To ask you to remind me how siblings don't always get along?

[Snowcherriesfromfrance]

Ds (almost 5) will be an only. We can't have any more. We've tried and failed and it is a source of heartbreak and guilt.

Ds said tonight 'the only thing a bit wrong with my life is I'm lonely" followed by "I wish you could magic me a brother."

It makes me feel awful! I'm depriving my child by being unable to give him a sibling. I'm an only one but I never minded. Ds is hugely sociable and wants someone to play with all the time. We do play dates and now he's at school he has his friends there but I'm aware all the time how bored he must be just me and dh. And dh isn't here most of the time so it's actually just me and ds.

Even if we had another one now and by some miracle had a successful ivf treatment if we try again the gap would be so big that ds will never have the playmate he so desires.
I do feel like I've ruined his life.

Please remind me that having more than one isn't always sunshine and rainbows!

Please don't feel bad, me and my sister were like Lord of the Flies from the minute we could both walk. Half of the photos of us feature some petty and vicious act of violence.
I was hugely annoyed with her always trailing after me and she always cried because I was mean to her, it was pretty much hell on earth.

It took us until adulthood to be friends. She really is a gem but I would have happily sold her to the circus in the early days.

Me and DH have an 12 week old baby and he will be an only child.

I don't feel guilty about it though - are we supposed to?

My DH has got a brother and they can't stand each other. There is a 3 year age gap and from when they were young teenagers the dislike started and it just worsened. His brother is married and they have 3 children but we have nothing to do with them. They didn't even come to our Wedding. My DH has said he doesn't want our DS to have anything to do with his brother, even if it means growing up not knowing his 3 cousins.

My sister has got two children so our DS has cousins on my side of the family. Her children are 6 and 8 though so not really in the age bracket for having a close relationship with my DS.

I'm in the same position except mine is a DD.

She always tells me how much she wants a brother or sister and she would not be lonely. We recently moved and thankfully she now has a friend across the road who has a much older sister and brother who is younger...but my DD and middle child play together all the time. They call for each other (as we are close neighbours)...it is a life saver.

Basically they want a playmate...and a sibling is not always it. Too much TV influence of a 'perfect' family.

18 months between my elder sister and me. She was a vile child and is a vile adult. My other sibs are amazeballs. So nope, you can't guarantee a sibling would get on.

I was a very happy only for the first 12 years of my life, my twin brothers were then born and I became surplus to requirements. I hate my brothers and they despise me. Siblings are not always a positive thing, to this day I wish mine hadn't been born.