What's the biggest gap between your kids' ages??

[MaMa2005]

Oldest is 39, middle is 33 and youngest is 6. Isn't adoption wonderful? :)

[mom&nana]

My oldest is 18, my youngest is 2 1/2 years old and now I have a grandson who's 2 months old.

[Tree House Academy]

My best friend's daughter is almost 10 years older than her sister. They are very close and her dd13 is almost like a second mom figure to her 3 y/o baby sister.

[Sugarfoot]

DD13 is a little over 8 years older than DD4, who will be 5 next month. We didn't plan it this way; in fact, after 7 1/2 years w/o a pregnancy, I was starting to wonder if there would ever be another child.

 

Then suddenly, here came DD! Five months after she was born, I was pregnant again with our youngest. I guess my fertility comes in waves.;)

 

There are definitely some challenges, but overall, I wouldn't change a thing. The little goals and deadlines are a bit amusing. Right now, I'm trying to get DS3 out of diapers before DS15 gets his driving permit. There's no particular reason for that, it's just what I have in my mind as the order of priority at the moment.:D

 

Since we've added the other two, we've actually had several comments from people hoping to achieve the same sort of family structure, which I think is interesting. A young couple who's only child was about 16 months stopped to talk to us about it while we were on the Disney Cruise last year. They were hoping to have 2 DC, and then have 2 more when the olders were 8 and 10. That's what we had, but without any planning.

 

Everybody's family has a different dynamic. My olders aren't particularly mature, so it definitely feels like we have 4 kids around here.;)

[Mommy22alyns]

I've had that angst too. My girls are just 2 years apart and I really love that spread. My sister is 9 years younger than me and we've never been close. So while I'd love another one, I'd probably want to make it 2 so there wouldn't be an "only" situation. I just don't really want a big gap between kids. I wish we'd gone for another 4 years ago.

[kat19]

My kids, 16, 14 and 3 :D

First 2 are 18 months apart than we had a surprise :D

[Lauren R.]

The biggest gap is 10 1/2 years! But they all have someone close to their age, with 7 kids they can only be so close in age, LOL

 

dd13, ds11, dd9, dd6, dd4, ds3, and ds2

 

dd13 loves helping with the little ones :)

[Aquinas Academy]

Mine are quite closely spaced. There is a 3.5 year gap between DD13 and DS9 and another 3.5 year gap between DS6 and DS2. The closest gap is 1.75 years between DD14 and DD13.

ETA: If you're counting from oldest child to youngest child, DD14 will be 15.25 when our next baby is born.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Aquinas Academy

[TxMama]

My kids are ages 21, 20, 9, 6.

 

I'm glad that I still have kids in the house!

[NanceXToo]

My kids are 19, 10 and 5. I am 4 weeks pregnant with number 4, took five months of trying! I turned 38 last month. :) I am very happy to be pregnant. And I've kind of liked having the kids spread out in age. Older kids make good helpers and understand and entertain themselves when you need to pay a lot of attention to the little one and so on. Like the above poster I like having kids in the house, they keep you young, and they're fun to be with- looking forward to a little baby again, I always think it goes too fast!

Edited June 20, 2011 by NanceXToo

[mommyoftwinboys]

I have 9.5 year old twins and a 5 week old baby (-:

[mommyoftwinboys]

I just wanted to add that even though we planned to have another baby, when I did get pregnant I FREAKED OUT..I mean really freaked out for a good couple of months...but it has been so wonderful since he's been born. The older boys LOVE their baby brother...I can't wait to try for another (-:

[WiseOwlKnits]

The biggest gap between our children will be 4 3/4 years. My BIL has children who are 13 years apart though. My niece just graduated high school in May and my nephew starts kindergarten this fall.

[Annie Laurie]

My oldest and my baby have 16 1/2 years between them. But as far as one sibling to the next closest, my oldest and the next one have 6 1/2 years between them and they've always been good friends, even with the age difference. They like a lot of the same things and have good discussions. My baby will kind of be an only later if we don't have one more, because the next closest to him is 6 1/2 years older. My oldest will be long gone and the 3 middle ones will be off at college when he's 12.

 

I wouldn't worry about the age difference, if you want another one, have one!

[readinmom]

Ours are roughly six years apart, with a thirteen year age difference between oldest and youngest. It's been fine. My only regret was that I did not have more!

[AvasMom]

My kids are 19, 10 and 5. I am 4 weeks pregnant with number 4, took five months of trying! I turned 38 last month. :) I am very happy to be pregnant. And I've kind of liked having the kids spread out in age. Older kids make good helpers and understand and entertain themselves when you need to pay a lot of attention to the little one and so on. Like the above poster I like having kids in the house, they keep you young, and they're fun to be with- looking forward to a little baby again, I always think it goes too fast!

