Sorry, another "3rd child" one...

[BlueGizmo]

I know, I know, people are always asking about having number 3, but what if you'll have a big age gap?? I have DS9 and DD7. Does the 3rd feel left out?? Also I'm 36 this year, am I too old?? We have a big 3 bed and if we went ahead we'd either eventually move or convert the loft so not worried about space. We're also well off financially.

Does anyone have experience of having number 3 with this sort of age gap?

These all relate to economics though, not the environment.

We can't have exponential growth to service an ever ageing population. The whole economic model will need to change.

The economic effects of a rapidly ageing population will hinder progress to a greener future.

I agree we need to think about the economic model (and lifestyle expectations) but failing to reproduce isn’t the way forward.

It’s hard to decide which is more foolish, having no children ‘for the planet’ (and contributing to the problem of an ageing population, yet presumably expecting to be cared for in later life by other people’s children ) or having one child (which suggests an unresolved ethical position).

Christ I couldn’t think of anything worse! You are at the fun stage with the older 2 and want to go back to the baby stage? Why?

Love that as a 4 we can do so much together as a family that simply wouldn’t be possible with a much younger child. Remember getting on ponies at a trekking centre all 4 of us another family had 2 the same age as ours plus a toddler so mum had to sit out with him. Encapsulated just what we didn’t want. Plus 2 teens is quite enough for anyone

I am the third child with a similar gap. I had a happy childhood and it never occurred to me it was a big gap. We had fun together but I also played alone a lot. I was very sad when my siblings left home when I was a tween. I missed them a lot. Now we're in our 40s the age gap is nothing.

On the flip side, my brother (middle child) always resented my existence and that had a very bad effect on my mental health (and I imagine wasn't great for his either). It's taken me a long time not to feel guilty for existing.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently so this is an interesting thread.

My main concern is money so if I were in your situation and it wasn’t an issue I’d absolutely go for it. For me, the impact of two years of childcare fees between maternity pay and free nursery hours would be too much I think ... but I should do some sums to be sure

How did it turn out OP? X