Would you have had another child?

We have three. Having them I confess was totally driven by my biological urges - DH already had a son, and we were broke.

Back then I would have loved to have kept on having babies - there's something about that total dependency and love from your tiny ones that is addictive. But I did have to get sensible at some point! We had no space and no money.

If we were in the position then that we are in now, I think we might have considered a 4th.

Yes. Have one and would have liked another but I'm a walking gynae/obstetric disaster area and it didn't happen.

I have 2 and would love a third, but I was diagnosed with premature menopause when DC2 was 12 months, so no more babies. It breaks my heart that the choice has been taken away.

We have 2 and the finances to support more, and I breezed through pregnancy and childbirth, but DH had had the snip and I'm happy with our family size. I love the interaction between our dcs but we need to tag team a lot of the time to support different interests, and two children work perfectly with two adults. I like that they can access all the activities they are each interested in, without having to compromise. I find it quite a burden as it is to keep up with school reminders and tasks for activities, I would find it overwhelming with more than 2!

With more dcs we'd have to outsource a lot of domestic and household tasks but I'm not keen on that as I'm a very private person. Plus I like being very hands-on with the dcs (eg helping with homework, watching them while they do sports and music, doing bathtimes and bed). No amount of money can make you be in two places at once!

I have 2. I might have had more if I was younger, had a more supportive partner, had easier pregnancies and births. All of these 3 things are deal breakers on their own but together are very final.

If I had been 10 years younger I would like to have left a gap of 5 years and then had a third.

We would have gone for another. We have 2 together, but my husband has two from a previous marriage, that although now are adults, were tweens when we met and hence still needed space in our house. We were also older when we met so although i was only 34 and 35 when we had our two, my husband was 40/41. If he didn't have other children and we had met in our 20's i think we would have had a 3rd. Thats a lot of 'ifs' though!

I think we'd have had another if we were 5 or 10 years younger. As it is we were 39 and 46 when DS was born and now with a 2 year old we don't have enough energy for newborn again or to have a newborn and a toddler!

I have two. I could probably afford another and part of me does like the idea of having three but I can't face being pregnant again, and I'm not sure I have the energy to parent three as well as I'd want to.

Absolutely, I think changing the family dynamic is also a big part of it, isn't it? DS is very chilled, but DD is quite a handful even at this age. I don't think she'd cope well, and I also know how tired it makes me. Physically I might also be a bit fucked, I had a bad delivery last time and hurt my tailbone and pelvis, so I'd worry about being able to do stuff with the older two if I damaged myself further. Plus the bedsharing and breastfeeding - tired and touched out me wouldn't be half as fun as rested and relaxed me.

Have two - happy with two. I struggled with my mental health when mine were babies/toddlers and wouldn't go through it again, and that's before you even get to thinking about the cost of having three.

I know exactly what you mean. DS is 8 and DD is 4 and a half, and I just can't imagine those stressful times again. So many lovely memories! But I absolutely haven't forgotten the pacing of floors and sleepless nights teething, allergies...nappies! It's like life is finally evening out a bit, isn't it?

Yeah it's funny I am only mid 30s, completely technically possible for me to have another child, but I talk about it like it's an impossibility. For me the time to decide whether to have another was when we were in the throes of the pre school years, it is unfathomable to me to that we would consider it now, even if we won the lottery. My focus is on my teens, I don't think it's fair to transport them to that stage of life, it's a completely different family dynamic.

No, 2 is enough.

Currently pregnant with my second and absolutely confident it’s my last. We have the space for at least one more and could make the finances work but I’m done!

I hate being pregnant and it has caused me some fairly serious health issues which means I wouldn’t put myself through another pregnancy. I also find the baby stage very hard and unrewarding. If I could have the kids handed to me at about 18 months (when they get good imo) I might consider more, but I’m not up for making any more myself or raising any babies after this one.

I also think I will be a much better mother to two than I would be to three in terms of my own patience, mental health and emotional resources.

Yes a would if I had met my now dh younger, our dc were adults when we met and if it was even 5 years earlier perhaps we could have (I'd have only been early 40's) but the time we had been together 3 years, bought a house etc it wasn't smart to even think about it

I know exactly what you mean. DS is 8 and DD is 4 and a half, and I just can't imagine those stressful times again. So many lovely memories! But I absolutely haven't forgotten the pacing of floors and sleepless nights teething, allergies...nappies! It's like life is finally evening out a bit, isn't it?

I had 3 but if I'm brutally honest, that was one too many. I was only 22 with my first and the other two followed quite quickly which has probably influenced my opinion on it.

I was sterilized at 28 which I had to go abroad for. If I had my time again I'm not sure I'd have any. But that's just me, everybody is different.

I had 3; always wanted 6. Threw in the towel after 3 because of the toll the pregnancies had taken on my body, my spine in particular.

I have three. I stopped feeling a burning desire for more after my third, but if I had loads of money so we'd have a bigger house and garden, DH wouldn't work at all, I'd work a couple of days a week, we'd have cleaners every day, gardeners, people to outsource all maintenance to etc then I'd probably have a couple more.

So money, really. And enough money to effectively buy more time. But I'm very happy with what I have. Just that if I had celeb level money I can see why you keep having more.

Nope - one and done.

Have the money and resources but really don't want another one.

Exactly the same for me!

I would have liked 3 but we'll probably stick with 2. I find 2 easier then 1, because they "dilute" each other - it's hard to explain but I'm not their focus, I'm just the referee and that makes things much easier for me. I'm not sure how a third would slot into that picture though, and this "diluting" effect may just be my children's personalities. Some of my DC's friends seem to require a lot more parental input (and no, it's not the only children). A "needy" third child, for want of a better word, would make life quite difficult for us all, as I already feel the two I have don't always get enough attention although they rub along well enough.

I've also come across a couple of really outrageous instances lately of the older children in a family being used to take care of the younger ones. One teen being expected to do school pick up and make dinner everyday to save on after-school childcare costs. Although I'd never do that, I think in large families some part of the burden does fall on the older siblings. I'm uncomfortably aware that sometimes I do rely on my older one to entertain the younger one - they seem happy to play together but I'd hate that to become an expectation.

I have three, twins with second pregnancy. I would have stopped at two but didn’t have the choice! Absolutely no more!

I feel the same, it is very strange!

Yes I probably would have had a third if we had had enough money for a bigger house in the same area.

Without a doubt!
We have 3. Youngest 6 months.
We will (Lord willing) be trying for our 4th someday, irrespective of finances.
But I wish we had more so that I didn't have to worry about the decision. If we had more money it would have been an easier, hassle free decision. We'd love to have 5 or even 6 and if finances weren't an issue we wouldn't have to work so hard to make it work.
I think that's why celebs like Angelina jolie and Blake lively have more kids, they can afford it, they can hire help it's just all around easier.