DC 2 and a half years apart.....I’ve had them ‘back to back’?!

[Panandthegang]

Just that really...I’ve just announced I am 12 weeks with dc2. Ds1 will be 29 months when it’s born so almost a 2 and a half year gap...

I’ve had not one, not two, but three separate people make comments along the lines of ‘wow you’re brave to have them so close’, ‘so you’re having children back to back’, ‘you didn’t waste time did you’ etc etc...

I was not expecting that opinion at all. I thought it was quite an average age gap?

To be clear, I don’t care about their judgments, just genuinely interested as to whether MN considers this to be having children back to back or not?

DC1 will be 2 years, 4 months when DC2 arrives. Amongst my friends and family, that's a pretty standard gap? In fact, there's almost exactly the same gap between me and my brother, and DH and his brother.

In my old antenatal group (so we all have DC1 of a very similar age) I'm the 3rd of the 7 of us to be having DC2.

I know someone who had a baby in early December and another the end of October the following year! So she had a newborn at her daughters first birthday. That’s what I’d call back to back! 2.5 years is a fairly normal gap. My DS2 is going to be born when DS1 is almost 4 and some people have said it’s a big gap. It is the smallest I would contemplate though!

2 and a half years is pretty much 'the' classic gap, isn't it?

(I have 2y 4m between my older two, and I remember feeling massive, massive respect for those with under 2y)

Congratulations! 💐I would say It’s a very normal age gap. I had three under the age of 4 so 22 months between each. Wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s whatever is right for your family. Don’t listen to anyone else.

Oh, and with 8 years between dc2 and 3, I really don't get the idea of anything above about 3.5y being a 'big' gap

There's 14 months between my 2 youngest, but DS has a few kids in his class at school with siblings in my DD's year so 2 years can't be that unusual? I wouldn't consider 2.5 years back to back, I was 2.5 when my brother was born and helping to change nappies, hardly still a baby myself!

2-3 year gap is extremely common, very unremarkable honestly!

Maybe they’re thinking of the age of DC1 now rather than their age when DC2 actually arrives? Grasping at straws here I know!

21 months between my two DS’ so a 2.5yr gap is probably better/ average. Good luck OP it will be fine and if your two are like mine they will be good friends. So much easier having DC without a huge gap in my opinion.

Not at all.

My two are 17 months apart. I have received a lot of comments about having two very close together but I've met quite a few mums with a similar gap, I've heard of two with a 10 month gap!

I would say anything from between 16 months to 3 years is an 'average' gap.

Seven minutes between 2 and 3!and you won’t believe the stupid comments you get!

Congrats!

People are so judgemental, normally stemming from their own insecurity or jealousy. Let it go over your head!

That's a nice normal gap. I had mine 1 year and 2 weeks apart.

I would get 'Oh my goodness, you've got your hands full', to which I would reply 'Yes, I have and it's much better than having them empty'., Always with a smile on my face, but it shut them down!

There's 14 months (and 6 days) between my brother and I. I find that opinion interesting. I've also been told having a 3-4 year age gap is "just to avoid getting an actual job". Basically everyone's a critic.

That's not back to back. My 3 DBs and I were born with 46.5 months between me (no.1) and the youngest (no.4).

Id say thats the most common children baby gap. Congratulations op x

Mine are 9 months apart but adopted! DC2 was 9 weeks prem.
They get on great and i love them both being so close in age. It really helps with toys and activities. They will be different school years (thank god).

When I think back to back I think of the mum I met at a baby group when our DC were four months old - and she was twelve weeks pregnant. That is back to back.

Congratulations! You have a normal and perfectly doable age gap. I had x3 babies in under 2.5 years, people would look at me doing a sort of Joey Tribbiani maths face while trying to work out how many times you could give birth in that time.....

My gap - 3y 1m- is quite unusual amongst my peers. Everyone else I know either had 2 under 2.5, or waited until the eldest was 5 or 5.

I have a friend whose birthday is the same day as his sister ... 1 year apart .

Otherwise I'd say at least 80% of the siblings I know were born 2 to 3 years apart.

I know some 4 to 5 years apart and that's looked on as quite a large gap.

That’s a standard age gap among people I know. I think people go into default comment mode whenever there’s a conversation about pregnancy; bump comments, age gap comments, weight....Nod and smile .

Congratulations!

Very weird reaction.

2 and a half year gap works well because at the end of 9 months mat leave DC1 will get funded hours at nursery so won’t be paying ‘double’

It's a pretty standard gap. Do you think they're forgetting you've got another 6 months of pregnancy to go

Weird. I would consider 11 months back to back my 2.5 years! Mine are 14 months gap and I don't even really think that's back to back as such