ideal spacing

[Llyra]

Do you think there's an ideal length of time to wait between babies, in terms of baby's and mama's PHYSICAL health? DD is only 10 mo and it is obviously too soon still but I know I don't want to wait too long, because I'm already 30 and besides I'm thinking so much about another baby. I'm worried though whether it is too soon, in term of physical recovery from childbirth, nutritional reserves, etc, especially since I had a c-section and will be trying for a VBAC. Any thoughts?

Also, what about other issues? How tough is it to have a toddler and an infant at the same time? Is this doable? I worry about the new baby being more high-needs than DD was, or about DD hitting a rough toddler stage, and I wonder whether I'll be able to handle it.

Maybe I just need to get newborns off my mind and just resign myself to waiting...

[Mary-Beth]

I don't know when you posted this but I thought I'd give you a response in case you're still thinking about having another baby.
I have two girls who are just a couple days shy of being 19mos. apart. I love it! It has worked out so great becasue they play together and are really peers for one anoteher. My older child was very verbal and potty trained (through EC) long before the new baby...so that may have helped. Physically, I did fine. Both my girls weaned themselves at 18 mos. milk supply was not a problem for me. I had a birth center birth and then a homebirth for my second child. So I don't know about VBAC's. You could talk to others about that.
It was a lot of work for the first 6 months, especially. But the baby sling made everything work out okay. Once the younger one is old enough to have a bath with the older child, etc. it gets even easier. I'm not going to say it was easy but for me I was happy doing it. My house was a mess but things work themselves out. Now I'm thinking about when we can have a third! So that tells you something! My kids are 3 & 1.5