Is having 3 kids really that bad?

[Mamabear256]

Currently pregnant with 3rd. Have 2 boys 6 and 3.5 years old. This pregnancy was planned but now I’m panicking after reading horror stories online (mainly Mumsnet) about how hard having 3 is compared to 2, loss of freedom, ruining family dynamics etc etc. is it really that bad???

I’m like you 4 th in 3 months and I would have a 5 th if I was younger but I’m 44 . I was alway a person that said I only wanted one then had number 2 14 years after my fist and I lived the organised chaos . I love seeing big families

I would have had another if we could have afforded to . The teen years are proving expensive and that’s before thinking about driving lessons and uni costs

We are paying out thousands for uni. We considered a third but so glad we didn’t now!

I have 3. It’s expensive when they’re older.

Nah it's fine. 2-3 was the easiest.

You should stop reading silly stories online. A bit like people who are unhappy are more likely to leave reviews, people who are having a bad time are more likely to write about their experiences online.

Hopefully it's just your hormones giving you a little spook and you'll be ok soon.

Three is great - so far! Mine are only 4, 2 and 1 though, so I’m hardly a veteran of parenting. Going from 2 to 3 was the easiest transition of the lot.

In fact, I only stumbled upon this thread whilst looking for a sense check on whether to have a fourth.

I have three, although my youngest is only four months old so I'm sure there will be rocky times ahead - but, I absolutely love it.

I am so much more confident and relaxed with this baby in terms of things like sleep routines, breastfeeding, bedtimes etc. My older two love their baby brother so much and haven't seen any regressions in behaviour or anything like that this time around.

Bringing my third home to meet his brothers and my mum was, no exaggeration, the best moment of my life so far. The whole room was full of joy, I can't explain it but I just knew my family was complete at last, and everyone was there and healthy and so happy. It was magic.

I have similar gaps to you - when my baby was born my eldest was 2 weeks off his sixth birthday and my middle was about 3 and a half. So the bigger two are in school/preschool while I'm at home with the baby. By the time my maternity leave ends, they'll both be in school so I'll only have to pay for one lot of chilcare.

My older two are pretty good at playing together fairly independently, and they're both now reliably toilet trained day and night, and sleep through most nights. I'm finding it a lot easier than the last time I had a 4 month old, when I was trying to toilet train an unruly 2 year old at the same time while dealing with a sleep regression in a heatwave!

I had a massive panic when I found out I was pregnant with him and it wasn't the straightforward, happy news I'd had when I found out with my older two. In fact we seriously considered ending the pregnancy. I'm really glad I didn't, although I am 100% done now and DH is getting a vasectomy, which I'm happy to support.

Don't panic OP! Mine are all secondary/uni age now and it's still fine. I honestly don't have any regrets about my three. I love the dynamics!