If you grew up one of three siblings...

[Flowerface]

How was it? I am seriously broody and thinking about a 3rd, but am worried that they won't get enough parental attention, and also about the fabled 'middle child syndrome'. Does it exist? How did you feel growing up? I have read lots of threads about three children from the parents perspective but was interested in how the children might feel. I like the idea of having a supportive little tribe of them, but maybe I am romanticising it a bit...

I am middle of 3 and think it's great. Great to have 2 siblings, so if one onto around you have another to play with. I liked being in the middle, being quite shy I liked sitting in the corner keeping myself to myself and not getting too much attention. I have 2 kids and would love a third.

Tbh I think my oldest sister had hardest time as a lot was expected of her being the oldest.

I'm in the middle of three. I didn't get on brilliantly with my younger DB as children but was always close to my slightly older DSis. Now we all love each other so much and I wouldn't trade either of them for the world.

I am youngest of three so am spoiled and over-indulged, obviously quite a big age gap between all of us but I always felt DBro (eldest) was looking out for me. DSis and I fought like cat and dog until she left home. I'm close to both of them now, they arent do close to each other, but we all get on fine. I wouldn't choose to have 3 tho.

I am the eldest of three, but two older ones fairly close together then a big gap before the 3rd who was a surprise . TBH it was not really like being one of three because the gap was so big and the youngest was, in effect, an only.

I got shafted with loads of babysitting and general taxi services though Now youngest is in early/mid twenties and the eldest two seem like boring old farts to the youngest(both settled down with children, youngest still at home)

On a practical level, it's a bit of a PITA for booking holidays etc and we ended up getting an estate car. I have 2 children and feel that there would be too many impractical things for us to have a third, new car would be essential (3 door hatch ATM) and new house (my two already share) but I would love another baby if i had a magic wand/lottery win

I'm the youngest of 3. I think if you want a third, have one; but I would say that having 3 fairly knackered my parents, and perhaps meant they stayed married for a good decade longer than they should have done.

According to my brother and sister I was spectacularly spoilt and overindulged as a child, and the rest of the family consider me an amusing idiot and pretend adult because my parents really were losing it by the time I came along. I'm sure most of this is true I'm certainly less successful than either of my siblings. I do think it's hardest for the eldest in a family of more than 2 children, but it's also true that the youngest just has to fit in with a system that has been designed for other people a lot more. So when my sister and brother wonder why I seem to 'have it easy' a lot of the time, I think it's because I was trained longtime in spotting the early signs of/putting up with/peacemaking through hormonal and dysfunctional outbursts from my elders and betters, and being the clown to distract them from their Terribly Serious Lives. It does give you a certain perspective.

I am the eldest of 3.

I have 3 girls as of 5 weeks ago.

My siblings and I get on well and are pretty close. We had a great childhood.

Youngest of 3 here. I was definitely the baby of the family- not so much spoilt, but certainly the rules were a lot more relaxed by the time I came along and I got to go my own way a lot more. DSis definitely suffered from middle child syndrome, she clashed with my mum an awful lot. DBro the eldest was golden child who could do no wrong.

In general I do remember never being bored and always having someone to play with. And these days I love it when we all get together- we each have 2 kids of similar ages and together they are a little tribe

If money was no object I would have 3, but as things stand we are sticking with 2.

I'm the middle of 3, brother 2 years older, sister 2 years younger. We got on pretty well and enjoyed each others company for the most part. We're reasonably good friends now we're adults too and I know I could ask either of them for anything and they'd try their best to do it for me (as long as it was a reasonable request)

We did have a grandma living with us with Altzheimers though from when I was 12 - 16, so our teenage years were spent as 'us against grandma', not because we hated her, just because she was like an extra, really needy child taking up way more of our parents time than any of us did.

I really want a third and am trying to persuade dp that it would be a good idea but he's not keen :( If you and your dh are both in agreement then go for it. I think the family set up has loads more to do with children being happy than the number of children you have.

Middle of 3. My mum insists she treated us all the same but she really didn't - eldest had a lot of pressure to achieve and set the standard, youngest got away with loads and was allowed to do everything at a much earlier age. I think I was slightly forgotten between the other two, esp as the age gap wasn't huge (2y and 2.5y). Classic middle child

It was generally quite fun having 2 sisters to fight play with all the time and we all get on pretty well together now (and can discuss our DM's strange parenting together at length).

I'm one of three, my dh is one of three, we have three children. Wouldn't have had any of it any other way.

My husband is the middle child of 3, I only have one sibling. He never felt disadvantaged/left out, etc. Me, on the other hand as the elder of two sisters constantly felt like everything was a battle, that my younger sister had it so much easier [shrug].

See to be honest I never heard much about "middle child syndrome" until I started reading MN.

I have 3 daughters Having 3 for me was a conscious decision that thankfully happened. I have one sibling, I wanted my children to have more.

Oh, and I was the middle child, my older sister is my best friend and I love my younger brother to bits, we were all treated equally by my parents.

I have just googled middle child syndrome and saw this

"Middle kids bemoan their fate as being ignored and often grow resentful of all the parental attention given to the oldest and the baby of the family"

I have 3 DDs and I couldn't ignore the middle one if I tried! She is much more high maintenance than the other 2 due to personality. If anything DD1 feels the worst as she is 6.5 year older than DD2 and remembers when it was just the 2 of use.

