When did you feel ready for 2nd DC

My first child was almost 7 years old before I felt like I could go through childbirth again , as that was the big thing putting it off. By that time I wasn't in the right circumstances.

Like a pp my next children were with a new partner after a much bigger gap.

DC is 6 and I'm still not ready so we're having an only!

Well, I'm ridiculous because I started discussing a second child 5 minutes after having DC1 placed into my arms. Not an easy delivery either, but I was so overwhelmed with love I was a but high.

There's 2 years between mine and that worked fine.

My baby slept through from 6wks and was a very happy baby that hardly ever cried. I still cldnt imagine doing it again while she was a baby. Although I did know that I wanted to do it again but not then.

I thought I cld handle a 2 1/2 yr age gap so only started trying around that time. Got pregnant very quickly and I have that age gap.

For us it was perfect my eldest was potty trained, dummy was gone and was in a big girl bed by time baby arrived.

I felt ready when DD1 had her second birthday and not before. She was a difficult baby though. Got pregnant very quickly so there is a 2 year 10 month gap. It’s worked well for us. Round about 3 years is by far the most popular age gap in my peer group. Added benefit is that the childcare funding started at that age meaning a break from toddler while on mat leave and a bit of help with fees when back at work.

We tried again when our eldest was 9 months old. We have an 18 month age to the day 😆 It's hard work with two toddlers now, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

@Surprisedbuthappy

I'm similar - 37. Hubby and I have agreed to not wait tbh, go directly into trying when I'm physically healed. If you're already 39 when you give birth I wouldn't wait around

I think it sounds perfectly normal, yes. I always wanted 2. But no way I would have wanted to have a 2nd after 9 months! We have a 5 year age gap, so I got pregnant shortly after my 1st turned 4 and was ready to start school in a few months.

That was an intentional decision. I wanted only 1 in nursery at a time and I wanted time to focus on my career before another mat leave. Also we wanted to get back to normal life and time for ourselves and hobbies and just being adults again before we had another baby to care for.

Always been very happy with that decision and the age gap has worked well.

Around 9 months - my first baby was easy, number 2 less so!!!

Around 18 months or maybe a bit before.

Obv you have to factor in time to conceive plus time being pregnant so you kind of have to predict what your child will be like once baby is here and take care of anything you need to beforehand. Eg sleep issues, potty training.

5 years. DD was 6 when her brother was born.
I was quite young when DD was born and I really wasn't prepared.
We coped but it was not as easy as SIL made it look and she had two with 9 months between them.
The age gap never mattered, and the kids are still very close now in their late 40's.

Ready or not - we wanted 3, all 13 month gap. My OH wanted 4 a few years later but we both agreed we could not afford 4 at the time so stayed with three. First child was when I was 22, best to get it over and done and when we reached 50 you can work out our children's ages and often when our children were younger, poeple that did not know us though we were siblings, lol

I'm currently pregnant with my first and worried about this as I'm already 39. If I want a second I won't have the luxury of time to leave it very long!

Not until DC1 was almost 2. And even then it wasn’t so much a case of feeling ready as knowing that sooner rather than later might be better as if we got too used to sleeping again we probably wouldn’t be able to handle the idea of a DC2.

Never DD has rarely slept through a night, too tired to even try making a baby let alone looking after another one.

After dd1 we were done. I had a terrible time after birth and nearly died in surgery due to placenta. We said we’re done.

7 years later we decided we wanted to do it again. I’d wanted another for years but we were struggling due to the worry I’d be ill again. Dd2 arrived at 29 weeks. Even though she was healthy, we’re definitely done this time. No more due to my body not being able to hold a pregnancy to term.

So it took us an 8 year age gap between our girls. I don’t regret it but we could have lost dd2 and I could have died both times. I can’t do it again with another. Sometimes I do wish they had a smaller age gap as dd1 grew up without a playmate but she loves dd2 fiercely so it’s not so bad. Dd1 has plenty of cousins her age so she wasn’t lonely.

I always knew I wanted more than one. Was ready by the time DS was 1. I got my period back properly around then so hormones probably kicked in to contribute!

DS was a good sleeper. If I'd had DD first who was more typical, i might have needed a couple of years before being ready to go again.

Im almost the opposite.

I was tepid about children.
We agreed to try but i upfront said i wasnt up for ivf or similar if we couldn't.
I was clear I'd probably only want 1
I disliked newborn phase, had a terrible time breast feeding which didnt help.

By the time DD was 10m/12m i was in awe of her, shes totally delightful. Toddlers are way better than newborns imo.

i KNEW i wanted a 2nd by then. Was happy to go through pregnancy and everything else inc fertility treatment 🤷🏻‍♀️ With a real certainty i never felt previously.

I wanted them close in age for me rather than them...maternal age and i dont want to "go back" to nappies weaning etc.
i think bigger gaps are cool too. Dh and i both have siblings with bigger gaps and it was fine.
You don't sound like you want a baby now - Personally I'd wait.

I wanted multiple kids all through pregnancy, newborn stage, 1 year mark... then we hit the toddler stage and yeesh - for several reasons now, we're actually considering being one and done. If we do have another though, we'll be waiting until they'd have at least a 4 year age gap. If I was a SAHM, I'd probably have them closer together though.

My son is 8 months old and I really want another one. I’ve been really broody pretty much since the second he was born. I’d love to get pregnant now but logically I know it isn’t the right time. DS is a very demanding baby who takes up all my time and attention. I know I would really struggle with two at the moment. We plan to start trying when he’s around two and aim for around a three year age gap. The thought process is that by then he’ll hopefully be able to tell us what he needs and we won’t have two screaming babies at the same time. I do think I’m going to struggle to wait that long though and the temptation to have another now is really strong.

When my dd was 7 months old, my DH asked if I'd like to start trying again and the thought genuinely filled me with dread and terror. I told him it was the last thing I wanted and could not imagine being ready for a long time.
A month later I was pregnant and had no idea.

I was absolutely devastated when I found out as I just wasn't ready and felt terrified of what life would be like with 2 under 18months but decided to go ahead with the pregnancy.

DD2 is 4.5 now and the light of our lives. She's the cuddliest, cheekiest, funniest little devil and I couldn't imagine life without her. I'm so glad I had the girls close in age because it didn't really feel like I was starting again.
I was still in the thick of sleepless nights, breastfeeding and nappies so adding another to all that wasn't such a jump.

I raise them like twins to be honest and they look pretty identical to anyone that isn't immediate family so it's easy.

I certainly didn't feel ready when I fell pregnant on the mini pill with DC2, when DC1 was nine months old. I can't say it was easy when they were younger, but they're 24 and 23 now, and get along fine.

When my DS was 9 months old I found out I was pregnant with DD1. They are 10 & 11 now and I love the age gap. I also love that their birthdays are spread out 6 months apart too.
I admit I did cry when I went to the hospital to have my second baby and having to leave my first. They fight like cat and dog (what sibling don't) but they wouldn't be without each other. DD2 is 6 so it a larger age gap though

I still don't feel ready for DC no.1 and they're turning 15 this year