Talk to me about larger age gaps

[greenbananas29]

So DS is 5 and we are TTC. Worried d we've left it too late ....
Can't anyone share there 5/6 + year age gaps pls?

I've got a 10 year age gap. Ds is 13 and DD is 3 (new relationship).

Ds can get himself up, washed and dressed etc.

The hard part is that they have such different needs, and need me in different ways.

The good part is Ds is an amazing brother and can watch Dd if I have a shower, need to get tea on.

Hi, so I had a 3 year 9 month age gap between 1st and 2nd then 7 year gap and had third.
I found 7 year gap easier as my middle child was more independent. There was no jealousy and he absolutely adored his little sister. (Still does now at age 7 and 14!) They even manage to argue which I thought with a bigger gap wouldn't happen lol. Honestly think there are pros and cons to small/bigger gaps but for me a 7 year gap worked out well. Like you I was really worried the gap was going to be too big! Hope all goes well for you 🙂

6.5 years between mine. Was great when my youngest was a newborn as could trust my 6 year old with him. Unfortunately though by the time my youngest was able to play my eldest wasn't too interested in playing with him. But since they were 8 and 14 they've got on great and it's brilliant that my eldest can watch his little brother if we need to pop out.

im one of 3. Sibling 1 is 2 years younger married with DC the same age as mine. We barely speak. Sibling 2 is 11 years younger and we speak most days and see each other most weeks. They are both brothers.

My eldest and second born have a 5 year age gap, to me it was perfect to be honest. Eldest had just started school a couple of months before baby was born so I felt I had plenty of time to just focus on baby and eldest was loving the new adventures of school and telling me all about it when she got home and baby had a nap. At night when baby went down to bed we had some extra one on one time with stories and bed.

As they got older they confined to be close and were just close enough in age to enjoy lots of the same things, but not so close that they fought over toys or being competitive with each other. They are 12 & 17 now and while they are not friends all of the time (mostly down to teen angst and hormones - both girls) they still get on well (especially considering how different in personality they are) and look out for each other.

Ultimately the age gap is what you make of it. I also have 3 younger ones and my 4 year old is incredibly close with my eldest.

Almost the same. Brother 1 is 3 years younger, our children are friends but, although we have never fallen out we are not close. Brother 2 is 10 years younger, our children are very different ages but he and I are much closer

Six year gap and I loved it. I focused 100% on the first one for six years. Luckily the second one was super chill. Pacifier in her mouth and she would just go wherever we were going.

I have a 21 year old, a 10 year old and a 2 year old. Very big gaps.

21 doesn't live here now but he was very independent when my second son came along.

My 10 year old is still quite babyish and needy and attention seeking so it feels like I have two 2 year olds sometimes lol

I had a dd aged 10, a D's aged 7 1/2 then our suprise baby arrived. A second DS. My dd was upset we were having another baby but cheered up when she found it was a boy. My DS was always thrilled as soon as we told him. He had always wanted a brother. DS used to play with him by shaking his rattles at baby. He would fetch nappies and toys for him. As adults my 2 sons are still quite close. They go to cinema and a meal out once every couple of weeks. DD is fine with brothers but not particularly close to either of them.

15 year age gap between mine- Its perfect. They love each other. I really wouldnt worry about it. If you love your children, show them love and kidness they will learn the same thing back in bucketloads. They have no concept of age-only we do. They are extremely adaptable qnd flexible still at the age you are talking about. Good luck with ttc

My DSis is nearly 5 years younger than me. We’ve always been close, other than when I was away at uni and she was a tween, when we drifted apart for a few years - no real reason, just very different life stages.

She actually lives with me on an off now (she’s working in my city, studying in another) and it’s fantastic.

I’ll grant that we have a brother in between, with whom we’re also close, so maybe the dynamic is a bit different? But we get along wonderfully even when he isn’t around!

My kids have a close age gap of 11 months so I couldn’t tell you from a mum perspective.

I do have a 9 year age gap with my younger sister. We have the same mum and dad and growing up there was a lot of bickering. We were in different stages of our childhood so I really have no clue what we were arguing about!

I’m 23 now and she’s 14 and we’re super close. She comes to my house weekly and enjoys spending time with my kids. We also go out a lot together either for food or to go shopping. I think a 5/6 age gap sounds great

We have a 6 year gap. I was going for 5 years but it took longer to conceive our second.

I like that we got to focus on our older daughter till she was 6 and getting more independent.

I love that I got to focus on my new baby whilst my older child was at school. We went to baby groups and coffee with mums of small babies rather than the baby being taken along to toddler groups. I got to sit on the sofa feeding and watching boxers again.

My older daughter isn't too jealous as she understands a baby has high needs and she got that level of attention when she was a baby. She can pick her up, carry her and almost never drops her! She understands what can be dangerous for babies so keeps her lego on the table or in her room, let's us knowing the baby has got something she shouldn't have etc. If my daughter and the baby both need me my older daughter has the maturity to wait.

What is challenging is their completely different needs. One still has two naps a day whilst the other enjoys full days out. A lot of stuff my older daughter is big enough to attend now isn't suitable for the baby so we sometimes split into two groups of two or three and one at holiday day camp/childminder. There will be two separate places to take them and pick them up from on work days for three years (this could be solved with a childminder but there are none that do school runs to my older daughter's school/a general lack of childminders).

I'm happy with my gap and glad I won't ever have a baby and toddler at the same time, two lots of full-time childcare to pay for at once, two doing exams at once, two at uni at once, even two hormonal teenagers at home at once!

Box sets not boxers!!

We've planned a 5 year age gap, meant i've been able to enjoy every stage of my DD without having to deal with another child, back at work after mat leave, couple of promotions etc has put us in a better position for next mat leave. Also now means i don't have to be at home with 2, as DD will be at school when this one is born.

I have 3 children. First two were born within 2 years of eachother.
Youngest is 6 years younger.
The older ones are old enough to not be 'threatened' by the youngest, they enjoy giving her attention.