better to have babies close together or far apart?

Do you want a kid for the other to look up or play with?

With them spread far apart the wise older will give advice to the younger when needed

With them not spread so far part they have a playmate and do all the stuff they would with their friends with each other

A recent study was in the news within the last 2 weeks that indicated that children born within 2 years, the 2nd child is more likely to have mental illness problems. Previous studies focused on the physical health of children born back to back and typically problems resulted for the 3rd child, but this is the first study I know of that examines the mental health of children. This is something often difficult to study since it requires followup for many years. So, while I've previously been an advocate for having 2 children close together in age (if that is all you are going to have is 2), I'm now on the fence about that.

Depends on the person. My first son was 3 1/2 when my second son was born. For me i found it to be perfect. They are still c lose enough in age where they are probably going to be close. They are also far enough apart to where my 3 1/2 year old was becoming much more independent and understands baby needs a lot of time. I personally couldn't have imagined having another bbaby when he was about 18 months old because he still needed me so much. Toddlers are a lot of work too

I am very close to my sister who is 3 years young than i am but i am close ot all my siblings ( there are 7 of us) My brother ( whom lives with me) is 14 months older than i, my other sister is only 11 months 29 days older than him and another sister 14 months older than her. The two oldest fight a lot. My two youngest brothers are 6 years apart ( only 13 and 7) and they never get along, never

Babies Close Together

A three year age gap is still close together. My children will have a six year age gap(next one due in 3 months). I wanted a four year gap, but we had to wait for financial reasons. My sister and I are 7 years apart and always had a good relationship. My husband and his brother are not even 2 years apart and haven't talked in years, but did play well in the elementary grades. I don't really think there is a prefect age gap for kids. I think it is more about the parents involvement with each child and that will make for better sibling relationships.

I guess the pros of having children close together are that they'll always have someone to play with and connect with that's their own age and that they'll be able to help each other with a lot of things because of their small age difference as they'll be facing them practically together.

Then again, i guess the cons are that sibling rivalry could arise between the two.

The pros of having children farther apart are that the older one will probably look out for the younger one and depending on how large the age difference is, the older one could even be a kind of third parent. The older one can help the younger one with a lot of life issues, as the older one would have experienced them not too long ago themselves.

I guess the cons are that the role mentioned above with the older one, may not always occur, and the connection with the younger one may not always be close. With their differing ages, as much as they could help each other, they could ignore each other and be in their own different worlds.

A lot i've mentioned above could always occur with both cases so it just depends on the relationship they build with each other.

As with parenting, having children close together, may prove difficult if both sides don't pitch in. Being new parents (Congrats by the way!) and wanting to take on another child in a short amount of time means double the effort needed. Having a larger spacing between the two could help you become more prepared before taking on another one. :)

Good luck with whichever choice you make! I hope i've given you some sort of insight. :)

My mom had my sister when i was 17 months old. Because i was still very little i did not like my sister since she needed more attention. We would always fight over things growing up, but now im 15 and she's 14 and we're best friends. I guess it would be a little different with a boy thought. I personally, want to wait long so that i can devote all of my attention to my son until he is older.

Good Luck!

My sister and I are only 18 months apart. We are great friends now that we are older but it wasn't always so nice growing up with someone so close in age. I decided to wait till my daughter turned 3 to start trying for another one. And it was a great decision. My whole pregnancy my daughter has been involved and understands what is going on and is just as excited as daddy and i are. She comes to the doctors with me and the ultrasounds and she even got to help with naming her baby brother. I would not have done it any other way.

Well to tell you i have a 2 year old little girl and a 1 year old little girl.. and they don't fight alot.. But not all kids are the same...I think its better to have them close..so they can look out for each other in school and in life... i kids are 10months apart.lol and im trying to work on another... lol... but ya they will be in to everything but thats the joy of life... havein fun with your kids. but thats just me...

we made sure we had at least 30k saved for each child education before having another....we spaced it out based on that...kids are now 11,15,18 and 23....