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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Having kids 3-4 years apart in age
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Anonymous
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Mine are almost 4 years apart (not by choice). The benefits are that older one was potty trained and very self-sufficient when #2 came along. He was never jealous and tries to help. They do play together some. The only downside I have found so far is with activities. I envy those Mom's who can take their kids to swim and soccer classes together. And also although it is nice we don't have to pay for 2 preschools at the same time, it will be 3 1/2 years before we will get them in the same school.
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Anonymous
| Count me in as someone who is having two close together because of the age at which I started having children. We never really focused on the ideal spacing because we knew we wanted three and had to just keep going at it to get there before I turned 40. |
Anonymous
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My brother and I are almost four years apart as are my husband and his sister - both sets of siblings super close!
Absolutely ridiculous to think that spacing determines sibling relationships - as if two years is some magic number. Totally agree with the poster who said psychologically a three year old can handle a sibling better. FWIW - the World Health Organization recommends that women wait 18 months between pregnancies, and in both the government's Healthy People 2010 and Healthy People 2020 objectives (which are goals set for the health of the nation), a minimum of 18 months between pregnancies is recommended. Obviously you can have healthy pregnancies sooner, but that is the time determined to give your body the optimal chance of recovering. The fact is, it comes down to circumstances for a lot of people. I know some SAHMs who want to get back into the workforce so tried or are trying to space their kids a bit closer together. And I know working moms who don't want two under two because of daycare cost issues. These are not insignificant issues for many people. And of course, there are the unplanned pregnancies and the pregnancies that took longer than expected....some things are just not up to us. |