Age gaps

[andi-mama]

For those of us who are pregnant with #2 (or more)...

What will the age gap be between this baby and your other babies? Are you comfortable with this gap?

This is one thing I'm really worrying about. My son is 20 months now, so he'll be 29 months- 2.5 years old- when this baby is born. We were planning on conceiving in July, which would have made them just about three years apart. I'm much more comfortable with that gap but obviously it's too late now! I'm hoping someone with a 2.5 year gap between kids will chime in and tell me it's wonderful.

[AladdinsLamp]

We are going to have a 3.5 year gap between ds and new baby. I alternate between thinking it is too little and thinking it is too big.

[Bella Catalina]

Our gap will be 30-31mths, so 2.5 years as well.

We started ttc again hoping for an 18mth-2 year gap, but this will be so much better. Even now at 22mths he is great, but he will be that much better 8 months from now. I didn't want any more than a 3 year gap between them, so God willing, this baby will stick.

[Mrs-Mama]

DS will be 31 months (2.5 years) when this one arrives.

[Leav97]

DD will be 4.5 when the new little one arrives. We've been TTC for almost 2 years now.

[jmo]

DD will be 3yrs 2 months when this baby is born. We had hoped for a closer (2.5) age gap but I've had 2 m/c's sice we started trying last June. Now, we'll take whatever we can get!

[AugustineM]

This will be my third baby. My first two are a very unexpected 21 months apart. In some ways it was good and in other ways it was very hard. I wouldn't recommend it. But I do remember that when my older one was 2.5 I kept thinking, wow it would be SO much easier to have another baby at this stage, than at 21 months. Now my older two are 3 1/2 and 20 months, and they are really starting to play together. It's very cute. They also fight over toys, but overall they have fun together.

This baby will be 2.5 years from my youngest and honestly I think it will be great. At 3 years old I think it can start to get difficult because at that age they really start to understand things more and can be very jealous and stubborn and really regress a lot. Not that that doesn't happen at every stage, but I think the 3 year old can be especially so, iykwim.

[andi-mama]

Thank you Ashley!! That's exactly what I needed to hear :)

[natalieadw]

Our gap will be 30-31mths, so 2.5 years as well.

We started ttc again hoping for an 18mth-2 year gap, but this will be so much better. Even now at 22mths he is great, but he will be that much better 8 months from now. I didn't want any more than a 3 year gap between them, so God willing, this baby will stick.


That's what our age gap is too:thumb

[hannybanany]

Our age gap will be 3 yr 2 mos.

[selena_ski]

wow 2.5 years seems to be popular. we will also be close to that at 27 months.

[carolina~mom2be]

our gap will be 26 months...anyone with experience right at the two year gap?

[tatgurl]

our gap will be 26 months...anyone with experience right at the two year gap?

My boys are 27 months apart. It's a nice gap. Hard because the older one was really still a baby when #2 was born, but nice now. they play well together and are into the same things.

the boys will be 5 and 7 when this one is born. so that should be interesting. my younger will be starting kindergarten in sept. So I will have time alone with the baby during the day. Not sure how things will go when the boys get home every day, with homework and all the nighttime routines.

[because]

Mine will each be 35 months apart. Worked fairly well the first time around... here's hoping it's OK again!

[Girl Named Sandoz]

There will be 6 years and 2 months between my son and the new baby.

[Patchfire]

There are 55 months between my dd and ds. I really liked the spacing, except for how toddlerhood interacted with our homeschooling. So we decided to have them either a little closer together or a lot farther apart. Closer won, obviously. ;) Ds will be around 44 months when this babe arrives.

[buckysprplmonkey]

This is going to be number 3 for me. My oldest is 7 now, there will be 8.5 years between her and new baby. DD#2 is 21 months, so she'll be 2.5 when this one arrives. DD#1 is from a previous marriage, that's why there's the big age gap between my DD's. I don't mind the 6 year age gap at all, it's kind of nice. I'm not sure how to do the two babies in the house at once thing! I guess the trick is I need to stop thinking of my going on 2 year old as a baby and remember she's a rough and tumble toddler now!

[Delaney'sMommy]

My girls are 3 years apart & this one will be born when my youngest is 4 and oldest is about to turn 7. I really wanted my kids very close together, but it didn't work out that way! Extended breastfeeding had a lot to do with that, my 3 yr old is still nursing!

