Considering fostering, we have a 22 month old dd, any experiences of how this affects you as a family?

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My DH and myself are considering fostering. My MIL is a foster carer and we are her support, so have experience with FC.
I was just wanting to know if anyone with young children could share their experiences?

Bumping for you, I'd like to know.

Hello! Just been fostering for a short time so have a limited experience!

In my area they ask you for a two year age gap between a foster child and your youngest-not sure if this differs in other areas.

With regards to my children (now 5, 7 and nine) it has been a really positive experience, and they have all been really great with lo-think the only negative thing will be when lo goes...

we are pretty new carers too - currently almost a month into our 2nd placement (our first lasted 6 months)

When we started we had a 3 year old, a 6 year old and 8 year, and they have really enjoyed having both of the LO's here, and all dealt really well when the LO went home.

To be honest I think if comes down to knowing your children, I had concerns about how our youngest would be as he is a really Mummy's boy and still very snuggly, but he has done great, he will often come and sit beside me, when I have the LO in my arms or on my knee but he never seems to mind sharing his cuddles.

The one thing it might be worth mentioning, is our LA won't take on families if you are planning on having more children. Our LA also like a 2 year gap.

Good luck with it tho - the country is in desperate need of good carers :)

Thank you for your replies, can I ask how old the LO's were that have stayed with you Squidgy and three?
We aren't planning on having anymore children, I've come to terms with that now, but we definately have enough love for someone else :)
How has it affected your relationships with your partners?

This is our first placement and we have had lo since birth.

I don't think fostering has really affected our partnership-we work very much as a "team" when dp is about (he works most days) and we have found that fostering is something that really fits in with our family!

I was due to return to work in September (finished when we were passed at panel and my job was kept open) but I am handing in my notice on Monday

Our LO is 3, and DFD is 2. They get on really well so far- we applied when DD was just 2 though, and it took a long time for us to get through; bear this in mind!

I have to say we're all enjoying it so far, having a good time, learning loads from each other. I haven't noticed any negative impact so far, but we've only been together for 7ish weeks.

Our first placement was just under 11 months when he arrived, and our current one was 5 weeks - he would have come straight from hospital but went to a respite family as we were on holiday. (We are approved for 0-2)

I don't think that fostering has had any impact on my relationship with my husband, with having 3 young kids adding another one to the mix doesn't actually make much difference.