a really trying phase a few months ago where he was really whiny and needy. So in a way I was thankful to not be dealing with a newborn during that time. 

We are done-zo after this baby. I'm already pushing DH to set up a consultation with Dr. Snip. 

1faceinacrowd

Sounds like 3ish years is a pattern here so far!

My daughter and step-son are only 10 months apart (obviously that won't happen with the next two lol) and I LOVE how close they are in age. They're interested in the same stuff, at the same level academically (they're one grade apart but my daughter is advanced for her age and step-son is a little behind), and they get along really well most of the time. I'm also glad that they're both independent and will both be in school when this baby is born. I just can't decide how long I want to wait before trying for our last one.. Maybe 1-2 years? Decisions, decisions...

pelorunningmama

DD and this baby will be almost 3 years apart. I would have liked them to be two years apart but DH wasn't ready and I got accepted to run the NYC marathon last fall. Because of that we knew we needed to wait until November to start trying. If we try for a third I would like to start trying when this baby is about 18 months. 

bameier

DS and this one will be 22 months apart. 
My ideal is 2.5-3 years but since we had fertility issues with DS we didn't want to put off too long, of course we got pregnant immediately. We aren't planning on more so I love that they'll be close in age, I'm just nervous about the first six months.

mumblefrog86

STM+...
What is the age gap between your kids and the new baby? will be 23 months
What, in your opinion, is the "ideal" age gap? I wanted 3-4years but it didn't pan out that way.
If you plan on adding more after this baby, when do you think you'd like to start trying? nope we are done!

jamiesc58

STM+...
What is the age gap between your kids and the new baby? 11yr old dd, 6 yr old ds, 10 mth old dd. Youngest 2 will be 16 months apart.
What, in your opinion, is the "ideal" age gap? I loved the larger gaps so far but haven't had anything to compare it to so we will see soon.
If you plan on adding more after this baby, when do you think you'd like to start trying? There is a possibility we may have 1 more. If we do, I would like it to be when the youngest is at least 2.

WinnieLou82

FTM: We may be one and done with this baby so we'll see. More than likely I will be of AMA by the time we are ready for #2 so that would be something to consider.

As for "ideal" spacing - I know children a year apart and others 6 years apart who are all fine. Every family and situation is different so you just have to go with what timing works out for you. Ideal for one mother may not be for another.

acciobaby123

Ds1 is 16 months older than ds2 and dd will be 13 months younger than ds2. We would like to add one more to the brood but will most likely adopt through foster care a couple years from now 

Bookhousegirl

DS will be 2 years 5 months when DS2 (this baby) is born. I wanted them to be 2 yrs apart so this is close enough. We're planning on having one more and we'll probably start trying when this LO is a little over a year. I may change my mind on that time frame though after having 2 running around!

texasmama2014

DD will be 26 months when the LO is born.  I would love another to be 24-30 months after that, but we'll see how things go.

cait5413

FTM

We'd like one more; my brother and I are 17 months apart, It was nice having a sibling so close in age. Also, I'm already 32, so I think about 2 years apart is the gap we'll shoot for

tinkerbell11210

DD will be 6 1/2 when her sister is born. We were almost done at one but then I felt that we were at a time in our lives and carreers that we could have a second.  (daycare cost held us back before). I had a sister 6 years older than me and a brother 16 months older. Honestly I got along great with my sister and fought like crazy with my brother. 

Mrsrundell

FTM: I would like my kids to be close in age so We are shooting for 12-24 months apart.  We would like 4 kids but, hubby declared we are having 6 kids this morning all a year a part... Umm what?! He's crazy 

 My sister and I are 5.5 yrs apart and we never fought but also never really forged a close relationship either so I think closer in age would be cool.  Plus I want to pop out those kids then convince DH I need a full body mommy makeover!! Haha no shame in the plastic surgery game - I'm from LA after all lol jk 

Duffgurl

Our oldest son is 4 will be 5 Aug.19th. DS2 is 11months and will be a year old on the 17th. With this LO there will be a 17month age gap from DS2. With DS1 and DS2 the age gap was good I thought but going from 1 to 2 was a big adjustment. Also took DS1 time to get used to. I am curious to see the bond with DS2 and this LO. If we decide to have another probably will wait for at least 2 years but I don't want to have any more kids after I'm 35. I am currently 30. So we have some time  

cm716

I'm on baby number 3 and I'm on team let's get this pregnancy/childbearing over with this as fast as possible.

Baby will be 4 1/2 years apart from dd1 and 2 years 2 months from dd2. I tried to get them closer but my body wouldn't cooperate. Dd2 took six months to conceive and baby three took 8 months.

That being said we are planning on having a fourth and final baby. Assuming I can get pregnant again, ( baby number 3 is due shortly after my 29th bday so I'm thinking my age won't be a huge factor), i don't really feel like i can "plan" the gap.