[RachelEve14]

Not in your ddc but my new baby and my dd#3 are 2.5 years apart (a bit more, he was born Feb. and she'll be 3 in July). So far it's been great. She is pretty independent, uses the potty, loves the baby, understands a lot more than my twins did (they were 17 months when dd3 came :dizzy: ). Anyway just wanted to say good luck and it's a nice gap (in my 2 week experience)

[Alison]

DS will be 5.5 years on my due date. I wanted 3.5 years, but first DH got laid off, so we put things on hold for a year, then when we did start to TTC again, it took almost a year to get pg, so we ended up with 5.5 years. In some ways though, it will be nice--DS will be in school, so this baby will have some of my time to itself. And DS is now asking for a brother sister, rather than having no say in the matter (well, not that he had any say anyway, but at least now it's something he actually wants).

[LotusBirthMama]

ooooh, this is the hardest thing for me right now. we have 6 years between ds1 and dd, and then 4 years btw dd and ds2....

now i'm looking at 21-22 months. i'm scared poopless.

[AugustineM]

My first two are 21 months apart and it wasn't too bad. It was hard at times, but I tandem nursed and though that was hard, it made it easier in some ways. They're now 20 months and 3.5, and it's nice. They fight and annoy each other sometimes, but they also keep each other great company.

[Booflies]

My DD is 18 months old... so we'll have a 26 month gap. 26 months was absolutely my heart's desire so I'm v. happy!

[GreenFlower]

There will be 6 years and 2 months between my son and the new baby.

Ours will be about 6 yrs and 3 months apart

[louloubean]

my sister and i are 2.5 years apart, and still best pals!
#1 and now newly annoucned #2 will be about the same apart too.

sooooo exited!!!!!!!!!

[JMarie930]

5.75 years. Definitely wasn't the original plan, but I had to stop taking my medication first before getting pg. That took three years. DS was also diagnosed as ASD, so we wanted to get him settled. Just had his ARD and he's being placed in mainstream kindergarten. I am so proud of him, he's really just come a long way since this time last year. :love

[alleybcat]

My children will be 30 months apart. In theory I am comfortable with the gap.

[hix]

wow 2.5 years seems to be popular. we will also be close to that at 27 months.

I'm due in November and will have a 27 month difference, too!

[Carolann S]

There will be a 26 month gap between my daughter and this baby.

[kitkat5505]

#1 and #2 are 20 months apart and I love it, they are such good friend. #2 and this one will be about 2.5 years apart, which is longer than I had planned, but I think will be a good age gap.

[knittinmama]

DD and DS are 3 years 3 months apart

DD will be 4 yrs and 7 months older
DS 17 months!

[CheriK]

We'll have a 7 year age gap here. Definitely not by planning - actually the original plan was 1 child and be done, but fate/goddess/Murphy stuck 2 babies in there. So we started w/ 2 children, didn't plan on any more. And then at some point I realized that our family didn't feel complete. I think ds and dd were at least 3 before I could even imagine having another baby (and since AF didn't return until they were almost 2, if we'd gotten pg accidentally, baby #3 wouldn't have arrived until they were about 3).

I had one "accident" and m/c about 18 months ago, and now this pg, which was not planned but not really an accident, more of "let nature take it's course". In other words, I told dh if he really didn't want more children, he needed to be responsible for birth control, he never bothers w/ condoms, and he knows I have the most sex drive when I'm ovulating, so he can't REALLY be surprised that I'm pg now can he? :wink

I'm not terribly worried about the age gap. It does feel a bit like starting over, though. I have 2 kids who sleep through the night, can get their own snacks, can ride bikes, are learning to read. . . And I'm going back to 24-hour a day nursing sessions and diapers! It is a bit of a blessing, though, that they CAN do so much for themselves.

We homeschool and I'm a bit nervous about how that will work, especially when baby is really small. At least we unschool, so I don't have to worry about lesson plans and curriculum when I have a newborn! And dh can take up to 2 months off (paid; longer if we can skip money, hah!), so he can be homeschool daddy for at least a few weeks. I do feel a bit sad about this child's sibling relationships - ds and dd will always have a closeness that this child won't have w/ a sibling. But we have SO many issues w/ sibling rivalry that I'm glad there is a big age gap, so there won't be as much additional competition.

