To have a 5th child

[Flowerflow]

I have 4 children ages 13, 9, 8 and 4 (5 in a few days), recently DP and I have been discussing have another child, he completely up for it but I'm still a little unsure. I have a few concerns like we currently live in a 4 bedroom house, oldest two share and youngest two have their own bedrooms. 8 year old is the only boy and if were to have another boy they would probably share but there would be a big age gap and DS wouldn't be impressed. That or we move to a bigger house which we might not be able to afford where we currently but would be able to if we move slightly further away. Another concern would be there'll be 5/6 between them and our current youngest so new baby might feel left out or the odd one out although not all our children are very close in age. I'm also unsure about going through pregnancy again, I've never really enjoyed it, baby, toddler stage and so I'll happily go through again but pregnancy I'm willing to go through not exactly happily though. On the other hand I'd love to have a fifth child and these concerns and problems can be worked through

I don’t think the OP’s 5th child is going to ruin our planet, or the OP not having a 5th child is going to save us.

Can you actually hear yourselves? Would you say this to her face?

Op what about your current children? How will it affect their quality of life and living conditions. Could you put the idea on hold and maybe look at a bigger property first?

PrincessCessy

*I don’t think the OP’s 5th child is going to ruin our planet, or the OP not having a 5th child is going to save us.

Can you actually hear yourselves? Would you say this to her face?*

No that one child will not ruin or save the planet. But if 3.5 billion people go on to have 5 children we are screwed as a planet. (We're screwed anyway, but it will be alot quicker).

And yes I would say it to her face.

What age are you op?

You are being ridiculous

You’re all screwing up the planet by preaching at the OP. Get off the internet and start doing your bit!

“It’s only a plastic straw” said 7 billion people. Personal is political now. More than 2 kids is unjustifiable and everyone knows it whatever convoluted nonsense justifications they use. Wish it wasn’t true but seems it is.

You don't sound like you want one so why would you?

funinthesun19

What a ridiculous statement.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Yes it does.

Wanting another child doesn't mean my four children aren't enough, nor is a 5th child going to ruin the planet solely on it's own, it's going to have a small impact yes but so is everyone else. There's so many people TTC, pregnant or giving birth right now in the world, is one more really going to add much to that? I know I only listed negatives but I do have reasons to want another. I genuinely enjoy the baby and toddler stage, I don't even hate the thought of getting hardly any sleep. I'd love to watch another grow up, be a mum to another child. My children also like the idea of having a younger sibling

If you’re moaning about how much the op’s extra child would destroy the planet in the lifetime then maybe you should stop living in the modern world yourself. I’m not moaning at her so I can stay where I am

Do you have a job OP?

I'm 34

I would definitely have a 5th. I would not worry about age gaps or sharing bedrooms. In 5 years the eldest will be at university and it is good for children to think of others. We have a late baby so big gap with the older ones and I always wished I had been brave enough to have a fourth.

If you have to ask strangers about something like this then I think you already know you don't want a 5th child. Not really.

Sounds like a very bad idea to me. It will be a strain on our service provision and the environment.

Also, expecting teenagers to share a bedroom is unreasonable.

I'm afraid your last update shows exactly why the planet is screwed OP.

I don’t think the OP’s 5th child is going to ruin our planet, or the OP not having a 5th child is going to save us.

Oh yeah? And when OP is just one of a million people who decide the responsibility doesn’t belong to them, will you still think it doesn’t make a difference?

Can you actually hear yourselves? Would you say this to her face?

Yes, without hesitation.

Unless YOU don’t have any children whatsoever yourself AND you live in a cardboard box in the woods and use absolutely no electricity /gas/transport/plastic etc etc etc etc because the list goes on, then just shut up you big hypocrites

Don’t be absurd. You don’t need to be living an entirely impact-free life yourself to advise somebody who already has four children that adding another entire lifetime’s worth of resources to their carbon footprint is going to have a negative impact on an already over burdened planet, and behaving as though that’s true means that literally nobody would be held responsible for the decisions they make, which is clearly an absurd position to take.

Why?

If you have a happy, healthy family why would you? I can't think of a single reason why this is a good idea. What happens after number five, six, seven, eight when they get bigger.

Surely better to look after the dc you have now, and focus your energies on them. Four is more than enough, and all of these children will become very tall, demanding teenagers and then it might not seem such a good idea.

I think two is plenty, especially as they get older. I can't imagine having the energy and enthusiasm to do it all 5 times.

I did the school run for 8 years in total just with two.

Someone people can’t even have one and you want a 5th 🙄