Experiences with having 5 children

[MakeMineADouble81]

I have 4 DC ages 7,5,3 and 6 mths. I love having 4 so much that I am considering a 5th. I am 37 so time is not on my side and will need to TTC sooner rather than later if we decide to go ahead. What are people's experience with having 5 children both negative and positive?

Thanks in advance!!

[Bigfathairyones]

I only have 3 and now that mine are all teenage, the costs have just shot through the roof, even more so than before. Be realistic as to how much money you would need to feed, clothe, school trip, Uni fees (if relevant) etc. 6 adults costs.

[MakeMineADouble81]

Thanks for your response. Luckily, money is not an issue. Although I do know circumstances can change so I'm definitely considering the financial side of things!!

[clarrylove]

My friend did this, she ended up with a multiple pregnancy as I believe that is more common as you get older. Would that be OK?

[Bigfathairyones]

OP I'd say go for it then. If I could have afforded it I would have had 4. x

[CarmineStarman]

OP, I have 5DC (3 step DC who we have full time and then younger twins). Ages 8,7,4, 9months, 9 months. (I'm 44, btw) It is very busy around here and you need to be quite organised to ensure that everything is done on time but if you have the money to provide for it then it's definitely manageable. Had I not had step DC, I would not have had so many of my own but I love things the way they are.

It's worth pointing out that my job allows me to work at home a lot during school holidays, else we'd have far more outgoing expenses and would probably be far less happy.

[CarmineStarman]

(I'm 44 btw)
Meant to say 43, getting ahead of myself here

[NoShitHemlock]

I am the eldest of 5 (just for a different perspective).

Some of the bad points: lots and lots of arguments (that's my shirt / bike / cup etc etc); hand me downs (but not to me )

Some of the good points: there is always a mediator (you wouldnt get that with just 2); instant best friends; always someone to play with; as you get older there is always someone to go to the pub/club/cinema with

Now I am all growed up (50 is the next biggie) and we all have our own lives, some of our best times are when we are together with our partners and kids.

If you want another one OP, then you should have one - there is always enough love to go around

[Soontobe60]

I, in the other hand, am one of 5 children with similar age gaps as yours. I am the middle child.
As a direct result of my family, I decided to have no more than 2 children. My parents could manage really well with us, but looking back I could see that they never had time for themselves although none of us were any trouble really.
I just grew up feeling that my parents didn't have time for us as individuals. Having lot some of money doesn't alter that. Time isn't something that you can buy more of.
I also honestly believe that we shouldn't be producing more than one child per person as the planet is already struggling to sustain its current population. Again, that's not something money can buy your way out of. You've got 4 children, you're happy, they are happy, stick with that.

[Needadvices]

I would say if you have 4 a fifth wont male a huge difference 😉

[MakeMineADouble81]

Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate the different perspectives.

[MakeMineADouble81]

My DH is one of 6 and loved being part of a big family. Some of his siblings have followed suit while others have stuck with 1 child. I think it's personality dependant. I agree that individual one on one time should be a factor for consideration though.

As far as population control, I am hopefully producing tax paying citizens who will help shoulder the economic burden of our aging population.

[MakeMineADouble81]

Sorry I was trying to reply to Soontobe60's comment!!

[CanAnyMother]

OP - slightly off topic but how do you manage to have time with the MM as individuals? I have two, always wanted four, now scared about trying for another because I am already worried about not having enough time for them, myself and my partner. We are in the fortunate position of being able to afford help, but nonetheless as pp said - it doesn’t buy more time!

Would love to know how people do it.

[Soontobe60]

OP, my sister also had 5 children, whilst my eldest sister only had 2, and my brothers had 1 and 0 children. Interestingly the sister with 5 has a totally different perspective on her childhood than me!

My point on having fewer children isn't about financial costs, it's about the cost placed on the planet in terms of resources: food production, CO2 emissions, dealing with waste we all generate. If each of my siblings had replicated our family and so on down the generations, in 2 more generations this would produce 155 offspring over a very short time.
I know it's easy for me to be so 'eco warrior' about this as I have only got 2 children and my sister with 5 children has a totally different viewpoint. Having children is usually a very considered emotional decision to make.

