How long to wait before TTC for second baby

[Lucy Lu]

Hi ladies,

Wow - this is the first time I've posted in WTT!... as I first joined the website when we were TTCing our first little one.

Our LO is 2 and a half months old so it's very early days but OH and I are having a difference of opinion about when to start TTCing for our second child. He reckons an age gap of about 15 months would be great, but I guess I always envisaged having a couple of years between babies.

I'm not sure why I've had that set in my mind though, so thought it might be helpful to have a thread for ladies in a similar position for us to post pros and cons of having LOs really close together.

Look forward to reading some of the responses!

xx

 

[lozzy21]

I cant realy comment as i havent had a chid yet but i want atleast 3 years between my kids. There is 15 months btween my brother and sister and my mam said it was hell.

The way i see it is your going to be the one having to look after one LO while pregant with another so id wait as long as you want. Its easy for him to say that as he goes out to work every day leaving you at home to look after an LO and being hevily pregnant.

 

[Samantha675]

We are going to start trying about the time Brenn turns two. That way there will be almost 3 years between. I like a 3 year gap. Brenn has time to be a baby and by the time #2 is here, he will be ready to be independent.

 

[faille]

We're planning to have the next one born just after Violet turns 2.

There's a 2yr age gap between me and my brother and we always got on really well. There's a 3yr gap between me and my sister and we fought like hell. Sister and brother have a very small age gap and they too fought really bad (could just be my sis ).

Best friend at school also had a 3yr gap with her sister and they were always always fighting too.

My nephews have 2yr gap between them and they are so close and play well with each other and look after each other.

I also don't want too big an age gap as that makes family holidays a lot harder - you have to try and entertain the younger one without boring the older one and the things the older one wants to do is too old for the younger one!

 

[goddess25]

I am going to TTC number 2 when my current son is 1, which is in Feb. If all goes according to plan he will be about 21 months when the next one is born. Ideally i would like a little more time but I am wanting to try quickly as I will be 36 at my next birthday and I dont want to wait too long due to my age.

 

[mrso]

We are planning 3-4 years between each of our children.

We started TTC #2 when my son was 2 and it took us 10 months to get pregger with second child. I am really glad that we waited this long too. My oldest is potty trained, sleeps well, and is pretty independent. I dont have to chase him all over. He is a big boy and can do most things for himself.

 

[princess_bump]

we're hoping for about a 3 year age gap between ours, which is perfect for us, as we get to spend lots of time with just our daughter, and are able to do so much with her before we have another one, like our big disney holiday and wedding in september, we wouldn't of been able to do this if we had a small age gap as i wouldn't of wanted to take a small baby out there.
personally though, i don't ever think there is the 'perfect' age gap between children, i think it's what works for you. maddi has always been an 'easy' baby - she slept through from 6weeks, and since then she's had one rough night last year when she was ill. she still naps twice a day for 2hours each, and sleeps from 6/7pm till 8/9am and she doesn't tantrum etc, so what i'm trying to say is, we could of had another straight away (though after my em. c-section i don't think i was up to it!) but for us, it's perfect to wait, and spend some time 'just us' x

 

[Kimboowee]

We originally planned on having a 2y age gap but we're just gonna see how it goes and start to TTC when we feel its the right time. Its changed so many times now Im just gonna go with the flow - saying that I wouldnt want more than a 5y age gap

 

[Becky10]

I always planned to start trying for number 2 when DD was 18months as I heard that your body needs that long to fully recupperate anyway. DD is 18months in Feb, so we have almost waited that long! My sis and I are 21months apart and I always found that a little too close, so hopefully mine will be about 26 or 27months - perfect hopefully!

 

[PeanutBean]

We're waiting til next summer so if we conceive right away and the baby is born in, say, April 2011 then Byron will be almost 2 and a half. A few reasons for the wait:
1) I was horribly horribly ill in pregnancy and there is no way I could manage with a baby needing constant carrying so Byron needs to be walking ok before I get pregnant again.
2) I still don't feel quite recovered and took a long time to heal as I had a traumatic labour so want to feel more normal before doing it all again.
3) We want to get in a better financial situation after my maternity leave.
4) We want Byron to be getting his free nursery days before the new baby goes into nursery as well as we won't be able to afford two lots.
5) We want to be able to have some special time with Byron as we'll never have the one to one relationship with him or other babies in the future.

 

[Blob]

I wanted a shorter gap between mine as i LOVE LOVE the idea of them being really good friends however i didnt get periods until now So we are about to TTC now? I think she'll be around 2 then if it happend REALLY fast

However one of my friends has a 7mnth old and a 2year old and she finds it REALLY hard work she looks totally wacked all the time i feel so sorry for her it does not look easy