Did you plan 2 under 2?

MrsL0908

My son is 5 months old. DH and I are starting the "talk" for number 2. Assuming we get pregnant when we want to, we are trying to decide if we want them to be 1.5 years apart, or wait another year for 2.5 years. So, if you planned 2 under 2, what helped you decide to go for it? We have a few reasons to go for it. 1) Age. DH is 35 and wants to be done before he's 40.  2) Number of kids. We definitely want two, but there is the potential of three. 3) I have baby fever (already). LOL.  Thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

juliane2004

I don't know exactly what convinced us, I just new I wanted to try again. DD and DS are 14 months apart, and #3 will be 15 months behind DS.

I love having them this close

Cilley

We did plan to have our 2 kids close in age, but it happened a few months too soon. We got pregnant when LO#1 was 6 mos, when we were hoping to be pregnant when he was 9 mos. We are up there in age, me 38, DH 39. Definitely wanted to be done before we were 40 (esp. me). Glad it happened the way it did and wouldn't change it for the world.

kagl04

We planned it! We always wanted our kids close together in age. We didn't want to get used to our DD STTN then have a newborn again. She still wakes at night sometimes even a year old and so we are still in that swing of things. We also didn't want a huge age gap between our kids because I'd like to go back to work when they are in elementary school. Our 2 will be 13-14 months apart and we couldn't be happier!

Court0026

Planned.  I always wanted them close together and I wanted to spend a couple of years out of work and then go back and be fully committed. 

abrazz

No we didn't plan it.  It is hard, but I'm sure it's hard no matter what lol.  It will be nice when they are older, I think they will only be a year apart in school.  DD will be one of the oldest in her class and DS will be one of the youngest.  I will say, if we have another we will wait a few years.  It is expensive to have 2 in diapers. 

kcisthebombdotcom

Yes, we planned it before my first was even conceived for a number of reasons:

-I didnt want to work full time until my kids were in school full time, but I also didnt want to take an extended leave from the workforce either.

-I'm not a huge fan of the newborn phase. I would never want to get spoiled with an older, independent child then start all over again.

-Get diapers/teething/sleepless nights out of the way quicker.

-I'm able to get my body back instead of losing the baby weight/getting toned again and starting all over again.

jkelly41

We planned it.  DH is six years older than his sibling and he wished they were closer, so he wanted them close.  I didn't have a preference one way or the other.  

Our LOs are 19 mos apart and I love it!  It's hard sometimes but so great overall!

MAMAxB

jkelly41:

Our LOs are 19 mos apart and I love it!  It's hard sometimes but so great overall!

jkelly - your siggy pic would make anyone wants 2u2 adorable!

we planned it. we weren't trying but weren't preventing it

our 2 will be 20 months apart. we want a big family (5+ kids) so if they are 2-3 years apart i'll be having kids for over a decade.. haha and i'd rather pop them all our while i'm in "baby mode" (or newborn phase as a PP mentioned it)

i cannot WAIT

mrsseguin

Mine our 25 months apart...we were planning for 2u2.  I got pregnant when DS was 5 months old and had a  m/c.  We also had 2 more additional m/c, then DD arrived just after DS turned 2.  It's tough, but doable   I think there are challenges with any age gap.  Good luck to you!

moonfaerie

Yes, we did. It happened a month sooner than we were going to try, which was fine with us.

SweetBaby2004

DD#1 and DS are 19 months apart and we planned it.  We LOVE having them close together and they play very well together now.  They are in the same "stages" and like many of the same things (even though one prefers Disney Princesses and the other is a "Cars" fan, they sit through the other's preferences pretty well).

We had wanted 2u2 again, but God had other plans for us and we have been through a lot. DD#2 and this baby will be 26 months apart and we are thrilled! 

We wanted 4 kids and we wanted to be done having kids by the time I am 35 (I will be 35 one month before this baby is due).

delg23

I'm 30 and wanted to be done asap. I am a weirdo and wished I had kids younger. I was an only child and I really wanted my kids to have siblings they could be close to. I am not working right now and I thought it would be best to get pregnant now before I go back to work instead of waiting for a while at a new job and then taking maternity. 

LJR 84

Yes and no. I had extreme baby fever almost right away after I had DD. We basically just stopped preventing...so I guess you could say it was more planned than not!

The plan was to wait until DD was on to TTC. However, had we waited until now I think we probably would have kept on waiting! DD is a handful, and you just don't realize what you're in for when they're just 3 months old and you're thinking about a second.

So really, I'm glad it happened the way it did. It's been work so far, but it's definitely not as hard as I anticipated.

rgtsmom01

Mine are 10 months apart.  I hated being pregnant and we knew we wanted 2 and then we were for sure done.  So, we started trying right away 10 weeks after my first was born.  I got pregnant on the first try so they are really close and I love it.   It's hard but it's awesome because I don't have to do it again.  All of my friends just got there bodies back and don't want to go through it all again but are now having to because they all want 2.  So for me it was great!

