Only Child

[haylz2581]

Hello...Just wondering how many of you out there have an only child or know that your child is going to be an only child? My daughter is 6 and while I hope one day to have more children she is an only child.

Just wondering what other peoples circumstances are...do you have friends with kids, does your child have cousins to play with etc etc?

[Ticklebugg]

Hi there. I only have one child. He is 6 going on 7 and I hope to have more children in the future but for now its just him. I have one friend with children, the rest dont. His cousins live in different towns so we dont get to see them much. Alot of the time it is very lonely for him:(

[haylz2581]

My daughter is the same, only one of my friends have kids but we don't get to see them too much and her cousins live in Melbourne (we live in Qld)

She is generally pretty happy playing by herself and doesnt' seem to be too lonely. But I know she would love to have someone to enjoy the park with or run around outside with etc...

I also take her to sports and girl guides too so she gets to meet different ppl and hopefully form some good friendships outside of school.

[nugglyboysmum]

I have an only child and he is very happy and entertains himself very well. We are flip flopping atm over whether or not to have another one, to be honest i can't see us ever actually going through with it. The reasons we will prob only have 1 child, DH would rather just have 1, DH doesn't cope the noise and chaos that kids bring even just one, DH isnt all that involved with DS, i still have PND and anxiety that i am medicated for, i don't know that i could get pregnant whilst taking the meds and feel good about it, think id always feel guilty that i may have put my baby's health at risk.

I love having an only in that i can focus on him and never miss out on a milestone, especially when he starts school i can be there for him 100% and not have to divide my time. I grew up as 1 of 4 kids and we always have to fight for our mums attention, and missed out on a lot of experiences growing up due to the size and cost of our family.

I could list countless reasons why an only child is great.

I think i have answered your question....oh no, 2 of my sisters are currently pregnant with their first babies so DS will have some younger cousinsa nd we only live 1 hour away from them. I have a friend with a little boy 6 months younger than DS who we catch up with about once a fortnight, and i have cousins who are 6 and 3 that we catch up with once a fortnight too. DS doesn't go to CC so he spends most days ust with me.

[RedRose]

We've only got one and it will probably stay that way. My DH absolutely doesn't want another. Like nugglyboysmum, he hates the noise and chaos and we both really struggled with the years of sleep deprivation (at 3, DD still doesn't sleep through regularly). DH doesn't think he could cope with another, and I'm not sure I could either.

Before having DD we had always wanted 2 or 3, but now I can't see us having any more.

She has cousins her own age but they're in different towns so we don't see them much and none of my friends have children yet. But she goes to playgroup once a week and sometimes sees some of the kids from playgroup during the week too. I know she gets a bit lonely but mostly she's very happy. Kids are very adaptable - there's lots of routes to contentment.

[Teley]

DS is 3 and he is an only child:(. I can't picture myself ever in a relationship again or even dating, so it's probably going to stay that way. I haven't found any babies in cabbage patches lately:p!

I'm an only child too so that means his only cousin is his second cousin (who is the son of my first cousin) and they live overseas so that doesn't really help. He keeps nagging me nearly every day now for a brother or sister but what can I do???? I know I would love another, but I don't really have a choice:(. I fear he'll get as lonely as I did when I was little and that's what scares me. With me, it's circumstantial, I would dearly love more children.

Very few of my friends have kids, but he has a lot of friends at daycare, and we've started going to a new playgroup and church, so hopefully:fingerscrossed: meet more friends there. Although his favourite person to hang around seems to be me anyway lol!

[Rabbity Babbity]

:no:I would absolutely love another child though we will only ever have one due to medical issues with me- it would be irresponsible for me to danger my life when I already have one child to be responsible for.

I guess, as previouslky mentioned there are the benefits of having 100% focus on our little one.

We have a few friends with babies, but everyone is so involved with our own lives that we find it hard to make time to catch up, and Isobel hasn't got any cousins.

[mummy1987]

im a single mum to my son who is an only child. i would love to have another one day and im sure he would love it too but have to find the right person first. he goes to daycare 3 days a week as we dont know many people or kids where we are so he loves that as thats his half of the week with kids and the rest is with me!

[babyboo]

Im also a sole parent with an only child. Thankfully she is off to school next year because she is always telling me how she has no one to play with (brothers/sisters) like the other kids do with the waterworks. Even though she goes to preschool 2 days a week to play with other kids. I may have another one one day, but by then she will be alot older. I find it incredibly frustrating having only one child she has no one to relate to (sibling) or get close to and always wants me to entertain her. she has cousins close but they are always too busy and preschool days clash.

[fifi79]

Hi
My son in 9 years an is my only one he has all ways wonted a brother or sister but as i had him when i was 18 and his dad was 17 it just was not the right time to have any more, i all ways said that i would have more one day and about a month ago i found out that i.m :bfp: have my second due in June. When my son was about 5 we got him a dog, now we have too dogs and i think that they are his best friends :baby:

[KatiesMum]

I have a DD who is almost 3 ... and not being able to give her a brother or sister is something I still struggle with.

I always wanted 2 or 3. I have 3 sisters and we were all close growing up, and I so wanted that for my daughter ... but its not to be.

Its hard to come to terms with - but so far DD is ok with it. She sees a good deal of other kids at playgroup, play dates, day care etc and next year will be at kindy.

Its hard

:hugs: to all