I also need to make sure i can handle three before i jump to four. We'll see...

blond1230

DS will be 2 years 10 months when the new baby is due. We would have liked a closer gap but nature didn't cooperate. If we do have a third the gap will likely be closer, all depending on how long it takes this one to wean and I can get my body back!

ShanRum3

This is baby number 3 for me. My oldest DS is 11 now, and will only be 3 months shy of 12 when this baby is born. DS2 will be 6years 7 months when  this one arrives. We had a little over 5 years between the first 2. I would have liked about a 3-4 year gap between them, but we had a loss in between. We hadn't planned for this one, but if I had, I would have liked to only have 2-3 years in between. That being said, I am amazed at the bond that my older 2 share, even though they are more than 5 years apart in age.They fight, but are best friends! I also think having a much older sibling, has helped DS2 in so many ways... He's so much more advanced than DS1 was at 6, and I truly believe that he has learned SO much from his big brother!
I'm nervous to make the transition from 2 to 3, even though my older 2 are pretty self sufficient with a lot of things. My 6 year old is still a Momma's boy BIG TIME!

smilormarie

Our son will be turning 3 on or before I deliver. He'll be potty trained, able to wash his hands and brush his teeth himself. Get himself dressed and undressed and just be so much more independent than a 2 yr old.  I wanted the 3 yr gap even though I was whole heartedly on the 18-24 month wagon from the start (and I mean since I was 14 or so - really) but seeing kids less than 2 yrs, or exactly 2 yrs or just over... They are still babies themselves when the new baby arrives and I noticed so much fighting and tears. Those that were 3 or 4 yrs apart, not as much. We suffer infertility (I do actually, hubby has stellar sperm apparently) that we're just really lucky to have it work out exactly as planned. :-)

telicious2

DS will be 3 yrs and 3 months when this one comes. I think 3 years is a good gap for me. I knew from the start that I wanted to wait till after 2 years old for #2 so #1 would be more independent. IF we try for #3, it will probably be when #2 is 2.5-3 years old. 

SkiChic626

STM+...
What is the age gap between your kids and the new baby? It will be about 2 years and 2 months, maybe a little less if I schedule a c-section.
What, in your opinion, is the "ideal" age gap? I wish they could be a little closer.  My sister and I were 4 years apart, and I think that was too much.  Though, I have cousins who are 13 months apart and they fight all the time - so who knows.  That said, for our decision....in NJ you can only get NJFLA every 24 months, and that basically doubles your leave time (potentially 24 weeks if you time it exactly right), so I wasn't about to give that up.  AND, science says that it takes your body, even in a super healthy person, 18 full months to "replenish" itself after a baby in order to have an ideal environment for the next baby.  On top of those things, we wanted DD to move up one more class in school so that her tuition drops a little more before we add another $1k/mo back to that bill with the new baby.
If you plan on adding more after this baby, when do you think you'd like to start trying?  I actually think we'll wait a little longer between #2 and #3 unless one of us finds a new job making significantly more money.  We do want 3, but now we'll have a girl and a boy, so we'll see.  There's no way we could afford to have 3 in daycare at the same time in our current financial situation - it would be just as much as our mortgage payment, and at our current income we simply can't afford that.  For me, being a SAHM is not an option - both for financial and personal reasons.  So it'll have to happen once we can afford to pay for care - might be in a year, might be in 5, who knows - but I do want to be done by the time I'm 35, so if it gets past that point we might just stick with 2 kiddos  

Pepper6

We had always figured we'd do a 2-3 year age gap and before kids, we were leaning towards waiting closer to 3 years.  But once we got in the range of TTC, we decided to just go for it and 'get it over with'. Lol.  So our kids will be 2y2m apart.  I'm a little nervous about the close age range for the first year, but growing up with a sister who was only 18 months older than me, I liked having a sibling closer in age.

Knottie1427415498

I always thought 3 years was ideal ... DH isn't getting any younger ...so don't want to wait too long.   

lucypod

FTM here and I'm in the 2.5-3 year boat.  If we think we might go for 3 we'll prob keep it closer to 1.5-2, but as of right now we're leaning towards 2 kids.

Alygohome

My kids are going to be 20 months apart. I wish it was more like 30 but 20 will be fine.

GabbyCat13

STM+ 7 yo DD. 19 mo DS. My youngest two will be just over 24 months apart ( DS is Aug 12th and baby is due Aug 31st!)
Definitely not how we were planning it. We wanted DS and the new baby almost 3 years apart. We had planned to start trying for #3 around May or so, but life had other plans This may be our last depending on sex- boy: we're done.  Girl: try one more time for a boy. We'll see in about 5 months!
I'm not really sure what I think about an "ideal age gap" I love that my daughter is older- she helps so much with her little brother and I know will be a huge help after the new baby gets here. But, I think having the younger two so close may make them closer and able to relate more. I don't know, we shall see.

ashleym373

DS1 will be 4 years and 3 months and DS2 will be 22 months old. My idea age gap was/is about 2 years. My brothers and I are all 2 +/- a few months apart.