Ruby_Soho

We planned it. I was ready to start trying when DS was about 3 months but it took till about 4 or 5 months for DH to be ready. We stopped preventing right away but with EBF my cycles were all over the show. I got pregnant after 2 AFs. Really excited to have 2 so close together. We might go for 3u3 but DH is just starting a new job (apprenticeship) so we're going to see how that goes before making any big decisions like that.

Echowysp

We planned it due to our ages.... I'm 40 and dh will be 44 in Oct.  He already has a 12 year old son from his first marriage.  We wanted kids right away and knew we'd have to have them close together so I'd be done before being in my 40s. 

My advice would be to maybe wait until your baby is at least 11 or 12 months to get pregnant.  It's hard being pregnant with a toddler, but a non-walking toddler would suck even more.  I know people have done it and kudos to them, but the fact that ds could walk and get things for himself helped tremendously when I got big and then when baby came.  Mine are 22.5 months apart and I think it worked out great for us.

bergs720

We planned it.  DD and DS will be 20 months apart.  We tried for 5 months before BFP, so they could have ended up closer together.  We planned it that way because we had TTTC DD and didn't want to waste any time, we have always talked about having 4 children so our age isn't necessarily a factor now, but will be soon enough and I wanted to have them closer in age because I kind of feel like it will be less disruptive to DD's life (meaning she will have less time to get used to being an only child).  We have already talked about it and will probably start TTC #3 when DS is about 15 months. 

detroitblondie

Heck no!    But I'm SO glad they are so close in age.  They are a few days shy of being 13 months apart.  Both boys and cute as can be. 

detroitblondie

Echowysp:

We planned it due to our ages.... I'm 40 and dh will be 44 in Oct.  He already has a 12 year old son from his first marriage.  We wanted kids right away and knew we'd have to have them close together so I'd be done before being in my 40s. 

My advice would be to maybe wait until your baby is at least 11 or 12 months to get pregnant.  It's hard being pregnant with a toddler, but a non-walking toddler would suck even more.  I know people have done it and kudos to them, but the fact that ds could walk and get things for himself helped tremendously when I got big and then when baby came.  Mine are 22.5 months apart and I think it worked out great for us.

My first didn't start walking until he was 18 months which meant the little one was 5 months already.  It really wasn't that bad.  Frustrating at times, but totally doable. 

Sarahbear621

Totally planned it for several reasons:

-I wanted to be done by the time I was 30 with kids.  No particular reason on why that age, it just works for DH and me.

-We didn't want to be completely out of baby stage to just jump right back in.  Right now we are used to doing diapers, washing bottles, naps etc.  I think if we got out of "baby stage" we wouldn't go back. 

-I didn't want to get my body back in shape to where I was before to just get pregnant again.  This just worked for me.  Now I can concentrate after #2 is born on excersise and then have a doctor fix what I couldnt' get back anyhow. 

 

TheMutleys

We know that we want a 'bigger' family.  We hope to have 4, maybe 5, kids.   

I was 28 when DS was born and will be 30 when this one is born.  DH is 3 years older than me.  We also want to be done having kids before DH is 40.  (We are actually shooting for him to be 36-37, but we'll see how that works out.)

We knew that we wanted them closer in age (about 18-24 months apart) because I didn't want a big age gap, like I had with my younger brother.  I am 7 years older than him and we weren't that close growing up.  I have hopes that our kids will enjoy having built-in playmates that will be interested in some of the same things at the same time. 

Plus I want to just be done with diapers when we are done.  I don't want to see the fabulous light of not having diapers and then have to go back to it.  

KRISTA555

We felt ready pretty early on in Maddie's life. We didn't use protection after she was around 3 months old or so.  I got pregnant right before her 1st birthday, when she started to nurse less.

mamabear0813

bergs720:

We planned it.  DD and DS will be 20 months apart.  We tried for 5 months before BFP, so they could have ended up closer together.  We planned it that way because we had TTTC DD and didn't want to waste any time, we have always talked about having 4 children so our age isn't necessarily a factor now, but will be soon enough and I wanted to have them closer in age because I kind of feel like it will be less disruptive to DD's life (meaning she will have less time to get used to being an only child).  We have already talked about it and will probably start TTC #3 when DS is about 15 months. 

This, almost exactly. My age isn't going to be a problem at all, because I'm only 23 (24 in sept) but DH is 31 and doesn't want to be an "old dad" as he puts it. It isn't a big upset in anyone's life. You're still in the "baby" swing of things. for me DS will still be too young to really be jealous. And they will be "into" similar things and toys for a long time. I like the spacing we're about to have, 20 months, but if I can get it a little closer (like 18 months or so) next time, that would be perfect to me. 

Bride2b2004

Planned.

PartiallySunny

We do plan on trying for 2 under 2. Mainly because we have all the stuff now so we might as well do the baby stage all at once and get it over with.

WhitePicketFence

Yes, we planned for 2u2. We started TTC #2 when DD1 was 10 months old and got pregnant on the first try. I'm a SAHM so we plan to have all of our children close in age (we plan on having one more). Once our youngest is in school, I will plan to go back to work. The sooner we're done having kids, the sooner I can start bringing home an income again. Also, we plan to retire early and want to have all of our children out of college by that time. Lastly, we wanted to get diapers, formula, and thee sleepless nights all over with at once.