When to have third child??

[ayesar]

I have 2 kids who are almost 5 and 3. I am thinking about having a third but not sure how long I should wait. I want to have the third when it will be easiest on me and my kids.

Could anyone share your experience based on your age gaps? Was it easier having your third after your kids were older? How many years between them is best?

I am thinking of getting pregnant next year which means my youngest and the baby will have 4.5 years between them. I don't know if even that is too close.

I was pg when ds1 was 5 and Dd 3 and thought it would be a lovely gap. Sadly not meant to be, I had an mmc. So ds1 was 7 and dd 5 when much wanted dc3 arrived. It wouldn't have been the gap I would have chosen, but I humbly realised for various reasons, it's not always a choice we can make. Took me much longer to conceive dc3 than the previous 3 pgs.

I would say go for it now, ds1 and dd absolutely adore their baby brother, perhaps in a more mature appreciative way than they might have at 3&5. But I can see things getting tricky as they get older, juggling different activities etc. ds1 does footy and rugby, both go swimming and dd does rainbows. Nowhere near as much as some children in their classes. But I get slight anxiety attacks thinking of adding soft play, endless parties at 4-5 and things into the mix I'm sure it will all work out fine, but it's been hard as they've both progressed to more detailed homework / school reading etc and ds2 likes my attention late afternoon onwards at times.

Saying that, if I was younger and dh would agree (he won't!) Id go for no.4 to even things out

I'm in awe of all the threads I see on here where people say dc3 was a breeze and just slotted in! I wish you the very best and hope you have a slotter in-er, with what feels like a good gap for you all x

Oh and ds1 moved to juniors just a month before dc3 was born. So I had to pick dd up at 3pm, then go back for ds1 at 330. That was sometimes tricky at times, but in the early days I worked at fitting feeds in around the school run and naps would happen in the pram on the way. I have a couple of good friends at school now - ds1 and dd's friends mums. So either of them were really kind at helping out with pick ups on the rare occasion it was a bit tricky.