[goylesgirl]

The age gap between ds and dd1 is 7 1/2 yrs. The age gap between dd1 and dd2 is just under 2 yrs. They both have thier disadvantages, but in general I love the differences. The oldest is very understanding, thoughtfull and helpfull, and he still plays well with them. The two girls are just adorable together and can even share clothes sometimes. This one will be 3yrs and I am a little worried because I think 3 can be a difficult age in terms of understanding and she will be just that much farther ahead.

[Sioko]

DD1 and DD2 are 2yrs apart and great friends/playmates. They sometimes argue though and I think it's mainly because DD2 is 3! :lol

It was hectic with one potty training (i.e. leaving puddles like a puppy EVERYWHERE) and one in diapers and floor bound or in a sling. I was busy ALL THE TIME! And it took awhile to get anywhere at first and I was always late, like by half and hour! But by the time DD1 was really "house broke" :lol it got a ton easier! And with practice I got faster :)

They will be 6 and 4 when this babe comes.

My mom had me and my two brothers each 13mo apart and all of us in CD at the same time and tandem nursing for a bit while working full time as a nurse and being a single parent! I had it easy!

[catballou24]

lola will be a little over 5 1/2 and xi will be just over 3...jonathon will be approaching 22! :lol i'm fine with the gaps..;)

[slinginhipmama]

There is a 2.5 yr age difference between ds1 and ds2. This has been wonderful to watch, they are close enough to still play together and ds2 really looks up to ds1 :p I'm a little concernedwith age gap now with the new baby, there will be 7 years with ds1 and 4.5 between ds2 and baby....

Although, both boys will be in school when the baby arrives so that will be nice "getting to know you time":love

[nina_yyc]

2 years almost exactly and mixed feelings.

It's exactly what we thought we wanted when we started having kids. I'm an only child and I wanted DD to have a sibling for sure. We thought 2yrs would be good so they'd be close and play together and also that it might be easier for DD to adjust to a sibling if she were younger. It's also convenient for me getting out of work - since we get 1yr mat leave here I will only have to work for 11mos in between babies. Me WOH f/t isn't working great for our family but we needed it to happen to get our down payment together and so I could re-qualify for another year of mat leave. By the time I'd be thinking about going back, DH might have a better schedule so we can have more time together when I WOH, or we'll be financially stable enough for me to start my own business or cut down to part time.

On the 'yiiiikes, wayyyyy too close' side - tandem nursing :bigeyes. DD is a marathon nurser right now and it's driving me NUTS. I'm getting two of those??? :bigeyes. Yet, at the same time she's too young to wean, so tandem it may be. I'm also not so looking forward to two in diapers and I'm not sure I can hack it as a SAHM to a toddler and an infant. After 5mos of WOH I've gone soft :lol

[BundleFishMama]

My DCs are all in the 2 to 2.5 year-apart range; 22 months between 1 and 2, 25 months between 2 and 3, and should be about 29 months between 3 and 4. LOVE LOVE LOVE this spacing!!:thumb It's been *wonderful* for us. I would have even preferred a little closer for this one (more like 2 years than 2.5) but I am just impatient that way:D

[PNWmama]

our gap will be 26 months...anyone with experience right at the two year gap?

Ours will be just about 26 months apart as well. I'm excited that they'll be so close in age, but on the other hand I'm really scared! Ds already takes every ounce of my energy...how am I going to handle him and a newborn?!

[snowgirl]

DD will be 4.5 when the new little one arrives. We've been TTC for almost 2 years now.

WOW! Very similar. My DD will be a 4.25 yo when this one is born. We have been trying on and off for 2-1/2 years. I really feel that acupuncture helped me get pregnant. I only had 3 treatments too.

I feel so great about the age spacing though. I don't know if my sanity would have made it through anything earlier than 3 years of spacing.

[Chiroalltheway]

DS1 and DS2 are 19 months apart, DS2 and D?3 will be 20/21 months apart. i LOVED having the first 2 so close together. i think it did wonders to prevent jealousy issues. i promise, it was like DS1 never even remembered NOT having his baby brother around. Honestly, with DS1 at 2.5 yrs old right now, i think there would be huge jealousy issues, and i'm really fearing jealousy from him with the new babe more than from DS2. Anyway, the bottom line, though (IMO) is that you give them each your time, include them in things, and constantly tell them how much love is in your family. we always (still) will tell DS1, "DS2 loves you so much! see how he's following you around and watching you? you're his big brother!!" and vice-versa to DS2. kids adapt rather well, and if yours don't, i'm sure there are mamas who have advice:)

[MommyinMN]

DD and DS are 22 months apart. That was the perfect age gap for me and we were shooting for somewhere close to that this time around but had trouble TTC. There will be a 36 month gap between #2 and #3. It isn't our ideal, but I think it will work out well anyway.

