TELL ME NO!

[Nosleepforthismum]

Looking at baby photos and feeling broody. GOD DAMN IT. Tell me three kids is an awful idea and I will never regain my sanity! My current kids are only 3 & 1 so WHY is my brain attempting to trick me into thinking this is a great idea? Help!

Because they're lovely and they're the future ❤

It's not just three babies / toddlers. It's three teenagers.

There’s only one explanation - you’re losing the plot. Think of how close you are to nights of sleep and alone time!

Three cars, three weddings, three lots of ongoing help - forever ….

NO!

Can't help you there, I've got six 🤷‍♀️

The 3rd is magical. Same age gaps. Go for it

It could be twins....

It could be triplets.....

Your third child could have a serious health problem or the third pregnancy or birth could be very difficult. These were things running through my head when I decided I was perfectly happy just to have two children. We were just about keeping our heads above water with two children very close together in age and I was looking forward to eventually getting back to life without nappies and with a lot more sleep. I've never regretted it for an instant.

Peoplecarrier car 🤣

After my first baby I swore I was one and done. But now I’ve had number two and I’m thinking surely three can’t be so hard 🤣 but, like you, I know this way madness lies!

I’ve made a list of all the things we can afford to do for two (holidays, extra curriculars, parties, schools, hobbies etc) which would be difficult to fund for three and I try to remember that I can give the two I have a much better life than I could if I had a third.

I can’t promise I won’t give in one day though…!

I have a 5 and 3 year old and I'm a week away from giving birth.
My pregnancy has been a shit show; hyperemesis, everywhere hurts, my kids are having what Americans would call "big feelings," what is more commonly known in the UK as being little shits, I'm clinging on by a thread.

Hope this helps 😂

There’s always room for a little one 😉

Oh yes, I've also remembered that when my two were still very young indeed I met a woman with three children, older than mine, who said very straightforwardly that she thought sticking with two was a great idea. She said 'You've got two hands, two knees, two eyes, two ears. As soon as you add another child it's mayhem.' Helped me to make my mind up.

Yes, you've not hit the teenage years yet! Life is easy at the moment when they do roughly what you ask and you know exactly where they are and who they are hanging around with.
And we were given 2 arms and not 3!

Teenagers are great, I prefer them to babies

I can't - my third is four months old and is absolutely scrummy and I'm so glad we had him! That said, I waited until my other two were 10 and 7 so a lot more self-sufficient than 3 and 1! They obviously still need me a lot, but not in quite such a demanding physical way, and are less inclined to attempt to break themselves the minute my eyes are elsewhere. They're also occasionally actually quite helpful with the baby!

I have 3, same sort of age gaps. In all honesty it’s not that different to two, other than the cost. But then I think ahead to three teenagers and wonder if I’ll think the same then.

Once you hit 3 everything gets more complicated and expensive. Cars, hotel rooms on holidays, who sits with who on trains, planes etc. Multi-year school/sports activities and not enough parents to go around.

I have 3 teenagers. They're awesome and I've loved it, but my friends with 2 kids definitely find life logistics a lot simpler!

Mine are now 5 and 2. They sleep through the night, play together ( mostly). My youngest is dropping his nap so days out without needing to think about nap time are emerging for the first time in 5 years.

I get time to go to the gym, I feel sane, my life is slowing incorporating some me time.

For me it's a dear god no.. no ...no ...NO

I had three - all boys - and whilst the early years were very hard work, and the teenage years had their challenges too, I do not regret having a third child. I honestly believe that it was harder going from no child to one, than from one to two, and harder going from one to two than from two to three - I had learned all the shortcuts and skills I needed to make things easier second and third time round.

More than two and there's always someone else to gang up with on the other one. I'm one of five myself and the politics, for want of a better word, can be intense in larger families. But now we are all thoroughly grown-up, I wouldn't be without any of my siblings.

No personal experience as I only have the one (grown up now) and hats off to you if you have two this age and are actively contemplating a third!

But - from of experience of friends with three children, a lot of things can become proportionately more expensive as so many things are set up for a family of 4, eg family tickets to days out, holiday accommodation offers, housing where there will be one DC with their own room and two sharing in your average 3 bed house, not sure if you can even get 3 car seats in a normal car etc

Don't do it...bigger car, more bedrooms or someone has to share, more fights, holidays always designed for 4....just No!

Yep. It’s bloody hard work. I’m not sure I’d make the same decision if I could go back as much as we love them all.