Are 2 kids more than twice the work of one?

[brownbutterfrangipanetart]

A few people have said to me that two children are more than double the work for 1, for example 4x the work of one

I’m wondering if this matches other people’s experiences and how?

I would have thought that financially everything is double, household chores like washing are double, but wouldn’t there be some benefit in the later years from the siblings playing together? why would it be more than double? Is there something I’m missing?!

every child is extra work. The hardest point for me was having one toddler and one baby - very difficult. I had a third and they just slotted in easily and the older two played together and made it easier. But everyone gets older and it becomes less work.

Nah it was easy to add a second. Maybe 1.5 times the work.

Adding a third though... 😮that was like adding 10 x the work!

Really? I’ve never heard that. I’ve only ever heard people saying two are easier than one!

Yes sounds like age gap and how ‘easy’ the children both are as toddlers + babies.

@LilBus haha that one also doesn’t make sense! Well 2 easier than 1 in sense of playing together but not in other ways - financially, household wise etc

Much less than double the work but more than double the joy

My experience 0-1 is the biggest shock. 1-2 half as big a shock and I agree more like 1.5x the work. Not double.

2-3 easy
3-4 tricky, no normal cars etc
4-5 easy
5-6 easy.

*easy in comparison to 0-1.

No not double, but like others have said one-and-a-half times… everything feels like spinning two plates and yeah you get into a flow sometimes and it doesn’t feel like much more work, and then other times it’s really feels like it’s more work and you’re doing everything at the same time. It changes based on age and circumstance as most things do.