[Frazzled2207]

I'm with @Soontobe60 I'm afraid. In this day and age having lots of children is environmentally pretty irresponsible. I have 2 and DH and I struggle a bit with that tbh but at least we're not leaving the planet with more people than ourselves. Obviously people are allowed to have as many children as they want but please do consider the environmental argument.

Each of your children will most likely drive a car, eat a LOT of food in their lifetime (which will become more and more scarce btw), use up an enormous amount of resources generally. The carbon footprint of every single individual living in the developed nations is staggering.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/give-up-having-children-couples-save-planet-climate-crisis?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

[Frazzled2207]

Btw the comments in that article are at the "extreme" end of things and I don't necessarily agree with them but its a good article just to explain the point I'm making

[Ohfuhfoxsake]

I have four and would have had a fifth. But I’m now glad I didn’t.

But the PP who said about costs shooting up is absolutely right. Mine are 11 - 17 and I am constantly shelling out, activities, food (dear god, the food bill!) We’ve got to a point where we have years of big exams, studying, girlfriends, boyfriends, going out, staying out, drinking, learning to drive, getting jobs, all whilst making decisions about subjects, colleges, universities, or working.

The practicalities of post-puberty children have hit me hard. But I am a single parent now, and it’s tough.

I got a dog instead.

[Ohfuhfoxsake]

And there’s never just the five of us. There’s usually an extra one or two. I have an extra four this evening for dinner. Most weekends there’s between 1-4 extra people sleeping over.

[DaphneduM]

I would imagine you will go ahead. However you're at the 'easy' stage with your children at present at they're all under ten. Good luck with the teenage years. I echo other posters, however, personally I find it totally irresponsible to have that many children these days. Your financial circumstances are irrelevant, the cost to the planet isn't.

[stucknoue]

Remember they will all need university costs paid! Even if money is ok now, circumstances change so unless you are sitting on a multi million pound trust fund I hope you have very good insurance. H's leave u expectedly because they "want other things" people get sick, ... don't want to sound negative but 4 is a lot of kids already for the planet.

[Ohfuhfoxsake]

I should add I really love it, but I just never imagined it.

I thought, by having four close together, I was getting the hard bit out of the way .

[TrySinging]

We have 5 DC (17,14, 12, 9, 5). Personally, it's too hard! Although our 5th DC is really pretty easy going, going from 4 to 5 was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, in terms of being able to keep on top of everything and also my body recovering. She also ends up being left out as DC1 and 2 pair up and so do 3 and 4. None of our DC have any health issues, but I lived in fear during my pregnancy with DC5 as I felt like I was gilding the lily.

[Apparentlychilled]

I'm the 3rd of 5 and we are all very close in age (biggest gap is under 2 years). Even though money wasn't a concern and my parents had lots of help, I was very aware that there wasn't really much time for my parents to spend with each of us, unless there was some kind of crisis. Of the 5 of us, none of us have more than 3 kids. In your situation, I'd get a dog.

[TeddyIsaHe]

In 10 years time there is going to be catastrophic damage to the planet if we don’t do something radical and very soon. Do you really want to be adding another child into the mix? How are you going to manage becoming as carbon neutral as possible in the mean time?

This isn’t scaremongering btw, there’s a comprehensive report www.ipcc.ch/ here. Read this before you even consider burdening the planet with anymore children. Think of the kids you already have, surely you want them to be able to grow and flourish into tax paying citizens? They can’t do that if they don’t have a planet to live on.

[TrySinging]

Would also like to say that I wish people going on about the planet would just piss off. They must all live perfect, guilt-free existences, leaving no carbon footprint behind them and all have sizeable private pensions . I will concede the time thing though. There really isn't enough time to go round, unless you are willing to give up pursuing any personal interests.