[clavicula]

DS1 and DS2 are 19 months apart, DS2 and D?3 will be 20/21 months apart. i LOVED having the first 2 so close together. i think it did wonders to prevent jealousy issues. i promise, it was like DS1 never even remembered NOT having his baby brother around.

:yeah: So true. DD1 and DD2 were 20 months apart and it worked perfectly for us. We had no jealousy problem at all.

[railyuh]

DS will be about 3 months shy of being 3 years old when this baby is born. We actually thought we would have our children closer together but it didn't quite work out that way.

[Faith33]

My oldest will be 6.5 years older than the baby. My middle dd will be 3.5 years older than the baby.

[Sage_SS]

I'm a bit bummed about the time between this one and my youngest. There's two years between all my girls, but there'll be five years between my youngest and this one. My oldest will be 9!

Illness was a major roadblock for us.. Grrr...

[catballou24]

I'm a bit bummed about the time between this one and my youngest. There's two years between all my girls, but there'll be five years between my youngest and this one. My oldest will be 9!



9 years is nothing...try 16!! :lol they will adjust just fine..;)

[hattifattener]

I go back and forth on the age gap thing. They'll be four years apart, which is a bigger gap than I had planned, due to surprises with DH's grad school and a miscarriage and stuff. But now that they baby's actually on it's way, Lord willing, I keep thinking, "I couldn't be doing this if DD1 was littler!" There's just so much about life that she really GETS now; I think it'll help smooth the way. Anyway, that's how I make myself feel better. :)

[E's Mama]

7 1/2 years between #1 and #2. I always wanted to have kids close in age, because I am considerably older than my sibs, but I will take what I can get!

[bemommy]

There is a 4 year 3 month age gap between my dd and my ds. There will be a 20 month age gap between my ds and this little one. I'm freaked. I can not get over the feeling that my ds is too young for me to be pregnant :(

Also bummed that ALL of my kids have/will have winter birthdays. We have a big beautiful yard and a pool and NO SUMMER BIRTHDAYS! Blah!

[CheriK]

Also bummed that ALL of my kids have/will have winter birthdays. We have a big beautiful yard and a pool and NO SUMMER BIRTHDAYS! Blah!

Tell me about it. This baby is due at around the same time as ds/dd's bday. And this year, THanksgiving is also that last week in November. The holiday season is insane around here already, now we're adding yet another bday. My kids are the only grandkids for 3/4 of the grandparents, and are therefore overly gifted for both bdays and Christmas. It's totally overwhelming! I want to celebrate half-bdays instead!

[KindRedSpirit]

For sure, consider the 1/2 birthdays.Or,do all the birthdays together and go out of town for the holidays!This is what we are considering.We will have 3 birthdays in 4-5 weeks, depending on this babe's birth day!I'm considering going out of town for the holidays anyway,though a newborn does throw a stick in the wheel.
As far as spacing goes here,ds and dd are 21 mo.apart:) great spacing!dd and dd are 26 mo apart, and tandem nursed until 1/2 thru ds pregnancy.dd and ds are 31 mo. apart,and ds and this one will be 30 mo. apart. I am worried about the spacing verging on too close to ds being 3 yrs old,but our last baby miscarried, so,waddaya do?
I was 18 mo. older than my brother and he was 18 mo. older than our sister-we are like triplets pretty much.with the rest of the siblings averaging 3 years apart. (2 older than me and 2 younger than mentioned sister.)

[two bricks shy]

Aleah will be 28 months older than her sibling.

I think it will be good.

[atjmom]

My oldest is 10 and my second is 9. There is a 20 month difference between them. My third is 15 months old so there is a 9 year difference between the 2nd and 3rd. I am expecting a 4th in November so there will be a 23 month age gap between the 3rd and 4th. My dh says that we have two sets of kids the older ones and the babies!

[mommy&gigi]

My daughter will have just turned 3 when the baby is born. I always wanted my kids 3 years apart...I guess I was just afraid of having a 2-year-old and a newborn. She is still breastfeeding, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to get pregnant.
I am feeling like 3 years apart is sort of the natural spacing. I think that in cultures where extended breastfeeding is the norm, 3 years is probably the average.