How long did you wait to have your second child?

[Bluekrushbabe]

Hiya,
Just wanted some advice on how long people waited until considering having a second child?

I am interested in hearing about how the children's ages helped ( or not), if they were close & also how hard it was/is for you as a mum with 2 kids to look after?

Any thoughts/advice is welcomed :-)

[Rodeobull]

We wanted our kids close together. We started trying when DD1 turned 1 and got pregnant straight away so our kids are 20months apart. I like the gap I found it super easy when DD2 was a baby and to be honest I find it way harder now that they are 4 and 2 and a half. If i did my time over I wouldn't change it

[mummtime101]

Our son is 2years 4months and we are due in sept with a little girl......no help with if it is hard with 2 but that's out age gap...

[thepouts]

We fell pregnant with DD2 when DD1 was 19 months so there is 2 years and 4 months between them.

There is 25 months between DD2 and DD3.

I like the 2ish year age gap because they are close together in age but i did find it very hard at first.

[Theophania]

I fell pregnant with DD when my son was 6 months old. It has been really hard having two bubs so close in age, but also incredibly rewarding. They are (most of the time lol) really great friends and now that they are a bit older can entertain each other while I get on with housework or study.

I would never do it any other way. I am all for close age gaps

[summastarlet]

We will have a 16 month age gap between our boys once this bub is born next month. Not a planned thing as DS1 was IVF and I ended up falling pregnant naturally with this baby which was a huge shock. Can't really help you on how hard it is to juggle 2 kids, but it has been hard being heavily pregnant and running after a toddler!!!

[RipperRita]

Mine are 14 months apart and in all honesty I found the first year such a struggle I broke down in tears regularly from exhaustion and frustration. There is a silver lining though.... Now they are a little older, they are so close and regularly get mistaken for twins when we go out. I may have only barely survived the first year but I now absolutely love the age gap.

[mim1]

My two are nearly 5 years apart (found out I was pregnant with #2 on our ds's 4th birthday). I find the age gap works well for us. My ds is so independent and was so helpful when our dd came along. I get tired easily (especially when pregnant) so it was great that our ds was in Kinder while I was pregnant and when I had a newborn. Having that time without my ds during the day helped relieve the typical challenges of having a newborn and another child. It also meant he got out of the house and was able to run around a lot with his peers, which is a little tricky with a newborn (and I had health issues so getting out & about for long was hard for many months after our dd was born).

I don't think I would have managed a close (less than 2 years) gap very well emotionally or physically. My dd is almost 19 months old now and the thought of managing her & a newborn at the same time is just scary. I still think of her as a baby and she is still quite dependent and of course she runs, climbs and gets into all sorts of mischief super quickly. And I had severe coccyx pain in pregnancy and I would say it's almost better now, but it's been a long journey and it is one (of many) reasons we don't plan on a #3.

[duckduckgoose]

Originally the plan was 3 years apart. Ended up with a 2 year age gap because I got clucky and we fell preg straight away. It's a good gap although it would be nice if DS was toilet trained, could dress himself, etc.

[BabyG4]

I walked out of hospital after having my first and immediately wanted another. The body had other plans and DD1 was 23months once DD2 arrived. I had 2 really relaxed, easy going babies which made it worth the small gap so 10.5months later along came DD3..