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[quote=Anonymous]My kids are 6 years and 1 month apart - ages 7 and 1, both girls. The first year was hard because of how demanding and exhausting newborns are but ODD was so sweet, helpful and amazing with the baby. Yes babies are pretty boring so she wasn't engaged for very long, but it was so helpful to have a mostly self sufficient older child who was not needy and you can totally reason with (mommy need to feed the baby now but will come play with you in 10 mins). There wasn't really any jealousy, but I do feel bad that ODD got 100% of the attention and it probably dropped to like 30-40% once the baby was here for the first 6 months.

Now that the baby is 1 and more mobile plus on a schedule, it's a bit more challenging logistically. Baby does not nap well in the car or stroller and tends to melt down when over tired, so it can be hard to drag her along to activities if she is going to be a disaster. DH and I previously loved to do things as a family - so we would all do activities together. Now we have to divide and conquer very often and I miss being able to all be together. We also had a lot of freedom to stay out late with ODD when traveling, visiting family and friends, etc... and that is hard since again, the baby needs to sleep and just is not so go with the flow anymore.

Those are the main negatives, but there are so many more positives. It's truly amazing to see the love these sisters have for one another already and it's nice to be in two different ages/phases at one time. The baby is such a sweetheart and really completes our family in a way we never knew we wanted. We are so much more confident and relaxed as parents the second time around and I am so happy we had the chance to do it all over again. Given how independent our 6yo has become - she is in school most of the day, then at activities, going to friends' houses, etc... I was starting to get a little sad before we had #2 that this was it - DH and I often found ourselves alone after being devoted to a kid around the clock for 5+ years and we were not quite ready to be done with the baby/toddler phase, as crazy as that sounds.[/quote]

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