The downsides to having three children..

[Mooncupflowethover]

Are there any? I've noticed a lot of 'shall we go for 3' threads just lately...

I'd love 3 but DH say's no, and he's not likely to change his mind either, so perhaps a reality check as to why 3 might not be such a good idea will make me finally content with just the 2

I haven't found any yet but DD3 is only 5 months She's lovely!

Watching with interest as my dh says he'd 'quite like' another baby, and I just cannot decide either way. I'm thinking it may be best to stick with two, but can't bear the thought of never being pregnant/having a newborn again...

Family tickets for things tend to be two adults two children.

You might need a bigger car.

Um......

Three times the mess.

Three times the shouting.

Three times the amount of uniform to lose in school.

(sorry, it's been a long day...)

You Only Have Two Hands

Three lots of homework to "help" with...often simultaneously...(headache emoticon).

There are always more small Fabs than big ones.

Hard to cuddle 3 at once.

For me, it's the 'eyes in the back of the head' thing.

When there were two, I always seemed to know where they were. Now I can see 2 straight away, whilst the thrid is running off somewhere .

That's about it though. I love having 3!

Watching with interest. DH needs convincing that 3 is a good idea... I'd love another one.

more laundry. more mess. more shouting. expensive to pay for 3 lots of childcare. harder work in the early days.

otherwise it's a great idea and a lovely number, all the downsides seem to have got less as the dds get a bit older. and there are upsides. For me, it means I never feel I didn't quite have enough children. it always feels sufficient and complete. Also it made for better sibling relationships with our children though you can't guarantee that, but for us 2 was an intense dyad and 3 is more relaxed.

I LOVE having 3 but I have to agree with Rasputin, the laundry defies belief (clothes, uniform, bedding, towels, swimming, PE, gym clothes) It never ever ends.

I was one of three...........the middle child.............I am stopping at two for that reason

(for now anyway, although would never rule out a big -gap and a 'last fling' with parenthood sometime in the future)

Everything is harder. Everything! There is always one left out when they are playing - my DC seem to prefer to play in pairs. In a air crash there'd be one child without an adult to hold them tight . You need a much bigger car - seven-seater preferably so they don't have to sit next to each other on long journeys (v important). Most family tickets are for 4 people not 5.

DH and I always feel such a sense of ease when one of them is away overnight. Two just seems such a doddle somehow.

There's always a 'spare' kid when you go out - one of you is watching #1, the other is watching #3, & both of you are assuming that #2 is with the other parent...

Oh & you don't fit in hotel family rooms. Hellholes though they are, it makes for extra expense when you have to book two rooms, & then you worry that they're being abducted trashing the room. Either that or you end up with a mum & dds room, & a dad & ds room...

...oh & tents, same applies.

Other than that it's all good. I love the way my gruesome threesome are a little gang!

I have a baby, a 3yo and a 4yo and for us at the moment the issue is just how unlikely it is that you ever get a decent night's sleep.
DS2 wakes up all the time because he's a baby, DD needs a wee, DS1 has nightmares....

OrmRenewed glad im not the only one to think about the aircrash thing! i have 3 dc and will not take them on a plane for this very reason!

It depends on your point of view, you could say there's always an older kid to hold onto the little one if you have several. or to read with the little one or take them to school when you can't be bothered, or get them dressed.

as for tents you just squidge them all in, more bodies = warmer on a cold night.

Ds2 (dc3) seems to spend most of his time in a car seat, ferrying the other two hither and thither.

But apart from that, sorry, there's no other downside. Bigger families are great.

My SIL says...cars are a pain, holidays become much, much more expensive, ditto houses, 'Family' tickets for anything are always for 4 and the extra place costs a bomb, you only have two hands...

DH wants to stop at 2 too so it's a good job she has me convinced

Three-bed semi doesn't really have enough bedrooms

yy re family tickets being 2+2

Cakes etc often come in packs of four

Only 2 hands (but so what?? 2 is not enough for 2 children when one is carrying the french horn, or whatever)

If you have 3 then 2 seems so easy! (eg when one on Cubs sleepover etc) I think that works for any number tho!

I find the dynamic OK actually - 3 doesn't so much mean one is left out as there is always someone to play with even if one wants to be solitary IYSWIM. But maybe that's just my DC.

think it depends in what order boys/girls you have how easy it is! i have 1 dd and 2 ds's and this seems to work. My dd(8) is happy to do her own thing and play with her friends whereas my 2 ds's (only 22m apart) spend all their spare time together - they're like twins really. so glad it worked out this way and that ds2 wasnt a dd!

apart from laundry adn making sure there are enough space when we go on holiday i dont find 3 any trouble at all!

Clary I thin the cake thing is good though - you have to buy two packets and then, oops!, there are leftovers

The cake thing is good because it means I don't eat one