Anyone with more than one child?

[charlene09]

I have 2 children soon to be 3.
My eldest son is 5(6 in December)
My youngest is 3 (4 in august)
20 months between them, I will admit first it was quite hard and none stop busy trying to care for a 20 month old and new born as they were both reaching different milestones at different times and didn't really have the same interests (obviously). As they have gotten older though it has become easier, they are both into kinda the same things car and train wise although my 3 year old loves makeup and brushing his hair and Dinosaurs where as my eldest kinda' terrorises him for this.
I am due another baby July and can only imagine it to be hard with my youngest being the baby for so long but I am sure it'll be so worth it.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Phoenix85]

I have 2 that are 2.5yrs apart (30 month gap).
They fight like mad. Very occasionally they get on & are nice, a lot of the time they wind each other up, name call etc. Eldest is always criticizing the younger one and nitpicking/correcting her (even when she's said nothing wrong, eldest will argue for the sake of it).
When they were little it wasn't much better, eldest was 2 and a half when the younger one was born and would randomly toddle over and smack the baby in the face without warning. It was hard.
They were better from a few months in until around 5/6+ and then it's really these last few years.
They do get along sometimes, just not a lot lol.

I'm due my third in July and eldest will be 12 then, 'youngest' will be 9 and a half.
I didn't plan such a big gap, ideally I wanted about 2 and a half years between all my kids (between one and the next), even after having my first two, because by the time the younger one was 18m it was actually in a 'nicer' period (they got along better & I found it easier to deal with them both).
But then I split up with their dad so having another wasn't an option.

I had hoped I'd have met someone & settled down & had a couple more babies by the time my youngest was 5 or 6 but that never happened lol.

I'm kind of glad I have this gap now though especially as my youngest was (and still is) a mummy's girl lol. We have a really good relationship but I think if she was only 5 or 6 or younger she'd have felt pushed out a bit.
These days she's still really helpful and she's more independent so I don't worry about her feeling too resentful or jealous.
Both the kids are excited about the baby, even though at first the youngest was upset about it, she soon came round and is happy now.
Also they are both more independent, although the eldest is lazy in some respects like the 9yr old will tidy up/clear the table etc without being asked and make herself breakfast etc. Eldest claims they can't possibly make their own breakfast (even though he's capable, he'll claim he can't do x/y/z). But he will go to the local shop for me if asked so.... at least he's a help that way lol.

I kind of wish the baby could have a sibling close in age, because with such a big gap it'll be like having an only child. By the time this one's around 5 the older two will both be teenagers and doing their own thing a lot. But on the other hand knowing how my older two fight and wind each other up and how much calmer it is when one of them is with my mum & it's just two of us... having one little one definitely has its advantages lol.

 

[BadWolf]

I'm going to have a 5 1/2 year age gap

There's 6 year between me & my brother & he was so helpful when I was born. Old enough to understand too so there wasn't any jealousy as he was so involved with the 'new baby' he loved telling people at school that he had a baby at home too.

 

[BadWolf]

charlene09 Good luck on the new baby, hopefully your youngest will just enjoy being a big brother that he won't miss being the youngest too much!

 

[BadWolf]

When they were little it wasn't much better, eldest was 2 and a half when the younger one was born and would randomly toddle over and smack the baby in the face without warning. It was hard.

This is one of my worries that my daughter might hurt the baby (even accidentally)
She's quite rough in general & the dog knows to keep his distance

Good luck with the new baby I'm sure your older two will be a great help.

 

[mummywanabe]

I'm 6 weeks with baby and my son is almost 3 we would have had one sooner except we had several miscarriages

 

[BadWolf]

Sorry to hear that mummywanabe, but good luck to you for this pregnancy!

 

[mummywanabe]

P.s I think some children act out frustration on new babies no matter their age my cousin had a new baby when her son was 18. Months old, my other cousin had her second when her son was 4 both newborns ended up getting a cheeky dig or slap I think but baby was ok and the phase didn't last long just keep an eye on them both for a bit and see how they go