Age gap between first and second child?

[sianny78]

So this is a fairly well-timed post considering this morning's news about the Duchess of Cambridge being pregnant again! I was wondering what age gaps people had between their first and second children? I'm starting to think about number 2, the timing being driven mostly by work/financial constraints, but I'm nervous about how I'll cope with a second. This wasn't helped by some Facebook posts and an email from a friend of mine who had her second 5 months ago when her first was then 18 months old. This is a very good friend of mine who's opinion I greatly value but I don't know if she's just having a particularly bad experience or if it's the kind of thing that you should expect. Your stories, good and bad, would be appreciated!

2 nearly three years between DS and DD. It was perfect. DS was so excited to see his little sister and was on his best behaviour at home so she didn't wake up. Now I have four and unfortunately, they're rarely in there best behaviour!

Thanks everyone. A real mix there! But it seems that the overall result is, whatever the spacing, you'll work it out cos you don't have much choice! And you can't predict how your first child will respond or what baby number 2 will be like. You just know you'll love them both (all) to bits & that's enough to get you through anything

11 years between my two but thinking about dc3 now and after reading about medical reasons (risk of autism, SIDS, premature birth etc) I'm hoping around a 2-3 year gap between baby 2 and baby 3.

we wanted a gap of 3 years or so to give my body time to recover after a dreadful preg. As it turned out, it was 6 years. It's actually worked out beautifully though. Older son has had a very difficult time as the 2nd preg was bad too and I was in bed ill most of it (HG). We were afraid he'd blame the baby for the absence of Mama but he's as besotted with the little pipsqueak as we are. Lucky.

It has helped through the pregnancy and now the baby's here that he's old enough to reason with, mostly.

12 months here. First year was hard, and we still don't get a single night of uninterrupted sleep now they are 3&4 (always one or the other with nightmares or disrupted sleep). They get on really well though - no jealousy and good interactive play. They entertain each other which gives us time to snatch the occasional cup of tea .

ds was 8 months when I caught on with dd. There is a 17 month gap between them. It was very hard at first - I really struggled with depression, dd had reflux and was a very unsettled baby. Now, though, it's a different story. They're of a similar age, they play well together with the same toys and argue quite a lot over them and they look after each other. Now I can say I'm glad I had a small age gap.

I have an IVF toddler and am about to do IVF again for a sibling. Hopefully we'll be successful again and if so, age gap will be 2.75 years.

Given our situation I really can't relate to those who meticulously plan and obsess about the ideal
age gap. You get what you get and some are able to plan it perfectly
while others aren't.

Basically, what Tiny said!

15 minutes! Then almost four years until number three. The four year gap meant that the older two were at nursery, more independent and started school when no 3 was 3 months so I had plenty of time at home with the youngest alone which was lovely. I'm sure it's different if the first one is a singleton though.