To be cheeky to ask how old you were when you had your kids? And age gaps?

[ecossegirl91]

I have one child currently, almost 15m old. Not an easy baby by any means - very bad reflux, very unsettled, kinda grumpy even now 😂 but delightful when he wants to be and still not sleeping through consistently! He was conceived and born when I was 31, very luckily on the first go after coming off the pill (which I’m now back on).

im Fairly certain a second is on the cards, not right now, probably with a 3 year gap if I had total control which of course I don’t because who knows if it’ll even happen for me, nothing is certain! I’ve just turned 33 and first born will turn 2 in the autumn.

not sure whether to bite the bullet and try when they turn 2 - that would be a min age gap of like 2y 8m or so if it happened straight away.

what did other people do? How long? What age etc?

I had ds at 45+2.

His dad did ask me if I wanted to try for a second one but I thought that would be pushing our luck that bit too far. Plus ds was only a few hours old and I was a bit tired at the time.

Ds is lovely, happy, healthy, was an easy baby. I asked him if he would like a foster-sibling but he's always said no thanks. Now he's 15 and still lovely despite being an only child. 🙂

I was just turned 25 when I gave birth to my first and pregnant again 6 months later so there's 15 months between my two with the 2nd being born when I was 26.

20
31
37
Quite big age gaps but I had a career that I was building up in my 20s so I postponed having a second child.

I had my first at 31 as a single parent.

My second at 38 with my husband.

We are trying again for another, but as I’m now 43 I don’t hold out a lot of hope.

I had mine at 33, 35 & 41. The age gap between second and third was mostly OK, but was difficult in practical terms like swimming and and cinema. Inside the house it was fine, they all got on reasonably well, the main issue was managing the older 2 doing things that weren't suitable for the youngest, such as teenagers wanting to play Call of Duty, but youngest not liking being sent off to a different room as he wanted to hang with his siblings.

First born at 32. Very difficult baby
Second born at 35. Delightful baby but doesn’t sleep.
3y 2 month age gap. 3 year 8 month old and 6 month old.
I couldn’t have survived a gap any less than 2.5 years. As fate had it it was over 3.
Wont be having anymore.

3.5 year gap between mine. First at 38 and second at 41. Was a bit of a gamble due to age but I wanted to make things easier and reduce any present between siblings. Its worked out very well.

I was 28 when dd1 was born and just turned 30 when dd2 was born. There is 21 months between them.

good to get all the sleep deprivation out of the way in one go 🤣

I was

24

28

33

A 4 and 5 year gap. I think in theory I would have liked the gaps to be smaller but know myself and know I wouldn't have coped mentally. They are now 14, 11 and 6 and they all get on pretty well.

I was 26 and 30, they have a 3.5 year age gap and it's been perfect so far. Eldest was old enough to understand that baby needed me sometimes and was able to keep herself busy while I was feeding, could help herself to snacks and take herself to the toilet, was content sitting quietly watching a movie while baby slept in my arms for a bit etc which I think made a massive difference in the early days as she obviously wouldn't have been as independent if we had had our second when she was younger.

22,26,29,30,33.

Three years and three months between 1-2 2-3 and 4-5. Fifteen months between 3-4 which was the best gap all things considered although very unplanned.

Similar to you, OP! I was 31 when I had him. He's turning 2 this month. Second is in our thoughts, for being concieved possibly this year - if it happens as quickly as the first, he'll be around 3 and a half when it's born.

24,26 and 38. 2 year gap with first 2 and 12 year gap before i had my youngest (wasn't planned)

I was 27, 29, 32, 34, 41, 45.

22 when I had my first.
24 when the second came along.
2 years 9 month gap between them.

27 and 28. 18m between both.

26
34
37
44

34 & 36. Just under 18 months between. I wanted a small gap and was trying to leave the option of a third open. No 2 changed my mind on that!

I had my first at 32 and my second at 36. The gap worked for us childcare fee wise and eldest was a lot more independent by the time a new baby arrived. Worked for us apart from the getting used to no sleep again!

29 and 30, exactly 1 year between them. Not planned but wouldn't change it if I could

I was 22 with my first DC. My finally one born recently at 45 .. I have various age gaps with all my DC . My smallest gap is 16 months and my largest is 4 years. If I am honest there is no ideal age gap. Two of my DC are 6 years apart and are so close. All DC are different.

Had first when 28, planned for 2-3 year gap so had coil out a month or two before she turned two.

Had twins when she was 2 years 8 months (so I was 31). Had 3 under 3 (caught first month of trying both times, never been without contraception since)

I was 21 and 25 and there's a 3 year 3 month gap between them. I like the gap, he's old enough to understand she's little and he can't be too rough with her but they're not too overly different in age and we hadn't gotten rid of any baby bits even though we were 'certain we were one and done' 😂.

I had always dreaded having kids. Not the actual looking after the child part, just the pregnancy/birth and would literally have nightmares about it for years. I’m still so shocked that I had my two at 29 and 31, just under 2 years apart (by a couple of weeks). We are out of the newborn bit now and it’s totally doable but I had an easy baby (sleep-wise) first time round too so I hoped it would go the same way again and it did! My only regret is not giving it another 6 months to a year between them, just to enjoy it all a bit more. It’s great right now, especially at Christmas there but I keep finding myself noticing people I know with two teenagers of a similar age gap and thinking how sad I’ll be when they aren’t both this age anymore 🙈 At least if I had 3 or 4 years between them I could spread it all out a bit, although most people say the opposite and say you should get it over with! I don’t think my body had fully recovered after the first either so I wish I’d just given myself a bit more time and not been in such a rush. I’m not fully ruling out another baby when my youngest is 3 or 4 though! I’m pretending I am but in reality I’m 100% asking my husband when we hit that point 😂

I was 21 then 30 then 39 😳
Lots of fertility issues and a surprise third 🤣