To ask for the positives of only having one child?

I love only having one. Our house has always been calm and peaceful, DD feels loved and secure with plenty of attention and no sibling rivalry. We didn't have tantrums at two or teen moods, just a great relationship and we love her company and always have. She's always been great with adults because that was her experience at home and she's always been able to converse easily with adults. Our bond feels closer than the bonds I see my friends have where their time is split between several children, refereeing arguments, juggling bedtimes when they're little and issues when they're teens. It's just been easy for us at every stage. I think having one is the reason. Or maybe we're just very lucky!

The only children we know seem generally more confident and mature than their peers. I would guess the percentage of adult conversation builds maturity and full parental attention contributes to feeling self assured/outgoing.

Also means more time for clubs and facilitating friendships out of school.

Loads! I also would’ve liked a second, but decided to draw a line after a number of traumatic losses. DS is now 8 and life is great, it’s so easy with one. Travelling is easy, hotel rooms etc are perfectly fine for 3 but a squeeze for 4. No arguments to break up. When he was younger he demanded more attention but now he’s older he amuses himself happily and we get to actually chill out at weekends. There’s only one of him so he can do pretty much anything he wants extracurricular/activity wise as no competing demands on time or money. And he’s used to spending lots of time around adults so people always comment on how confident, sociable and articulate he is. One has SO many advantages!

I have 5 DC and feel so jealous of parents with an only child! It looks so lovely and calm and not overwhelming like my life. On the rare occasion I have 1-on-1 time with one of mine I love it so much! Enjoy it.

We have one and constantly our friends with 2 (about 75% of the couples we know) say how hard it is, the siblings are mostly at ages 0-6 and at the moment none of them are close (I realise thing may change as they’re older). They all fight relentlessly, my child’s friends moan to him about the fact they can’t do what he does as they have younger siblings etc so can’t spend mornings at the skate ramps/ have Lego toys on display their baby siblings break etc etc. Of course these are trivial things that only 6 year olds would moan about. In terms of the parents it’s the years of back to back no sleep/ tantrums etc/ pregnancy toll on the body, nursery fees. From the outside it does not look fun for at least the first 6 years! Of course they have their moments but seeing the snippets I don’t regret being only able to have one (it’s now not a choice I have to have more). We can provide much more time and obviously things like clubs and extracurricular activities than our friends stretched with nursery fees still. We go on holidays more frequently and feel like we all get quality time together without having to divide and conquer with each parent dealing with a sibling each. We have more options with putting savings away for him and for the future than we’d have saving for two.

Of course every family is different, I’m sure there are families with two that say it’s the best thing ever. But I wouldn’t beat yourself up over something you can’t change. There’s always silver linings to every circumstance and it’s more how you see things.

One and done not by choice also.

I don’t have to share my money or attention, he can have all of it. I’m careful to cultivate cousin relationships and friends because he’ll need them when I’m gone.

I have one child and very happy with that decision. I can afford things I couldn’t afford with more than one and I don’t have to deal with sibling squabbles! He also has close relationships with his cousins and friends so I don’t think he feels like he is missing out too much at this point but of course he may feel differently when he is older.

I am one and done (not through choice) and yes there was a phase where I mourned not having another child but honestly as DS gets older I really enjoy having one child.

Our time and attention is not stretched, less financial strain, generally easier to keep on top of things. He's so much fun to hang out with and it's just lovely really.

You get your time back. We have 2 and while DC1 is starting to get independent and give me an hour or so 'off' dc2 is relentless and it'll be a long time before I get some time on my own.

Everything is also cheaper, you can have a smaller house, smaller car, cheaper holidays. You can provide for DC1 better like covering uni fees and inheritance. You have more time for DC1 to support with school work and generally time with you.