First of all I am so excited for you and your husband to have such a wonderful family. Each family and each situation is different. I have 5 children and they are grown now. They were spaced 3/2 years and then 13 months, then 3/1/2 years approximately. On the 3rd child I remember nursing him and reading to the others. I also remember I needed lots of husband support. I also know we survived, learned a lot of lessons and my children learned that they had to wait their turn. We adjusted as a family of 5 and did well until the next one arrived and then we had to adjust again. As the children grew older and we could talk about it and continued to make adjustments to our life situations we worked together, learned a lot and have a wonderful relationship. God has a plan for you, your husband and these wonderful children. I am praying for you. It is sooooooo worth it.

Yes around 2-3 months

Same age spread. I thought it wasn’t too bad until the youngest started walking. I found age 1-2 way worse than the early weeks.

You don't remember the first few months of hard times with the older ones because hormones + sleep deprivation is either God or evolution's way of tricking you into having more kids.

It really does get better, but on the newborn's schedule. 2-3 months, maybe?

One thing that really helped us with our closer-spaced four is to get the older kids involved as much as possible in taking care of "their" baby. A three and a half year old is more than capable of fetching and doing all sorts of things - some of which you actually need, and some of which are make-work - and it sets them up as having a proprietary interest in their brother.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what your husband's age has to do with anything?

The snark against stressed-out new mother OP seems rather uncalled for, but to answer your question: genetic load increases with paternal age, and energy drops. Oldness isn't just an issue on the distaff side.

Are you pumping or breast feeding? I would say if. you are strictly pumping, just go for the formula, give your self the freedom. 3 yr olds are very difficult, take away mommy time because of a new baby and they are even harder. Give it time. Congrats on the baby

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind with 3 it wont get easier. By the time the baby is 6 you are managing 2 then 3 sets of activities. Hopefully you already thought about that.

Oh get bent. I have three and my youngest is about to be six

It's so much easier now than when I had a crazy preschooler a stubborn toddler and a fussy baby who would only sleep on my chest.

And you know what- it's really ok to limit their activities. Your kid is t going to get a Division I soccer scholarship anyway so let them do one thing a week each and keep it moving

Even with 1 activity each you are looking at 3 to 9 things a week. Doesn't leave much time for anything else unless you are a SAHM.

I work FT. DS has martial arts (brown belt) twice a week, DD has gymnastics once a week and the youngest has soccer class once a week.

That's what I mean by limiting. We dont do a soccer team for DC b.c if you've ever seen a game of six year olds all they do is surround the ball. The class is teaching him skills and when he understands enough to actually pass and play strategy then he can join a team.

Basically club soccer now is what travel teams used to be when my brother did them. He can run around our yard the other two days a week instead of pointless drills that suck the joy out of the game.

And DD isnt going to go to the Olympics so once a week is fine. She doesn't want to compete.

Executive summary: dont go psycho with over scheduling your kids and you can make it work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind with 3 it wont get easier. By the time the baby is 6 you are managing 2 then 3 sets of activities. Hopefully you already thought about that.

Oh get bent. I have three and my youngest is about to be six

It's so much easier now than when I had a crazy preschooler a stubborn toddler and a fussy baby who would only sleep on my chest.

And you know what- it's really ok to limit their activities. Your kid is t going to get a Division I soccer scholarship anyway so let them do one thing a week each and keep it moving

Even with 1 activity each you are looking at 3 to 9 things a week. Doesn't leave much time for anything else unless you are a SAHM.

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind with 3 it wont get easier. By the time the baby is 6 you are managing 2 then 3 sets of activities. Hopefully you already thought about that.

Oh get bent. I have three and my youngest is about to be six

It's so much easier now than when I had a crazy preschooler a stubborn toddler and a fussy baby who would only sleep on my chest.

And you know what- it's really ok to limit their activities. Your kid is t going to get a Division I soccer scholarship anyway so let them do one thing a week each and keep it moving

Keep in mind with 3 it wont get easier. By the time the baby is 6 you are managing 2 then 3 sets of activities. Hopefully you already thought about that.

My kids are about the same spread as yours. I think 3 months was the first change, then 6-9 months and the baby just hit 1 and I feel like we’re getting back to normal. I will say 2 to 3 was so much easier than 1 to 2! Congratulations - enjoy it!

Depends on your kids. If you get an easy baby who sleeps well and doesn’t cry much, it will get easier/you can find a stride around 3 months. If you get a difficult baby/bad sleeper then who knows...Age 4-5? Never?

My third just turned 2 and it is getting a little easier. I’m hindsight, it was easy when she was a newborn. She slept all the time and was happy being held or being in a stroller.