2.5 year gap between siblings

[salharg]

My hairdresser told me I must be crazy to be having this age gap, yes I fell earlier than expected but I thought 2.5 years was a fairly standard gap not a small one?
please help me I am now worrying even though it is too late

I've got 2 years 4 months and it's great. It is fairly common, no idea what's she talking about! Just think some people are party poopers! Enjoy your babies

It’s a completely normal age gap.

Mine are 19 months apart, 2.5 years is pretty standard. I think bigger age gaps are worse as you have started to get your normal life back whereas mine has just remained chaotic 😂 can’t miss sleep if you never sleep.

I don't understand this obsession with gaps between pregnancies... aside from the financial aspect needing to be considered from a childcare POV (if needed), it doesn't make a blind bit of difference. My dsis is 7 years older than me, my dbro is 16mo younger than me. My DM doesn't think one gap was better or worse than the other. Close gaps don't guarantee close sibling bonds, just a large gaps doesn't mean they won't be close. 🤷‍♀️

@Tibtab I agree! I wanted a third but dh didn't, if we had decided to go for number 3 I wanted an age gap of just 18 months as I figured whilst I wasn't sleeping I may shove another baby into the mix 🤣

14mths between my two....
Can't say it was easy but they have the same interests and hobbies.

My babies have an age gap of 11 months🤣 2.5 years sounds great. My sister and I have an age gap of 9 years so I guess you can’t win regardless of the age gap. You’ll always have someone say something

Completely normal,not an age gap i would want, but odd comment from hairdresser

I have 3 Dcs and 2 and a half years between each of them. I think it's a great gap. Close enough in age to play together. Far enough apart not to be massively competitive with each other.

Weird comment. Mine are just short of 3 years apart and we didn't want much more than that. They're 4 and 2 now and it's been ok so far.

I've got 13 months between DC 1&2, and will have 16.5 months between 2&3. You do you! There's no 'perfect' age gap! They all have their pros and cons

It's a totally normal age gap. I've got 2y8m between mine, it was sooner than planned (fertility problems with no.1, kind of assumed no.2 would take longer than he did!) but it's worked fine. There are pros and cons to almost any age gap. I've got friends with 15m gaps (I could NOT have handled that, but she's done it and now has an easier time than I am) and friends with 4+ year gaps - the challenges are different but for the most part people just make it work.

I’ve got 16 months between DC1 & DC2, then 2.5yrs between DC2 & DC3. Personally I found the smaller gap a bit easier than the slightly bigger one. Probably because DC1 was still napping consistently so I had at least 90 mins every day where I could hear myself think. When DC3 came along, naps for the older 2 were a thing of the past, and the days felt a bit more relentless without that little oasis of calm in the middle 😬😂

Sounds quite normal, rather on the large side for me. My DC are 21 months apart, and that was perfect.

I only have 1. I am planning on trying in December and if successful there will be 2y 11 months between them. I've planned it this way due to the cost of childcare. DS will be eligible for his free 30 in the January.

There are pros and cons for all age gaps. I have a 21 month gap and 26 month gap but know people with all kinds of gaps from less than a year to over a decade. No age gap is the best or the worst you just make the best of what you have!

Well, we’ve got a five year gap and I think bigger gaps are hugely under rated on mumsnet.

im chiming in to balance out the replies.

i love it as there’s little competitiveness, they both get they have different needs. Easy to have one on one time with each. They play together really well.

we had a lot going on after our first arrived and I was a wreck for three years. We TTC and it didn’t happen. I’m grateful it didn’t as I was exhausted and had nothing left to give. When I did get pregnant I felt much better (no surprise) and loved the whole thing. Had a brilliant second Mat leave with the eldest in reception so he’d time for both.

i now wouldn’t dream of less than 4 years between kids, but my kids are pretty emotionally demanding and I’m better able to meet their needs with the age gap we have.

But as others have said, you can make any gap work.

2 years 7 months been my 2 which is thankfully been pretty perfect. Can't stay what it'll be like as they older (youngest is under 1) but so far so good and I didn't want to get used to sleep again before having another one