My aunt actually did this, though it wasn’t planned. Had a kid at 20, 30 and 40. While there are some pros and all the adult children get along I would definitely not do this intentionally.

I know a family that did just that. The first kid in college, then the second when they both finished dental school, and finally the third in their first early 40s. It worked out ok for them.

38 years of active parenting? No way.

No. Why would anyone do this?

My sister did this. She had a boy while in college, she was 19 and married the guy. They then has two girls, one in their late 20s and the other right after she turned 40. I would not do it of course but they seem to enjoy these large gaps. Every kid has gotten a lot of undivided attention and the older ones are so awesome with their younger siblings and have great relationships with them.

Nope. My siblings and I are 5 and 6 years apart and I feel we are 3 only kids so didn’t want my kids to be more than 3 years apart

Anonymous wrote:This is a bizarre post. Would anyone actually choose this on purpose? I don’t think so.

I actually kind of get the appeal of the hypothetical. There are people who would like to have multiple kids but feel forced into a compressed timeline because of their age or career or whatever. My mom specifically wanted a larger gap (4+ years) to avoid having two in diapers at once. From what I observe in the DMV, people have kids too late in life to make that happen. But people (like me) who dislike the baby stage -- or people who want to avoid paying $$$ for two in daycare at the same time -- may find a large gap appealing.

It's pretty common in second marriages to have kids heavily spaced out. No big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always think that would’ve been interesting. At least two of them would be in separate generations from one another. I also think I would’ve developed a lot of parenting wisdom.

You would also never sleep, and probably die early.

No and haha!

Hell no! I was 11 years older than my sibling and I resented it. I always wanted a close in age sibling like my friends had. Sibling and I have never had anything in common and don't speak now that we're older (nothing bad happened, just moved away).

I have 2 that are 10 years apart. I had DS at 30 and DD at 40. They are both very easy kids and it has worked out wonderfully for us.

Lots of people do this unintentionally. My sister had her first kid at 20 or 21 and now 40 years later she’s still parenting, raising her preteen grandson. She had to do much of the raising of her first grandson too, at least the first half decade or so until that daughter figured herself out. This second grandson is hers legally and always since that kid’s mom is a drug addict more than a decade now and relinquished parental rights to her folks.

The moral of the story is that if you mess up enough with the first kids you’ll likely end up with theirs at some point so you can parent your entire adult life and never get a break. Sister still carries all three adult kids financially and is landlord to two of them as well.

Parenting joy!

My parents had two rounds: me and my older bro (2 yrs apart) then 6 years later, little bro and sis (4 yes apart). Cons included that I was not patented as a an adolescent but I sure loved getting a little sister as a 10 year old. And she’s my favorite now too.

This is a bizarre post. Would anyone actually choose this on purpose? I don’t think so.

Well I didn't have my first until 32 anyway so I guess I couldn't do that. But I don't think I'd do 3 at 10 years apart. Maybe 2 at 10 years apart and then wait for a grandbaby as the next one. Being pregnant and having a baby later in life does not sound fun, I'm counting down the days until retirement as it is!