Have the 3rd child. You soon will not have the opportunity and you don't want to have any regrets. I have 2 and would love one more, but age is now a factor.

Single mom with one child. Would have liked at least one more if I wasn't doing it alone. Thought a lot about one more on my own but then also had some family illnesses that distracted me for a period. Also hard financially.

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 (and the under 9 comment makes me laugh because i had 3 under 4 years old at the beginning). I would have liked to have a 4th but i was too old.

I have three too. And mine were 3 under 3 in the beginning. I laughed at that 3 under 9 too. I also think the pp who said kids who are more exhausting as they get older I nuts. Mine are now 3,5and 5. It is so much much easier than it was three years ago.

To answer the original op. I wouldn't change a thing. Sometimes I wish we had a 4th, but most of the time I'm happy with three.

Pattern seems to be people are happy with the number of kids they had except moms with only one who couldnt have another or chose not to because of less-than-ideal circumstances.

I have 3 (and the under 9 comment makes me laugh because i had 3 under 4 years old at the beginning). I would have liked to have a 4th but i was too old.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three and yes, I would do it again. I did not find it that difficult to go from one to two and from two to three, so that wasn't a consideration. (Zero to one was where everything changed). I love how my kids are all very close and I love having experienced all of the different stages with three very different personalities. Unlike PP with just one, no I can't pay for expensive private schools for all of my kids, but I have been able to provide them with plenty of activities, experiences and supplemental services (tutoring and the like) when necessary. I've also been able to pay for state schools for all of them. I had always wanted three kids and I am sure I would have regretted stopping at two.

Did you work full time all throughout their childhoods? I couldn't have continued to work full time if I'd gone for a third, and my career is very important to me (especially now when we're facing college bills!).

Yes, I worked full time and even got a few promotions. I did stop doing things like public speaking and publishing, but by the time I did, I had sort of tired of it. Also, at one point encore kids, I had a job with a lot of travel. After kids I wouLdnt have looked for that type of work. The only time I took off was the FMLA leave and I didn't always use the entire time.

Everyone is different. I had my one and only at age 40. Before that, I had no interest in being a mom. I knew if I ever had a child, I could only handle one. DH and I like to travel a lot, we both have intense careers, we send her to private, and I knew more than one child would alter our lifestyle too much. Yes, call me selfish!

That said, I worried a lot about her being an only, being lonely, not having siblings, etc. If I hadn't been so old (we did fertility treatments to have our only) I probably would have had another just so she wouldn't be alone after we're gone! As it turned out, she is absolutely THRILLED that she has no siblings - every time we talked about adopting a second child she protested wildly! She is really a happy, content child and I wouldn't change anything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three and yes, I would do it again. I did not find it that difficult to go from one to two and from two to three, so that wasn't a consideration. (Zero to one was where everything changed). I love how my kids are all very close and I love having experienced all of the different stages with three very different personalities. Unlike PP with just one, no I can't pay for expensive private schools for all of my kids, but I have been able to provide them with plenty of activities, experiences and supplemental services (tutoring and the like) when necessary. I've also been able to pay for state schools for all of them. I had always wanted three k8, ids and I am sure I would have regretted stopping at two.

Did you work full time all throughout their childhoods? I couldn't have continued to work full time if I'd gone for a third, and my career is very important to me (especially now when we're facing college bills!).

not the PP but - After my first, at 38, I went part time and stayed PT with my second, who's now 4. One's in a private K-8, and the other may go public. It depends on his personality. But both will attend public high school. Two is perfect for me, as my first is a girl and the second is a boy.

It's what makes you happy really. I have no regrets.

Anonymous wrote:I have three and yes, I would do it again. I did not find it that difficult to go from one to two and from two to three, so that wasn't a consideration. (Zero to one was where everything changed). I love how my kids are all very close and I love having experienced all of the different stages with three very different personalities. Unlike PP with just one, no I can't pay for expensive private schools for all of my kids, but I have been able to provide them with plenty of activities, experiences and supplemental services (tutoring and the like) when necessary. I've also been able to pay for state schools for all of them. I had always wanted three kids and I am sure I would have regretted stopping at two.

Did you work full time all throughout their childhoods? I couldn't have continued to work full time if I'd gone for a third, and my career is very important to me (especially now when we're facing college bills!).

Kids get MORE exhausting as they (and you!) get older. It's not just the exhaustion of the newborn stage. We stopped at 2 - the kids are now 11 and 13 - and I'm thrilled we didn't have another.

I have three and yes, I would do it again. I did not find it that difficult to go from one to two and from two to three, so that wasn't a consideration. (Zero to one was where everything changed). I love how my kids are all very close and I love having experienced all of the different stages with three very different personalities. Unlike PP with just one, no I can't pay for expensive private schools for all of my kids, but I have been able to provide them with plenty of activities, experiences and supplemental services (tutoring and the like) when necessary. I've also been able to pay for state schools for all of them. I had always wanted three kids and I am sure I would have regretted stopping at two.

I have one child and had I been younger or more financially sound - I would definitely have liked two. But circumstances were such - that it just didn't happen that way.

I had my third at age 39 and feel that for me it was the right decision. I will admit, however, that the first few years were tough with three under age 9. Things get much easier when the last one is out of diapers and everyone is in school at least part-time.

I have one and would have had another if we could have afforded it. We wanted private school and private college ...so we couldn't send 2. It doesn't bother me not to have more than one. My vote would be to save your resources for the 2 you have unless you and your husband have a trust fund or substantially paid job.

I'm 38 and trying to figure out whether or not to go for a 3rd kid. (We have a 5 yo and a 2.5 yo). I don't feel like I could handle a baby right now, but I wonder if I will look back with regret if I don't go for it (assuming, of course, we could have a #3). Looking for some wisdom from those who've already been there... If you did it again, would you have the same number of kids?