Parents of 4 or more come and talk to me!!!

[Nemoandthefishes]

We are toying with the idea of no.4 but want an idea of pros and cons.
We only have a 3 bed semi but would cope. We have a zafira so, do have the room in the car....also would you leave a bigger gap or the sooner the better???? DS is 4.4,dd1 2.2 and dd2 nearly 14mths

Ecmo - I'm in the same position as you. We have 3 and supposedly that was going to be it - I even gave all my maternity clothes away. But I've been trying to persuade dh for the past 18 months to go for no.4. I think I may be succeeding. His most recent comment was "well if we have another baby then at least we won't have to keep talking about it all the time!"
My 3 are currently nearly 7, 5 and 2.7, so it will most likely be a 4 year gap between dc3 and 4. I'm hoping it will all work out OK, that the older 3 will dote on their baby sister/brother and possibly even be helpful! Plus I quite like the idea of having just one baby at hope while the other 3 are out at school.

caz- what horses do you have?

nemo, if you've already got 3 and they're all so young..i suppose a 4th won't make that much difference

nemo,the only SLIGHT prob i can see ,is that if its a boy..will he have to share a room with your ds? if so, you could find that the age gap being what it is,it could turn out to be irritating for your ds. sorry i wasn't being negative-honest!

nemo,the only SLIGHT prob i can see ,is that if its a boy..will he have to share a room with your ds? if so, you could find that the age gap being what it is,it could turn out to be irritating for your ds. sorry i wasn't being negative-honest!

sorry, been drinking again!

I have 5 too

there is....

DD1 14 in april

followed 22mths later by

DD2, who is 12 on sunday

followed 34mths later by

DD3 who was 9 last december

followed 17mths later by

DS1 who is 7

followed 2yr, 2mths later by

DS2 who is 5.

going from 2 to 3 was the easiest.....and fro 3 to 4 the hardest!!

BUT, TBH, going from 3 to 4 was hard because 1, I had a nasty car accident at 30wks pregnant with DS1, so after his birth was hard as I had suffered broken ribs and the healing after birth ws hard, and 2, going from girls to boys was a SHOCK!

othewise....I would completely recomend may kiddies, as it is fun, and once you have three, four is a doddle, and five is nothing!

for me 2 - 3 was hard

3-4 a breeze

4-5 hard!!!!

5-6 (shudder) we will see!

psycho - you are in for an interesting few years! boys harder toddlers - girls harder teens! imo!

pedilia - well ponies atm actually! a shetland and a section b who is rising 3. I sold my mare when I fell with ds3, but she was completely unsuitable and very unreliable, I had done loads of re-schooling with her, and had she had a better temperament, I would have cosidered breeding from her instead of selling her, but as things were it was a no-no, so next project is to break the youngster,(hopefully for dd1) and then in the next couple of years find another one for me, and we are breaking the shetland to harness aswell

I found 1-2 hard,
2-3 really difficult(though I think that was mainly ue to dd,s character!)
and all after that has been a breeze!

the more the merrier!

I think we have probably stopped now, but I am only 26, and never say never

but practicalities i.e the size of house, and car etc would get much harder with more than 5

Y'see we have a Galaxy and so have a spare seat in the car. And it bothers me! It needs filling!

I've got dd (9), ds1 (6), ds2 (3), and ds3 (16wk).

The 3 yr age gaps weren't planned, just seem to be very fertile in January every 3yrs!

I found 3 - 4 much easir than 2 - 3.

If I'd planned my family I'd have tried for a smaller age gap btween each.

I agree with bubblepop about sharing rooms. I wanted another girl but was relieved when #4 a boy as I thought there would be probs with baby sharing with 9yr gap.

Agree with coastalmum, 3-4 easier than 2-3, and also smaller age gaps. It is easier to cope with when they are very little if there is more space between them, but as they get older it's harder to keep everyone happy during time as a family on holidays, etc. The nine year old is pretty good about going to playgrounds still but actually he'd rather be doing something more grownup. If I'd been able to, I'd have squashed them all a bit closer, even though it would have been hell on toast for a few years.

I have DS1 (9)
3 years, 8 months
DD1 (6)
2 years, 10 months
DS2 (3)
2 years, 4 months
DS3 (1)

And today I would quite happily take them all back but I lost the receipt. Mostly it's great.

we have no more seats left - unless I always leave dh at home.......

lol DS at the min is actually going through a stage of wanting to share a room with the girls so is on a ready bed in there. He also keeps telling us to have another baby so he can share.

I think we are going to wait 6mths or so and see then as youngest will still only be 18mths old then.

caz- I have a ride/drive shettie am desperatly hoping that one of my daughters at least shows an interest
Also have a 15hh purebred arab mare and a 16hh TB gelding.

I am reading bits of this thread to DH, esp foxys post and he is talking about another one already

I had to sell my beloved landrover as we will now need a 7 seater so fingers crossed will be picking up my Isuzu Trooper( I can tow as well) next week and the reg is MUM, how cool is that!

don't have a big gap. I have 6 years between DD2 and Callum (my 4th) we are going to try for our 5th!! when Callum is 1 so he has compancy.

TTC No. 5 thread needed then Give me 6 months and I'll join!

It will be about 6 months for us too.

be warned gals 5 is a lot more then 4!

Paula congratulations.

I would have loved to have six but I think I can just about cope with my four.

paula.....

am certainly finding truth in the 'boys = hard toddlers, girls = hard teens!!!

took DD2 out for the day shopping on her own today, to southampton with Flame (she her godmum).....twas a birthday shop trip as she is 12 tomorrow!......twas a lovely day, until she got home and discovered we had planned a surprise sleep-over tonight with her best friend........OOOOH, she was rather irritated!!! she does not LIKE surprises!

one unhappy mum

altho, I DO remember the turning 12, and the issues!!!

Hi just found this thread! Hope people still wanting to chat.

I am pg with number 6 (girl). I have
DS age 15
DS age 13
DS age 10
DD age 5
DS age 2

I have had all sorts of comments like "should I say congratulations?" and "are you mad?" and lots of TUTS and shaking of heads.

However I have a very good friend who has 13 children, her youngest is 9 and she now has 11 grandchildren. She is 50 but looks about 10 years younger. Her children are all well brought up and a credit to her and her dh.

TBH - I probably found it hardest to go from 1 to 2. I was living away from family at the time and only had 17 months between babies. Going from 2 to 3 was fine and going from 3 to 4 was fantastic - I got divorced from father of first 3 and found my soul mate, got married and had dd - FAB! Then we had ds, now 2. It was no problem when he was a baby having five but I am finding being pg this time with a VERY active 2 year old and 4 other dc's, as well as a part time teaching job - well a bit of a challenge! But I am so happy to be having this little one and wouldn't change it for the world!

So things are a bit difficult for a few years - it is worth it!!

Go for it - big families are great!!

Sorry for huge post!!