Is having a second kid really worth all the trouble? It looks exponentially harder to go from 1 to 2 kids than zero to 1.

[sanngetal]

@stephcastro10 My sister is 4 years older than me. We don't talk but thats not because of the age gap. My parents seemed to like that there was a decent gap between us

 

[davidjscott88]

@stephcastro10 Definitely not alone!! I'm due next month and we will have the same age gap. I would have NEVER tried sooner than this lol.

 

[haydenreed]

@stephcastro10 I felt that way too but we're 8 months in with a 3.5 year gap and it's great. My son goes to the toilet by himself, can get a snack by himself. I tell him I need to put the baby down for a nap and he keeps himself busy. There's 0 jealousy and now that baby is crawling my eldest loves to play with him, they chase each other around the house and it's adorable.

 

[mickey1989]

@stephcastro10 i’m the oldest and i’m 1.5 years older than my middle sister and 4 years older than my youngest! i’d say we get along just fine now

 

[binfoco]

@stephcastro10 I waited almost 6 years lol. They love eachother

 

[andrewl33]

@stephcastro10 I also felt a bit the odd one out reg not wanting a second one so soon, but clearly we're not the only ones!

 

[lilly93]

@stephcastro10 I'm pregnant with my second and my son just turned 8!

 

[kristianhansen]

@stephcastro10 If it makes you feel better, I have siblings as close in age as 2 years and as much as 14 years older than me. I'm just as close to all of them. If anything, my brother 2 years older than me is the one who I struggle with the most. Waiting a few years for your sanity will not harm their sibling bond.

 

[nhule8805]

@andrewl33 We just had our second with a 4 year gap and honestly it was easier to adapt to 2 kids than 0-1. That being said I could see how it would be super hard if they were closer in age.

 

[maryjones2k101]

@andrewl33 I’ve always thought 3-4 years is the perfect age gap. My sister and I are 4 years apart and we have always been super close. If we have another I will deliberately aim for a 4-year gap.

 

[ptemelkoff]

@andrewl33 My first is turning 5 a month after baby is due and I am hoping it goes well! My brother and I have a 5yr age gap and we've always been close.
But when my 1st was under 3, I was 100% team one and done! Everything changed after that, she was much more independent, potty trained, and sleeping well, and I thought "hmm maybe a 2nd isn't such a bad idea"

 

[saludmultimedia]

@andrewl33 We have a four year age gap between ours (baby is 2 months) and so far it’s been wonderful! We really feel it’s the perfect age gap, and post partum has been so much smoother this go around.

 

[kristianhansen]

@andrewl33 Same exact situation here! Pregnant with number 2 and my first will be four a few weeks after she's born. Also would have lost my mind if anyone had suggested a second any earlier than now lmao

 

[andrewl33]

@kristianhansen Absolutely same haha. Whenever we saw people with a 2 year old (or so) AND A BABY, we were shocked why people would do this lol! Just couldn't understand it and would never want it.

Now everything just calmed down so much, and we're so ready! So much more headspace.

I hope our oldest's will love it as much as they say they will (I'm sure there will be an adjustment period)

 

[kristianhansen]

@andrewl33 I think the people who stack babies that close, must have had a mellow first baby. Mine was not lmao

 

[andrewl33]

@kristianhansen Totally same lol. Our first was definitely, definitely not mellow indeed. Now the sweetest toddler though, all tears were already cried in the first year, nothing left for the later years lol

 

[kristianhansen]

@andrewl33 Same! I'm hoping my 2nd will at least sleep somewhat haha!

 

[yajoh]

@andrewl33 Mine are 7.5yrs apart and it took me until the oldest was 6 to want another one and another 6months of making sure it wasnt a whim before I had kids I was certain I would want them close together but boy am I glad my 7.5yr old is more sufficient. If she didn't have additional needs it might have seemed possible earlier, but I still need to help her with things that most are not doing for their 4 year olds.

 

[wheeler1552]

@christopherpriestley I’m about to go from 1-2 and I’ve been asking every parent I know how the transition was and 100% of them have said it’s easier to go from 1-2 than 0-1. For one thing you already have everything you need so you don’t need to spend more money. And you already know how to do everything and what to expect so there’s no new learning curve or surprises. You know how you can do things better second time around. And since you’re already doing everything for one kid it’s not much difference throwing another one in there

 

[stufftheme]

@wheeler1552 I just had my second daughter a week ago and let me tell you, it's a breeeeeezzee compared to the 1st. It helps a lot that my husband knows exactly what to do this time around to help. It also helps that our first daughter is 5 so she doesn't need as much attention as a toddler and she is able to help with small things.

I say it really depends on the age gap between 1 and 2 because parenting a toddler and a newborn is much much harder than a school aged child and a newborn. I don't know how people handle anything less than a 3 year age gap. My heart goes out to those parents.