To think two under two is exhausting and crazy?

My DC are exactly 2 years and 2 days apart. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, it was hard work but now they’re bigger, they play fantastically together. My sister has DC 4 years apart and they are on totally different wavelengths and NEVER play together, so, for me in that respect, it was worth it having them close in age.

I had 2 under 2 (18 months between them) I planned it that way and yes it was exhausting sometimes but they napped at the same time, liked very similar toys (DS1 has a disability), enjoyed the same kind of activities. They’ve stayed pretty close and are now young adults again going through the same life stages. My sister and I are even closer in age and are also still really close.

I suppose for me it's not about the sleep, more about the second set of nappies and danger baby. U know u can't leave for 2 seconds because they up to no gd.

We have a 2.5yr age gap. I was so glad she was out of nappies, dummy had also been gone a while and she was in a big girl bed. She cld speak well and I cld leave her for a few minutes to sort out the baby.

If it had been 6months or more prior to that then none of that wld have been possible.

Pregnancy is hard with another kid around and I imagine there wld be a lot more lifting of eldest child if it were under 2.

Once eldest got to 5 it was a lot easier and now they are 7 and 5. They play together have same interests so it makes life easier.

I have a 9 month old and due in Feb there will be 11 months between them. I'll let you know if I survive or not 😂

I had twins... I think there's benefits to all. Close together in age means you've finished with the baby stage much earlier in your own life. Not close together means the older siblings can help with the younger ones maybe?

I remember my DD being born. And I remember her 1st birthday.

The time in the middle was spent in a half asleep brain frazzled fog.

(20 months age gap).

I found two in the 3-7 year range a lot harder than 2 under 2. Sorry.

2 under 2 is the holy grail of Mumsnet and apparently the correct way to live your life. Some of us were too infertile/broke/incompetent/overwhelmed to pull it off.

I'm due DC2 next month and have DD 16 months...I can't wait!

I had a 3 year gap. 1 and 4 was by far the hardest year of my life. 3 and 6 onwards was easy ish. They’re 9 and 12 now and it’s a good gap 😀

I had three under 3 and half - was mad and fun and hard work.

I was very tried but life threw in 4 major house moves starting in first pg - several job changes for DH and an exam 6 weeks post pfb in first 3 years of pfb life - plus lot of extended family drama and little help - so glad we did it that young as well and not late 30s.

Worked out 2 school years apart - GCSE and A-level same time twice - not so much fun TBH but still overall glad we did that - they are close which is nice but not guaranteed.

I know of two cases where, due to unexpected arrival of triplets, family was dealing with 6 under 6. which makes 2 under 2 seem ... not that bad.

3 year age gap for mine. It’s still hard work but an ideal gap for us. DS1 was fully toilet trained before the baby came but it was hard work potty training when pregnant

They weren't the good times for me. There were plenty of good moments of course, but I was exhausted and I didn't recognise myself. The good times have come a little later.

ETA - and I've no regrets, for lots of reasons the age gap has worked out brilliantly for our family. But those early years definitely weren't the years to savour, they were the years to endure to get to where we are now.

Best thing I did when it came to having my family was having them close together.

It's not for everyone, but it was totally the right decision for me. So no, it's not always crazy.

As someone with a five minute age gap I think anyone inflicting double buggies, 💩 💩, tantrums, sleep deprivation etc on themselves is mad frankly, unless the biological clock is ticking very loudly. And my controversial opinion is that the children suffer for lack of 1:1 time with a caregiver unless you very carefully carve it out.

I loved it... my girls are 18 months apart and I loved having 2 mat leaves close together.
Baby and toddler at the same time was so much fun.

It wouldn’t be my first choice. I had 22 months between mine and I think if I could go back in time I’d have four years.

I had 2 under 2. It was ok, there were good days and bad days. They are 11 and 12 now, and it's so much easier. They have similar interests, so days out etc are easy.

You're talking about six months of your life here with pregnancy and it doesn't equate. What I mean is that it's folly to wish away your offsprings' childhoods, because they'll be grown up and off before you know it. Recognise and savour the good times. Plenty of people said that to me when the children were younger, and one day you realise the truth in their comments. You're just not at that stage.

I found it very hard in the first month, mainly because my older child wasn't old enough to know a new baby was coming, and was extremely emotional and clingy - which made me feel guilty and like I had made a mistake and ruined their life...it made me feel awful. After that it got much easier and they love each other more than anything now. But the stress and emotional toll were much higher than having a bigger age gap.

Can only speak for myself but it was fine. There's only so knackered it's possible to get. my first was 15 months old when my second was born so when he turned 2 my second was... 9 months? Have I counted on my fingers right? I can't imagine it would have been any easier had I waited an extra year.

I’ve found 10/11 and 8/9 the easiest, when you can have actual conversations.

What a ridiculous thing to say. Something doesn't become less exhausting because it was your choice to do it.