Maybe its not so bad with us because of the large age gap but I really like having 3.

Also the article mentions becoming outnumbered by having a 3rd but as I am a single parent that doesn't count for me.

Another middle child here... I had a rubbish older sister, in that I had to do the rule breaking stuff, but the more conventional "firsts" (GCSE results, for example) she had already done. But I wasn't the baby of the family either, and my brother definitely got away with far more than I did. I wouldn't say I really enjoy(ed) being a middle child, but then I guess I don't know any different.

We have stopped at two, partly because of both DH and my experiences growing up (he's one of four), though.

I am the eldest of of 3, sort of 4 due to an extra sister acquired at age 11 :)

I have 3 - my middle one was overheard telling his best friend that Mummy had had a brother for him so he'd have somebody to play with, because his big sister is always going off and playing with her friends :) If you parent consciously you can try to ensure they all get equal attention, my parents somewhat expected the oldest to take responsibility for the youngest and that they would have to parent each successive child less I think!

As a child my middle sister and I played together a lot because there weren't many other children about where we lived, but we also fought really bitterly. My main rivalry was with her, and resentment at the fact I was always supposed to rise above taunting from her and not retaliate because she was little (she was only 2 years younger). I never felt anything other than protective towards the youngest, however once I hit my teens I hated always being told I had to take my sister with me when I wanted to go out, and my parents mixing bribery and emotional blackmail to make me take the youngest on holiday with me when I was at uni and she was 15! I aim to avoid doing glaringly ridiculous stuff like that!

We did have to get a bigger car though, my parents used to stuff one of us in the boot, and later had a serious of ridiculous unsafe vehicles to transport us in, including a very ancient agricultural land-rover without seats in the back...

I am glad to have more than one sibling now as it makes visits back to my parents easier if they are around. I used to enjoy the hubub of lots of us as a teen, would never have liked it to be just me and my parents - as a child I think I would have said more were better, but would never have chosen to be the eldest (I always secretly longed for a big brother for some reason).

I'm in the middle of three girls and always said I would have and even number of children (I've got 2). I wouldn't be without either of them now but growing up we would gang up 2 on 1 most of the time

I'm the eldest of three but only by accident as my mum's second turned out to be twins.

I've always said I'd love three because I loved the dynamic of three of us growing up. We were and still are very close. However I now feel quite comfortable with two and honestly don't know if I want to start all over again with another baby. I have two dd's. I know dh would love a son and if we did suddenly decide to go for it and we had a boy, I would seriously worry about dd2 in particular being overshadowed by a baby brother. Does that sound daft?

I was the youngest of three. The others were boys, so as I was the first and only girl I always felt a little bit special, and being the youngest you seem to get spoiled a bit. I felt like my mother was pleased to have a girl after lots of time spent with thei boys and their hobbies of football and cricket, at last she had someone to pursue girly pursuits with. It was always a busy household, and we were all encouraged to help with household chores. Friends who used to come over were always a bit surprised to be asked help lay the table or help with washing up. I cant imagine growing up in a house with just one other child, or being an only child, but I suppose what ever you are born into, you get used to it, and treat it as normal. It was nice to have a house full of my brothers friends, it made me much easier than some people in the company of others.

I am a middle child and have bits of middle child syndrome LOL. I however, would not be without my brother and sister. I wish my DS was not an only child but I am getting on and ex left me last year but the time I am interested in a serious relationship my eggs will have dried up

Go for it. Better than regretting not having 3.

I am eldest of 3 and identify with a lot already said by others. We were 2 older ones then a much younger accidental one. My parents felt, with hindsight, that having the third child kept them younger for longer.

I had a lot of responsibility to set the standards and achieve so grew up very responsible, etc. Middle one is very self-involved and laid back to the point it becomes manipulative (in as much as everybody has to dance to his tune to get any involvement at all from him). Youngest was almost like an only child and quite indulged but has grown into a nice adult and we get on well.

I always felt I was the hardest done by, being the oldest, although I never voiced that to anyone as I thought maybe I was being a drama queen until DF during the illness before he died told me he had always felt guilty as he felt that, despite his best efforts, I had missed out on a lot.

I'm the oldest of 3 and have 3 myself. My middle sister and I were treated very much like twins (18mo between us) and then there is a big gap to my youngest sister. My sisters never really got on very well growing up. It was hard on her not being the baby anymore after 6.5 years. They get on fine now - usually! My little sister's life was very different to mine (parents older, wiser and more financially stable). My Mum absolutely loved having a big gap but little sis found it hard when me and middle sis left home.

I've got 3 but all closeish together. I hope because I've got DS then 2 girls that DD1 won't get middle child syndrome as she is the oldest girl IYSWIM. Atm, DS and DD1 are very close but DD2 is only 14mo.

I am the eldest of three. Love my siblings and wouldn 't change them ever. My parents did a pretty good job with us.

However, I wouldn't have three. Too expensive, too noisy, too time consuming, too much potential to gang up on each other, too much potential for one to get overlooked.

I was the middle child of three. I hate it. I really did become invisible the day my sister was born. Db is pfb and definitely the apple of dms eye. Dsis is the baby and has always been quite poorly so needs all of us to look after her. I think two is the perfect number.

I'm the middle child and christ I'm treated like the black sheep (perhaps its because I've never broken the law).

I don't know what middle child syndrome is? Is it resentment? Maybe I have that