To ask about your opinions on a 15 year age gap between kids?

There are 20 years between my eldest and youngest siblings. I would say that the eldest and youngest don't have much of a connection, because the eldest had already left home when the youngest was born, so they never actually lived together.

It will probably be similar with a 15 year gap - they'll be at very different life stages with one almost an adult and one a baby. That doesn't mean it's wrong to do it, just worth being aware that they may not be close, depending on their personalities.

Of course you may have a 15 year old who dotes on their younger sibling, loves looking after them/ playing with them etc and they might have a good connection - it's impossible to say, really.

There's 10 years between me and my oldest sibling, and we also don't have a particularly strong bond. I feel closer to my siblings who are closer to my age because we had more in common growing up.

However, I wouldn't say it caused any problems in terms of family dynamics - you just get on with the situation you are in and it's fine.

I wouldn't worry about a newborn being annoying to a 15 year old - they will be fine, as long as they have their own bedroom and personal space, they'll cope.

They will both grow up like only children. They won’t enjoy the same things or have the same experiences; teachers, school etc.
Not sure how you’d navigate a day out to suit a 3 year old and a 15 year old either. I should imagine it’ll be a big shock to the system after so long.
they may have a lovely relationship as adults but they will have seperate childhoods.

18 years between my eldest and youngest and they have an amazing bond, even though my youngest is only 18 months. He has three older brothers - 19, 14 and 12 and they all adore him…

He is a breeze of a baby / toddler and so laid back… never woken them crying (he isn’t a big crier) and has always slept amazingly well. No problems here and been very lucky. He is very well loved by all of them 💕

16 years between me and my little sis. We are close, share the same dark sense of humour.

I suppose I do feel protective towards her even though she's now mid 40s but that's a mixture of our parents being less than great (and now dead) and the fact I've loved her so much since the day she was born.

I think it's a very different scenario if you have (for example) a 15 year old, then a 11 year old, 6 year old and new baby. Compared to a one and only 15 year old, and then a new baby.

I'd assume a blended family situation. Agree that the last thing a teenager wants to contend with when studying for exams is a baby, or a toddler when they are a young adult and wanting a lie-in.

I wouldn't because I wouldn't want to be parenting for so many decades...at 15, they're nearly an adult and you're not far from freedom! I wouldn't want to go back to the baby years....I want to go on peaceful holidays, sleep a lot and go out without worrying about babysitters....not sit in soft play with a decade of school runs ahead of me.

Mine adored the baby still do 23 years later.

18 and 20 year age gap.

Thing is all these threads are anecdotal- so much depends on the individuals and circumstances - if the oldest one leaves home for Uni when the little one is 3 that’s different to if they live at home much longer- it also means that 12 vs 15 is quite a big difference in reality as it’s twice as long with the older one pretty much guaranteed to live at home. Also is the 15yo currently an only or is there another older Dc? That also makes a difference as the existing siblings already have a sibling bond/ shared history.

DH has a sibling who is 15y younger and also an older sister and brother who are 4 and 2 years older. He was not close to the youngest until they were both well into adulthood as he moved to Uni at 18 and then went in the military.. They see each other a fair bit now but he’s still much closer to the older brother and sister as they grew up together. In some ways it’s almost like they had different parents as their parents circumstances changed a lot and they were obviously much older when the last one came along.

All the same parents. My eldest brother is 14 years older. We have become much closer over the years as we have both moved into 'adult'. My other brother is 12 years older and I remember him more growing up as he was around more (Eldest moved out for uni at 18). We have always been close.

My youngest siblings was born19 months after me, so like a 2 seperate sibling groups in some ways, such as shared experiences, but we are all close. It is just the way our family is. Apparently my older siblings doted on me when I was a baby. Lots of my friends growing up had much younger siblings with a similar age gap so a similar dynamic I guess but they were the eldest.

It is not uncommon and I now work with children and families and it is not unusual. Families come in many shapes and sizes and in my experience, age gaps between siblings has not been a source of conflict or difficulty. There may well be other factors but not the age gap itself.

Is this your name change of a similar thread from yesterday???
Is ten years a good age gap between 1st & 2nd child? | Mumsnet

No from me too. Just as you are getting freedom you start again. Also tbh my youngest is 18 and I was worried about bringing them up then let alone with how things are now. Sorry to be doom and gloom.

I know you asked about the gap but essentially they will have a different relationship to a 'normal' age gap, more like auntie/uncle?

12 years between me and my little brother. He feels very isolated and left out compared to the older batch, and we have a different dad.

I'm 11 years older than my youngest sibling, my elder sister has a 14 year gap between them (full siblings). We all get along great although it was "different" having a baby in the house when we were doing secondary school exams!

Also we had one bitch of an auntie on dad's side who gossiped to anyone who would listen that my elder sister was the real mum of the baby! Nutter - we had been on a beach holiday RIGHT BEFORE and seen my mum's bump and felt the baby kicking! But some people are just crazies...

I've got a 15 year gap between 1 and 2 and a 20 year gap between 1 and 3. They all get on really well, especially 1 and 3, who are now 31 and 11 and absolutely love spending time together. Despite the gap, they are two peas in a pod!! My eldest also has a child who is only 2 years younger than my youngest.

It wasn't through choice, it was only when, after 15 years of hoping for a second child, I accepted it was not going to happen....then it did!! Didn't think we would ever be so lucky again, but along came number 3. My husband also has a son from a previous relationship who will be 40 this year who also adores all of his younger siblings.
My doctor likes to joke that we had a baby every decade!!

My husband and his sister are thirteen years apart. When she was younger, she got on his nerves and was frustrated that he could do so many things she couldn’t. Once she got to be about ten, though, they started getting along better because there was more they could do together. And they’re pretty close as adults.

For me it would:

a) be starting over, I was pleased to get those early years done and am excited for the next stage of my life with DH
b) not be a family dynamic I would like, it's great having kids close in age for holidays and days out
c) not be great for the teen whose life will dramatically change and undoubtedly result in less attention and more disruption.

Our children was almost 17 and 14 and a half when their sibling arrived. They love their sibling and they have such a great bond since the arrival 2 years ago.

No not for me. I wouldn't want to start all over again.

I’ve got a 15 year old getting ready to do GCSE’s. No way would I be dropping a baby or toddler into his life. It’s GCSE’s, then it’s a levels and then help with uni.

No the time or place for screaming babies and loud toddlers. Just not fair on the teenager.

If it works for your family and you have the financial, emotional and physical resources to do it, then why not :)

It would be a no from me. 3 years away from getting a child to adulthood to start all again.

14 between me and my sister, 15/17 between younger DCs and eldest. All very close.

15 years between eldest and youngest here too - they adore each other

15 years between my eldest and youngest. He loves his siblings but he has moved out now so if I didn't have my younger two at home with me it would be very lonely now