Talk to me about a three year age gap

[pollylongstockings]

There will be almost exactly three years between dd and dc2.

What are the pros and cons to this age gap

[TabithaSmith]

Pros:

Probably won't need a double buggy) - I ditched mine

Your older one will probably be potty-trained
older one will hopefully be sleeping through

Older one will be able to entertain him/herself for short periods of time and understand instructions like 'bring me that nappy, please'

Cons:

There will be jealousy

There will probably be tantrums and bad behaviour from your older one - you may not recognise your him/her for a few months. This behaviour will almost certainly happen at exactly the same time you sit down to breastfeed, try to put the baby for a nap etc

They won't be 'playmates' for quite some time.

Your 3 yr old may not be potty trained, sleeping through and walking everywhere!



On the whole, I think I have had it easier with a 3 yr gap than some of my friends with smaller gaps.

[TabithaSmith]

Excuse poor layout of that post - typing with baby on knee!

[TidyBush]

There is 2 years and 49 weeks between my DDs and although they are now teens I'm happy with the gap between them and think it pretty much worked at every age/stage.

Pros

Not having 2 in nappies/cot/not walking etc

DC2 can make use of DC1's pushchair/cot (new matress)/baby car seat

DC1 old enough to 'help' (e.g. pass things when changing baby)

When they get a bit older they can play together (or in my case now shop together)

Cons

The only downside really was DD1 getting a bit jelous of the baby (sorted after a few weeks though)

When DD1 went to senior school she found DD2 annoying and immature. But that resolved itself once DD2 was at senior school too.

That's all I can really think of. Enjoy your DCs whatever age they are (it's all gone in the blink of an eye )

[ooosabeauta]

My brother and I have a 2yr 11mth gap between us. It means that if you go to the same schools they are in the top years when you join (we had a middle school so it was in 4-year schools), which is helpful for kudos and protection. Only con I can imagine is that for the younger sibling they have to stretch themselves that much further to out-do the older one's achievements at the time. But that might be a good thing.

[ooosabeauta]

Oh, and at age 3 he was old enough to think that I "had stolen his mum" (still brings that up from time to time, aged 33)!

[pollylongstockings]

Thanks everyone sounds like intial jealously may be the only problem

[EVye]

Mine DDs are (nearly) 6 and 3.
2 3/4 years between them.

They have a very good relationship. We had no jealousy from the older one until the younger one was able to walk (and therefore get the older ones stuff) but by then she was 4 so we could reason with her.

The older one is well able to take care of her little sister when at the park, out and about etc. They now share a bedroom and it works well.

Obviously as they get older we may encounter some problems. The only BIG issue I have is that they are 3 school years apart and older DD is at an infant school quite far from us so I will not benefit from the sibling rule to get DD2 there so I have to try and co-ordinate infant/junior school applications and hope for the best. Not an issue if you have a primary.