Shall we go from 2 to 3?

@foxyroxy We just did 2-3 - my kids are 6, 3.5, and 5 months. It has been a good transition mostly because I got a generous (for the US) maternity leave and we have a great au pair. The older girls adore the new baby (they do fight with each other though). I'm a little worried about when they all start activities because my six year old already does dance, gymnastics and piano and three year old is in dance and gymnastics too, and shuttling them around especially on weeknights after work can be hard. Definitely try to find the cheap activities close to home!

I also recommend a bigger age gap between 2-3, it has been helpful that my middle was potty trained and oldest was in kindergarten before the third was born.
 
@foxyroxy I’m early in my 3 kid journey; I have a 4, 2, and 7 month old. Transitioning from 1 to 2 was way harder than 2 to 3. I already had all the stuff I needed from my last two kids. I felt like a seasoned mom that could juggle and let go of the small stuff. But, it’s still very hard! I don’t regret it as I always knew I wanted more than 2. Our third completes us and her two older siblings adore her. I wanted to make sure my kids had more power in numbers when me and my husband are gone. I have a great village (mom helps us monthly, sister and BIL both help daily) and I still find it hard. I personally refuse to leave the house solo with all three kids at these ages. I’m only willing to take 2 out of the 3 so that usually means I need someone to watch a kid or I will have to wait until someone can watch all three of I need to take care of something with no kids. People are usually more hesitant to watch all 3 kids versus only watching 2. So summary, pros: transition is easy since we had 2 kids, more love/fun dynamic, siblings will have each other when you are gone. Cons: more thought into logistics of going places, finding babysitting for more kids is difficult, money/resources.
 
@clanofails Seconding the babysitters piece! The transition from 2-3 has been so easy for us but we definitely have struggled to find sitters… I find myself almost feeling guilty asking someone to watch all 3, even though we pay them generously!

That said- go for it! 🙃
 
@foxyroxy Hardest part about 3 vs 2 is that they outnumber you as parents. It’s not super terrible, especially if you have one child older like your oldest would likely be 4 or possibly 5 when you have #3. Once they are in the preschool stage they seem to be so much more helpful. It’s not that difficult honestly. We have 6, 4 bio and 2 that we have custody of that have lived with us for a year. My youngest is 9 and I was so beyond happy to be done with diapers after nearly a decade of having at least one baby in diapers. Having them close together doesn’t feel like you are starting from square one like larger age gaps.
 
@baxter006 Right! Yes, I can totally see that. I get it on the diaper front too. I'm already 35 so while not wanting to rush into 3, also feel like if we're going to do it I'd rather be done changing diapers by 40 (which would be 10 years of diapers for me)
 
@foxyroxy We just had our third 3 months ago … my other two are 5 and 3.5 - he has slotted right in and it has been a joy to see them interact . I am glad we also have a bigger age gap between 2 and 3 as my 3 year old is so much more independent … my first two are 20 ml the apart . While I am loving it now, the first year was hard
 
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