 

Yep! :( I've just been thinking lately that as much as I enjoy the independence of having older kids, I'm just not ready for the empty nest and even though ds is only halfway there, it just happens way too fast! Also, even though it will be a lot of work to start over now I think it will be so worth it when they are all grown and bringing their families home for holidays and such. Not to mention that with a couple more little ones I will be finishing up raising them right about the time the grandbabies start coming. :party:

[LaxMom]

There is a 12 year gap between my eldest daughter (22) and my next daughter (10), and a 15 year span between #1 and #3-4.

 

The whole birth order / age cohort thing is really screwed up in my house. The oldest is essentially an only, the second is (theoretically) an oldest, and the "middle" and "baby" are twins. Take THAT! developmental psychologists!

[Virg]

My twins are ten and I got married last fall. We are planning on having more children. I figure it will work since my older brother is 21 years older than me and my sister is 18 years older than me :)

[m0mmaBuck]

I'm 37, dh is 41 and we have the WORST angst about whether to try and squeeze in one more child before we are too old and decrepit to have more. The dilemma is our ages but more than that the fact that our kids are 13 and almost 10. I wish we had a couple more kids a few years ago but now that they are older is it too late to start over?? I'm torn between now being ready for this phase of my life to end and on the other hand looking forward to it. I'm sure there has to be other moms here who were "done" but then fired the old baby maker up again, right??

 

DSS is 19 and DS is 9. DD is 4. They get along just fine. Sometimes DH and I wonder what we were thinking, but most of the time it's just fine.

 

There are 21 years between me and my oldest brother (with a 10 year gap between numbers 4 and 5) and all 6 of us kids get alone exceptionally well. My family (parents, siblings, inlaws, neices and nephews) are my favorite people ever.

[JenC3]

Mine are 2.10, 2.1, and then will be 3.6 yrs apart. That said teh oldest and youngest will be 8.4 years apart. I was 6 & 9 yrs older than my siblings and while I was still in the house we were close, once i left home, not so much. we have never regained that childhood closeness.

[kitten18]

I didn't read any other posts.

 

 

When I was born, my parents were both 40 and my siblings were 21, 19, 16 and 12.

 

It was pretty much the best of both worlds for me. I was basically an only child but I also had siblings and nieces and nephews who were fairly close in age to me.

 

The only downside was that I had lost both of my parents by the time I was 38.:crying:

[hsbaby]

There are 10 years between my two dds. They have an adorable relationship:)

[NanceXToo]

Well, look at it this way. You're highly unlikely to have a baby and then think, darn, I sure wish I didn't have this baby! :)

 

On the other hand, if you're thinking about it this much now, you probably ARE likely to regret NOT doing it if you wait too long and start feeling more like it's too late or have trouble conceiving due to age etc.

 

I vote go for it. And soon lol.

[Jody]

We have five years!

[kchara]

My biggest gap is 4 years. BUT... the difference between my brother (I'm the oldest) and sister is 23 years. Dad seems to have survived. ;)

[mom4him]

28 yrs. :lol::lol::lol: Ok, I know you probably wasn't counting old, decrepit, adopting parents but I just couldn't resist!:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Geo]

Biggest gap: 9yrs. I don't think that the big issue. I have 7 yrs and 6yrs between my others. My last two (of 6) were born when I was 40, then 43. That's the biggie.

I felt up to the challenge at the time, but my confidence has been shaken somewhat by menopause and time. It changes you. I could never have imagined. I feel like I can't give as much as I did with the older ones. You can't hold onto the "now" by having children...you will just be an older parent. When younger, (20's-30's) we always had friends with children of similar ages...we had "community" with others like ourselves. You don't find that very easily (or at all) when your 50yo with a 7yo. The younger moms just really don't want to hang out with women that remind them of their mother. It's isolated and lonely...for me and my kids. All my old friends (no pun intended) are off doing other things, we just don't connect anymore. I had no inkling how different things would be in just a few short years. So, though I love being a mom and cherish the priveledge, I have a greater respect for the "seasons" of life. Just thought I'd share an often overlooked perspective. ;)

 

 

Geo

Edited June 21, 2011 by Geo

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

The gap between my oldest and youngest is 9 years 9 days. The gap between the middle and youngest is 7.5 years.

 

The older two love and care for the youngest and he adores them back. It is actually quite stimulating for him to have them around. There will come a day when he becomes an only child at home. I suspect he will both love those days and that he will cross off the days until the older two come to visit.

[MorningGlory]

We love, love, love our little girl surprise! What a gift she has been...to all of us. She has definitely changed our family dynamic and even limited what we can do as a family (like extended vacations and late nights out). But the joy she brings into this household DAILY is worth everything.

 

I'm 42. Boys ages 10 and 13. And then our 1 year old daughter. My boys are CRAZY about her.

 

I agree with another poster...if you are thinking about it, then try! I'm afraid you will regret it if you don't at least try. (We were NOT trying...thought we knew what was best for our situation...but the Lord obviously had other plans for us!)

