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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask about your opinions on a 15 year age gap between kids?

83 replies

Hatherleigh · 21/01/2025 17:31

This, really.!!

OP posts:
Longingforspringtime · 21/01/2025 17:35

I've got 12 years. They are the best of friends and holiday together with their DHs. I don't think 15 is much different.

Hatherleigh · 21/01/2025 17:37

Longingforspringtime · 21/01/2025 17:35

I've got 12 years. They are the best of friends and holiday together with their DHs. I don't think 15 is much different.

Thank you. I’m inclined to agree

OP posts:
Rainbow450 · 21/01/2025 17:37

I'd not, just thinking of the older one in the middle of exam years with a newborn in the house. It'd be disruptive for them.

Hatherleigh · 21/01/2025 17:38

Rainbow450 · 21/01/2025 17:37

I'd not, just thinking of the older one in the middle of exam years with a newborn in the house. It'd be disruptive for them.

True

OP posts:
FortyFacedFuckers · 21/01/2025 17:39

16 years between my brother and I and I love him to bits, much closer to him than my sister who is only 2 years younger

Dror · 21/01/2025 17:47

Would you be paying £1000s towards the eldests university at the same time a childcare for a preschooler?

Very disruptive for the teenager, but they'd essentially be raised separately, in different generations.

Hatherleigh · 21/01/2025 17:53

Dror · 21/01/2025 17:47

Would you be paying £1000s towards the eldests university at the same time a childcare for a preschooler?

Very disruptive for the teenager, but they'd essentially be raised separately, in different generations.

True ..

OP posts:
Hadjab · 21/01/2025 17:54

There is a 15 year age gap between my oldest and youngest, and 8 years between oldest and middle and 7 between middle and youngest. They all get on like a house on fire.

kykid · 21/01/2025 17:55

15 years between my eldest and youngest. He loves his siblings but he has moved out now so if I didn't have my younger two at home with me it would be very lonely now

toastedcrumpetsrock · 21/01/2025 17:56

15 years between eldest and youngest here too - they adore each other

OnlyFrench · 21/01/2025 17:57

14 between me and my sister, 15/17 between younger DCs and eldest. All very close.

SUPerSaver721 · 21/01/2025 17:58

It would be a no from me. 3 years away from getting a child to adulthood to start all again.

OolongTeaDrinker · 21/01/2025 17:59

If it works for your family and you have the financial, emotional and physical resources to do it, then why not :)

UndermyShoeJoe · 21/01/2025 17:59

I’ve got a 15 year old getting ready to do GCSE’s. No way would I be dropping a baby or toddler into his life. It’s GCSE’s, then it’s a levels and then help with uni.

No the time or place for screaming babies and loud toddlers. Just not fair on the teenager.

I8toys · 21/01/2025 18:00

No not for me. I wouldn't want to start all over again.

23Bean · 21/01/2025 18:02

Our children was almost 17 and 14 and a half when their sibling arrived. They love their sibling and they have such a great bond since the arrival 2 years ago.

mnat · 21/01/2025 18:04

For me it would:

a) be starting over, I was pleased to get those early years done and am excited for the next stage of my life with DH
b) not be a family dynamic I would like, it's great having kids close in age for holidays and days out
c) not be great for the teen whose life will dramatically change and undoubtedly result in less attention and more disruption.

YankSplaining · 21/01/2025 18:08

My husband and his sister are thirteen years apart. When she was younger, she got on his nerves and was frustrated that he could do so many things she couldn’t. Once she got to be about ten, though, they started getting along better because there was more they could do together. And they’re pretty close as adults.

Dolallytats · 21/01/2025 18:08

I've got a 15 year gap between 1 and 2 and a 20 year gap between 1 and 3. They all get on really well, especially 1 and 3, who are now 31 and 11 and absolutely love spending time together. Despite the gap, they are two peas in a pod!! My eldest also has a child who is only 2 years younger than my youngest.

It wasn't through choice, it was only when, after 15 years of hoping for a second child, I accepted it was not going to happen....then it did!! Didn't think we would ever be so lucky again, but along came number 3. My husband also has a son from a previous relationship who will be 40 this year who also adores all of his younger siblings.
My doctor likes to joke that we had a baby every decade!!

WoolyMammoth55 · 21/01/2025 18:09

I'm 11 years older than my youngest sibling, my elder sister has a 14 year gap between them (full siblings). We all get along great although it was "different" having a baby in the house when we were doing secondary school exams!

Also we had one bitch of an auntie on dad's side who gossiped to anyone who would listen that my elder sister was the real mum of the baby! Nutter - we had been on a beach holiday RIGHT BEFORE and seen my mum's bump and felt the baby kicking! But some people are just crazies...

Fibrous · 21/01/2025 18:09

12 years between me and my little brother. He feels very isolated and left out compared to the older batch, and we have a different dad.

1apenny2apenny · 21/01/2025 18:09

No from me too. Just as you are getting freedom you start again. Also tbh my youngest is 18 and I was worried about bringing them up then let alone with how things are now. Sorry to be doom and gloom.

I know you asked about the gap but essentially they will have a different relationship to a 'normal' age gap, more like auntie/uncle?

willstarttomorrow · 21/01/2025 18:10

All the same parents. My eldest brother is 14 years older. We have become much closer over the years as we have both moved into 'adult'. My other brother is 12 years older and I remember him more growing up as he was around more (Eldest moved out for uni at 18). We have always been close.

My youngest siblings was born19 months after me, so like a 2 seperate sibling groups in some ways, such as shared experiences, but we are all close. It is just the way our family is. Apparently my older siblings doted on me when I was a baby. Lots of my friends growing up had much younger siblings with a similar age gap so a similar dynamic I guess but they were the eldest.

It is not uncommon and I now work with children and families and it is not unusual. Families come in many shapes and sizes and in my experience, age gaps between siblings has not been a source of conflict or difficulty. There may well be other factors but not the age gap itself.

LaPalmaLlama · 21/01/2025 18:10

Thing is all these threads are anecdotal- so much depends on the individuals and circumstances - if the oldest one leaves home for Uni when the little one is 3 that’s different to if they live at home much longer- it also means that 12 vs 15 is quite a big difference in reality as it’s twice as long with the older one pretty much guaranteed to live at home. Also is the 15yo currently an only or is there another older Dc? That also makes a difference as the existing siblings already have a sibling bond/ shared history.

DH has a sibling who is 15y younger and also an older sister and brother who are 4 and 2 years older. He was not close to the youngest until they were both well into adulthood as he moved to Uni at 18 and then went in the military.. They see each other a fair bit now but he’s still much closer to the older brother and sister as they grew up together. In some ways it’s almost like they had different parents as their parents circumstances changed a lot and they were obviously much older when the last one came along.