Big age gap between children

[Alligatorpie]

i was just reading about having a very small age gap between children and the general consensus was that it is great, once you get past the first year.

My dd will be six and a half when this baby will be born. Any thoughts / experiences on having this much of an age difference? Right now dd is really excited about being a sister, but I am not sure how long the excitement will last once the baby is born!

Cheers!

dd1 was 5 and a half when dd2 was born

she loved her to bits till she was about 2 and a half and could pinch her stuff, talk back to her, not just play along with whatever dd1 wanted to play with

she still seems to dislike her tbh

but please dont worry as I think that has much more to do with my situation than the big age gap

There are almost 6 years between Ds1 and Ds2. I am not pregnant with DC3 and the boys will be 15 and 9 when it is born!

The age gap between the boys was handy when DS2 was very little as Ds1 was very self sufficient. It became a bit more difficult as they got older as they wind each other up no end, though this could have happened with a smaller gap.

I'm 9 1/2 years older than the oldest siblings after me, then 11 and finally 14 from the youngest. I only lived with two of my siblings and definitely was very motherly towards them, especially my brother who's 11 years younger than me (he would even call me mum by mistake once in awhile). My mum always says that I really helped raising them as I bathed, fed, played, told them stories and tidied their room.

When #4 makes an appearance later this year my eldest will be 15.5 and my youngest will be almost 10!

I am looking forward to having lots of helpers lol

The gap also means the older kids are pretty much self sufficient when it comes to their personal needs so I am hoping this will make having a baby in the house a wee bit easier!! [hopeful emoticon]

They will still need their mommy believe me :o
Just because they're much older it doesn't mean that there won't be some level of jealousy.

oh goodness I know that....I just mean they can take care of their basic needs I.e.. washing (well I should hope so at 15!), feeding and getting school bags ready, making lunches ect. All the stuff they do for themselves now.

I shall still be there for all the other stuff....just as I am now

Ds1 was 10 and ds2 was 6 when dd was born.
It was brilliant. The big ones like helping and they are not seeking the same attention. I found it perfect.

There is almost exactly 3 years between dd1 & dd2 and they will be very nearly 9 and 6 when dc3 is born. I am a little worried about the huge age gap but I think they (hopefully) won't be jealous being that bit more able to understand. Dd1 was terribly jealous when dd2 arrived so hoping not to repeat that!

My sister was horrible when my brother was born, they're 21 month apart. I clearly remember my mum trying to explain to her that she had to take care of the little one now that she was going to be a big sister. My mum gave her a baby doll as she was saying this, left her for 5 minutes and when she came back there was only a torso left