 

Go for it!

[Elm in NJ]

9 years 5 months between my twins and the last one.

[HSmomNY]

14 years between my two boys.... but they are wonderful together. :)

[AnitaMcC]

I'm 37, dh is 41 and we have the WORST angst about whether to try and squeeze in one more child before we are too old and decrepit to have more. The dilemma is our ages but more than that the fact that our kids are 13 and almost 10. I wish we had a couple more kids a few years ago but now that they are older is it too late to start over?? I'm torn between now being ready for this phase of my life to end and on the other hand looking forward to it. I'm sure there has to be other moms here who were "done" but then fired the old baby maker up again, right??

 

 

Ds#1 and DD are 16, Ds#2 is 12, Ds#3 is 10. The biggest age gap between our four kids is from twins to Ds#2... almost 4 yrs. But from twins to youngest it is exactly 6yrs (Ds#3 was born on twins bday).

 

I was 34 when Ds#3 was born and we had decided then that no more after I was 37. We didn't want any age gaps more than 4yrs from one child to next.

 

And now I am almost 45, mostly I am glad that we didn't have anymore after Ds#3. I honestly can't fathom how I would have done it if we did have anymore children. At 10, Ds#3 still exhausts me most days!!!!!!!

 

Dh and I really didn't want to have any kids younger than 18 once we hit age 55. We want to go into our retirement years without still raising our children.

[Lady Florida.]

Well, I didn't give birth to both of them, but there are 20 years between our boys! Dss will be 34 next week and ds will be 14 in September.

[Ecclecticmum]

The Biggest age difference between my children is about 18 months :lol: so thats not much help.

 

We won't be having any more.

 

BUT what I wanted to add is that there is an 8 year difference in my Brother & my age.

 

So I can tell you the cons. Older siblings may be awful to the child if theres a big age difference. My brother has never really been nice to me. Also I was an accident. By the time I came along, no-one had time for me. I was simply there, and ignored, or the various "uh-huhs" to anything I said.

 

The really big thing is to think whether the child will have lots of love upto at least 18-20 (of course beyond that, but in planning ahead, will you always have time for the child until then). And that the siblings are happy about it, and that they will want to spend time round the child.

 

Do you think you'll be fit enough to be chasing round a hyper 5yo in 6 years? Or patient enough to deal with a sullen teenager with kindness in 16 years?

 

My husband has 13 years between him and his sister and 18-20 years between him and his brother. They are not close....at all. They are like strangers.

 

His mother also has had problems "letting go" of him, as he was the last one to fly the nest, now she is at end about what to do, and constantly interferes in every aspect of our lives, and all from thosands of miles away lol.

 

I didn't mean for this to be a sad thread lol, but hopefully it helps you out with the other point of view. If you do have another child, I am sure they will be adored and loved, and very lucky! :001_smile:

[AvasMom]

I haven't replied much but I'm reading every reply and really appreciate them all! Even the ones that show the cons. It's important to see both sides so thank you! :)

[PentecostalMom]

Oldest is 18, youngest (currently youngest) is in utero. Ds will be four months from 19 when his little brother is born. Not sure if this is the last one though!

[robsiew]

20 mos! :w00t:

[AnitaMcC]

There is a 12 year gap between my eldest daughter (22) and my next daughter (10), and a 15 year span between #1 and #3-4.

 

The whole birth order / age cohort thing is really screwed up in my house. The oldest is essentially an only, the second is (theoretically) an oldest, and the "middle" and "baby" are twins. Take THAT! developmental psychologists!

 

 

LOL, that is about how I sum it up here.. My twins are "oldests" together but they weren't raised as oldest as when they were 3, we gained 9 yr old nephew, 11 yr old niece, 18 yr old nephew. So they are the oldest/middle children. But my baby is my baby-LOL.

[Sandy in KY]

We felt lucky to get almost 3 years between #4 and #5 :-)

[mommaduck]

abt 3yrs.

[Pretty in Pink]

The largerst gap between babies, for me, was 4 years and 11 months. My eldest ds will be 13 years and 1 month when this baby is born.

[Lawana]

My case probably wouldn't interest you─ dd born when I was 36, and ds when I was a few months shy of 40. I do have a cousin that had 6 children, then unexpectedly got pregnant at 42. She went ahead and had another, so the singleton wouldn't be an "only."

[FrogMom5]

My oldest is 15 (soon to be 16), middle is 10 and youngest is 4. I am 47 and dh is 49.

Denise

[Mama2Many4]

The gap between my oldest and youngest (so far) is 5 years.

[asta]

Let's see... DH is 46 and DS is 17...

 

 

:lol:

 

 

a

[mountainman]

There is a 4 year gap between my 12 y/o and my 8 y/o.

[LuvToRead]

My 2 girls are 3 years apart.