did having a 2nd child enrich the lives of your children & make parenting easier in certain ways?

[LulabelleH]

did having a 2nd child enrich the lives of your children & make parenting easier in certain ways?

... 👆🏼these are the primary drivers for me to have a 2nd baby.

I have in my mind siblings 👶🏼👧🏼 would:

• be a play mate (day-to-day, Christmas Day, on holiday, family events, etc)
• aid each other with learning to interact, share, be more social
• be there from the early days through life as a companion 👭

I’m an only child & always thought I’d be happy with one child, however I observe & feel potential benefits a sibling would have for my little boy each day, please share your honest thoughts 💭

I very much wanted a second, I didn't want DD to be an only child
There are 4 & a half yrs btwn them.
Dd hated DS, they fought, always. It was misery. I spent my life pacifying/managing & protecting DS. No hands held, no complicity. DD was dominant, DS turbulent.
It was unbelievably hard, it would have been so much easier to just have had DD.
I don't know when it changed, but after they no longer lived at home !
They are now adults & sort of friends.

I have a 4 year gap, girl first then a boy. After the first year which was hard work, i do find 2 kids in many ways easier than 1. They love each other, only fall out occasionally. They occupy each other totally when at home. Eat together, play together. The eldest plays all the role play stuff I hate with the youngest. I have been lucky i think.

I have an 18 month gap between my boys. For me, it most definitely isn’t easier having 2 but I am currently in the trenches as the little one is only 6 months so I guess this is one of the harder bits.

At the moment it is an endless cycle of nappies, feeding, naps and struggling to get out of the house. It is hard right now but I am hoping it will get easier once they can entertain each other a bit and when the baby isn’t so needy. There are some lovely moments but ds1 mostly ignores ds2 for now!