Honest opinions is 42 too old....

[Summerwood1]

To be thinking about having one last baby? I have a 10 year old daughter and would love to start again!!!

One of the advantages of their little sister from the teenagers' point of view is that she is such a handful I have less time to think of ways to embarass them. None of the 3 of them ever embarass me or each other of course

I'm 29 and I'm done with babies, I don't have the MH and the urge to have another.

I already have arthritis in my knees and suffer with acid.

Pregnacy for me is server morning sickness to 30 weeks, then I can't go into labour on my own so a lot a intervention to get things moving. I also suffered PND on both my children.

Every woman is different, so for me the idea of having another baby in 9 months time is terrifying let alone 42.

I wouldn't do it. Dh and I are 30 and would like more, and we want them within the next 6 years at very latest as we wouldn't want to be having children when we are in our 40s.

YANBU for considering having a child at 42 - for me personally it's not ideal but it's perfectly fine to go ahead if it's what you want

I have many friends who have had children late and they generally have never regretted it - but I think we're it has works best is where they have had all their children late - eg 1 child at 40 or 2 kids in late 30's - 40's. Often these people are so pleased to have kids after struggles to find a partner or fertility issues they very happily just deal with some of the less pleasant effects of late parenthood

So I suppose the issue for me in your shoes would be could I go through those very tough first 2 years if it was a very distant memory if my youngest was 10 and whether i

No you are NBU - before contraception it was very common for women to have children well into their 40's

personally I do think younger parenthood is the ideal but later parenthood is fine also - Have seen many older parents thrive but this has generally either been a late surprise or more commonly when for various reasons people have been unable to have children earlier and are therefore so enormously grateful to have children they happily deal win some of the less pleasant aspects of parenthood and the fact that retirement plans will be impacted etc

It would be good to know why the 10 year gap and whether your 10 year old is the youngest of a number of children or if she is an only child and whether your partner is supportive of your desire to have a child

Sorry I posted twice thought first one had not gone om??

DS celebrated his first birthday on Saturday - mine's on the 14th... I'll be 46. DD will be 10 in November. I don't think 42 is too old. If your body can do it and you want to do it, then I don't see any reason not to. x

Lots of different opinions but if you want to have another child and are fit and healthy you are not to old !
My experience is that I had my 1st at 18 , 2nd at 26 and my ' bonus ' baby at 41 !
Totally different experience , pregnancy was trouble free , birth easy considering he was 10lb 9
But so tired as had to go back to work time when he was 6 weeks
I find I'm constantly worrying about the future where as I never did with the girls !
He is now 7 and I have a 10 Year old grandson as well , so of I'm out with them both I do get double takes as one is shouting mam and the other Nana
DP is now 57 and In poor healthand gets upset that he can't play football with him
I love him to the end of the earth but sometimes wonder if I have done him an injustice by having him so late
So much more to worry about but I wish you well and it's a decision only you can make

Had my last at 44 and it was the easiest pregnancy of the 3. Easiest birth too as planned not emergency sections. Now have an 11 year old, 9 year old and 2 year old. Definitely not too old although dd wasn't planned.

'It was the 4- 5 year old kids who asked me if I was Pipsqueak's granny' - Ah kids say the silliest stuff. Some years ago, I was picking up my 5-year old niece from her new kindergarten and heard a little boy asking why DNiece had such an old mother. I was 26..

My Gran had her youngest when she was 44, and was around to celebrate his 50th birthday...

How old is your DH - my DH is 10 years older than me, so whilst I am pregnant with the 3rd at the age of 36, I was conscious that DH will be 47 by the time this baby is born, hence the reason why I cracked on. He'll be 65 when youngest turns 18, which seems a decent upper age, as I don't want to retire till I'm about 60, so DC3 will have a few years to sort it's life out before we sell the family house!

The MN-er that aligned the decision with your attitude to risk hit the spot for me though. Me too -I'm quite risk-averse. I was very anxious for most of my perfectly uneventful pregnancies at age 29 & 30; I can't imagine how mentally taxing I'd find it aged 40.

I do think that people sometimes underestimate the early impact of aging. DH and I have observed both our sets of parents and my grandparents, and they definitely all became 'old' in some ways once they'd passed 60; dithering over decisions they previously made swiftly, seeming to find more anxiety in day-to-day life than before, being more irritated by unpredictability, even being unable to eat meals in restaurants due to anxiety in DFIL's case. DH is a bit worried about this since he will be in his early sixties when the DC are young adults...... we'll have to see how it goes.

Another thing comes into it for me - my DC are nearly 3 and nearly 4 and the thought of going back to a world of nappies and screaming fills me with horror. I am so ready to coo over other people's babies and then go home to my relatively sedate house! Fortunately our friends are starting to pop them out now

In summary op, I wouldn't do it - I think I'd try to work out what it is that is drawing you towards the idea instead. How is your life at the moment?

I'm 44 and my youngest is 18 today, I also have a daughter who will be 22 in June so for me having another baby would be a huge step backwards......I do regret not having a a third baby but not enough to have another one now.

People are different and only you know what's right for you and our family. I wouldn't judge anyone for having a baby in their 40's but it wouldn't be for me. Both sisters-in-laws had babies in their 40's and love every minute

Not everyone ages like that though Plumping - my great aunt was online dating and backpacking round Asia into her 70s. My DM works full time at 69.

I'm sure they don't Tondelayo, but I offer my observations as a counterpoint to 'women everywhere have loads of babies after the age of 40 and are all totally fine and full of vigor' line that Mumsnet is so good at

I agree, 60 is honestly no age now. My Mum is 73 (just ) is active on Facebook and LinkedIn, retired from a professional full time job three years ago and is SO happy me and my sister had our kids in our late thirties/forties as she can look after them (my sisters) and is free to spend two days a week with me and my son. Early retirement wasn't an option financially for her whereas now she has a decent pension, mortgage paid off, her and my Dad are comfortable and she is totally amazing. So sometimes these things have their positives. If sis and I had had them in our twenties it would have been not only horrendously impossible financially and i particularly would have leaned on my parents, but my Mother would not have been able to have actively participated in their childhoods beyond the odd weekend (she was caring for her a Mum most weekends so god knows what would have happened actually).

Had my youngest (of 5) when I was 41. Didn't find it any harder than the first at 23.
A friend of mine has just had a baby at 45. She has no regrets or problems.

My father is 72, still working full-time, is never off Facebook, has a practically full-time hobby at the weekends and is constantly physically active. He loves socalising, restaurants, holidays, recently drove 800 miles to visit friends for a few days. My mother, 71, has just recently popped over to visit me from 10 000 miles away, spent 4 days at Crufts dog show on her feet all day and socialising, and was up later than I was (and dancing to Elvis Presley numbers) at a party that we held while she was over here. Not everyone ages the same!