To think a 2 year age gap is tough?

[Kaylh]

Am I just being weak? My kids are exactly 2 years apart (with a few weeks)

(DD1 is 2.5 and DD2 6mo) and I’m just finding it so tough

I know it won’t feel like a balancing act as they get older

but am I silly for feeling a bit overwhelmed right now

Currently in exactly the same position with my 2 boys! My God it's so friggin hard!!!!! I am literally winging it every single day! Good luck! We'll get there (I hope)

Have a 22 month gap between mine and the first few years are hellishly hard (although I imagine any one with twins or multiples has it worse) however they're now 12 and 14 and good friends. There's a lot of activities they could do together so those hours they are in clubs are bliss. Thank God for scout camps as DH and I get a weekend to ourselves. You will get through it.

I have the same age gap and I found maternity leave really not fun so I went back to work when youngest was 5 months. Absolutely saved my sanity - sure childcare was expensive but it was absolutely an investment in my wellbeing.

7 years down the line now and they are best buddies, wouldn't change it for the world

I had 25 months between mine and it was super hard until 2 and 4, then became much easier and now they are generally great mates and it all works really well. Hadn’t thought about a levels/gcse year, in a way I think that could be better that they both have to knuckle down together (head in sand)

Mine are 26m apart and it’s only since I’ve seen friends having newborns now with bigger gaps that I realise how tough that small gap was at first! I know they’ll have other challenges but even most of those friends have commented how much easier it is for them that their eldest is 4 or whatever. So no, it’s not just you! It will get better!

Swings and round abouts, sometimes it's a nightmare (hello newborn and 2 year old!! ) sometimes it's amazing (they are best mates most of the time but each independent of each other). This time next year you will find me living in the playhouse with a mini fridge full of chocolate and wine..... GCSEs and A levels in the same year..... remind me again..... why did I leave a 2 year gap!? 😫

It's hard as I have 2 years 4 months between all 3 of my children and it was definitely hard having 3 children under the age of 5! However, it does get easier and now they are still best friends and always have each other. However, last year we too had GCSES and Alevels at the same time!

18 months exactly here between our DDs - 3 and a half and 5 years. I like @StinkerTroll idea tonight 😂

I have a 2 and a half year gap between mine. My youngest is 18 months and they are starting to play together. This morning they spent 15 minutes doing puzzles together while I cleared the kitchen. It was very cute so hang in there it does get easier I promise

I did the same as your parents 🤣 still think wtf! I’ve not got one that’s finished school and pretty much independent and one that in the first year of high school!

It’s very very hard. I had 3 under the age of 3 1/2. A new born, an eighteen month old and a 3 1/2 year old. At that time it was so tough. Now, 17 years later, the 20 year old and eighteen year old have gone to a music festival and are all returning back together with the 17 year old. They all get on and have the same friends (2 girls and 1 boy)

DD1 and DD2 have just under 2 years between them. The early days were tough but as they got older it was easier. They liked the same things, watched the same TV show and days out were easy as they were similar ages.
DS is 11 and 13 years younger than his sisters. That is a hard age gap. While they love playing with him obviously days out and holidays are hard work and we try to do a mixture of things geared to both age groups.
Looking back the smaller age gap was better although I do remember shedding a few tears after the toughest days.

There's 22 months between my youngest 2, it's really bloody hard

Well now I'm glad mine were born either side of the school cut off, so despite the two year age gap they'll be three years apart at school and we won't have GCSEs and A Levels the same year.

Mine are 24 and 22 now and I still remember those years were the most brutal, more a case of surviving every day than living, I used to wake up and count the hours until their bedtime. (ADHD toddler not that I knew it then and baby with a milk intolerance, not that we knew that then either, hindsight is a great thing )

I have a 17 year old as well and parents with dementia but even now it doesn't compare to the sheer day to day hard work of a toddler and a baby. Hold tight OP, every day you get through is a day closer to it getting easier.

Shit now but will be great in a couple of years and then forward

Based on me and dsis - 22 months apart. We had a fighty period 1-3yrs and 8-10 yrs but apart from that we got on brilliantly and entertained each other as kids and became best friends as young adults

We have this gap and find it very hard too.
Today was a particularly bad day.

So hard! The first year was mostly about survival and nearly broke me but it all worked out in the end. Hang in there!

It is hard, you're not being silly at all! It does get easier with time and more sleep as they get older. It's a struggle and I remember the days when me and both the kids were crying at times and we'd all just sit in bed for cuddles and watch some Disney on the iPad/boob feed and calm down for a bit. They are 6and 8 now.
Be kind to yourself xxx

I think the 6 month baby stage is hard even without another to deal with but once you get through it it is a great age gap. Have it with mine and I love it - play together so well, into the same kind of things/at similar stage for stuff. Do you get any rest from it, e.g. eldest at nursery or any help when DP is away?

Honestly I feel so relieved seeing these comments. We’ve had so many amazing moments that my heart bursts thinking about

but also I find myself feeling guilty for not always enjoying it. It’s constant chaos and even the other day I felt so ill and dizzy and really poorly. My youngest was napping so I lay down and said to my eldest let’s play blocks. We did then she came and stamped on my head then demanded I sit up🤣 then my youngest woke!

Dont want to wish the years away I’m trying to enjoy all the little moments. I do remember with my eldest I found parenting a lot easier after she turned one? Unsure why but I did have a sense of , the first year is coming, looming as I approached birth with Dd2

DD2 was a lovely surprise btw. I was always a 4-6 year age gap person was adamant we wouldn’t have another until DD1 was heading to school/in school. It’s tough but quite glad I’m powering through it being tough at the start because as they grow up sounds so lovely :) I love the thought of them being close and even going places as they’re older

we have 15 months between ours and once they got to 3/4 it was brilliant they where best friends and just always played together.

now 22 / 23 and still best mates.

I have a 2 year old (3 in September) and a 3 month old. My god, I knew it wouldn't be easy but it's bloody hard. My 2 year old apparently does not need sleep. He wakes about 8am and has only just gone to sleep as I type this. His sister is a very unsettled baby (as was he) and when I'm on my own with them during the day it feels unmanageable. She cries, I try desperately to settle her any way I can. He screams and whines because he's not getting the attention he's used to. I haven't even been on my own today and I'm close to a mental breakdown! Can't ever see myself taking them on days out together like I used to with my toddler when it was just him. I feel like a shite mum most days.

My parents work full time so can’t really help and DH’s family don’t really offer , and I don’t speak to them it’s him who does so it never comes up. It’s not on people to offer of course but to put into perspective, less than a week after my c section with DD2 , MIL rang DH asking could he come and build something at her house. She hadn’t even met DD2 and I’d not been left alone with them yet due to recovery
so help front not much but grateful that my family adore my kids so when they do see them make such a fuss

we cut her nursery down while I’m on mat leave, she will be going back to her usual days when I’m back and little sis going in with her! So I do have 2 days. Again that makes it easier for me than others! Just felt alone really as I say DH works away so usually gets back late Friday, leaves after bed time Sunday so realistically it’s 1 full day with him

I’ve got 2.5 years between DD1 and 2, and then 22 months between DD2 and (surprise) DS. Currently have 3 under 5 so properly in the trenches with it, but that extra 8 months in the age gap did make things a bit easier - the days when I have my active just turned 2 year old and the baby together are the toughest, she‘s peak terrible two: old enough to say no, no impulse control, active enough to really get herself into trouble.