A bigger gap or smaller for DC#3

[tommiesmama]

We've decided we would like a third. So unsure age gap between DC2 & 3! Do we go for a 2.5-3 year gap or wait till both are in school? 4+ ?

Honestly there are pros and cons for any age gap. My three are two school years then three school years apart, so elder sibling just over two and a half each time. This was busy, but worked out fine for us.
once the youngest was three, we were able to be quite ambitious in terms of holidays and days out for all the family, so the elder children were not held back.
However I’m sure a bigger age gap between child 2 and child 3 could work.
Friends of mine had their third child earlier than me, so two school years between each. They managed, although I thought that was more stressful re school exams!
You can make it work, whatever the timing

We had 3 then 2 and found it worked well as the eldest was able to help a bit more and the middle copied that so was nice to the baby. Depends on personalities though!

Older two are exactly 2.5 years apart and 2 school years apart which is great for hand me downs. We planned a slightly larger gap of 5.5 years between 2 and 3. Just depends on what you like, older two especially eldest was very tough as a baby but third is much chilled or maybe I'm just used to it now. It was lovely having mat leave with the older two at school and DH worked from home. Keep in mind if your older two are in school, they will bring all the viruses back home with them 😂 we managed to avoid covid but everything else came home (and from the childminder).

How old are your two children?

@Chocolateisnice I have a 5 year old and a just turned 2 year old

My first two are 2 years apart, the third was born one week before the second's 4th birthday. To be honest it was little hard going back to babies and with the big two in school and nursery it was very busy. I wish we had taken the plunge sooner but we did get married in between 2 and 3.

We are considering this too. There's 3 and a quarter years between our two. Id possibly consider a smaller gap this time if I were feeling braver - youngest is currently one and a half. But DC1 will start school in September and I get bed bound with pregnancy sickness for the first few months, so I dont want sny of that to coincide. Think we should wait til she's settled into school meaning minimum 3 yr age gap again.

We have a 2.5 year gap between my first two and then 4 years between our second and third. They were 6.5 and just turned 4 when my youngest was born. It works for us. My middle child started school soon after our youngest arrived, so we had quieter days for the first 6 months or so, aside from manic times in school holidays, which I appreciated. Then covid…but once we were out of that my youngest and I still have days together and I get to really appreciate him before he goes off to school. I look at mums with babies and toddlers and it’s hard. I know I did it with my first two but I’m always so glad not to have had to do it again. Sometimes there is a feeling of the youngest being a bit of a lag on us doing certain things, but not significantly so. His siblings both love him a lot. My eldest (now 10) is so sweet with him, and as she gets more independent and argues more with my middle one, he really enjoys having a younger brother he can play with instead. And it definitely carries your youngest along. He sees his brother and sister doing so much and won’t be left out!