If you are thinking about conceiving a sibling for your child(ren), chances are you’ve wondered what the best time to do it is. It’s not a bad idea to take into consideration the age gap between siblings, for reasons such as rivalry and how the kids will relate to each other. I asked a group of wise mothers, all of whom have different ranges of years between siblings, what they thought were the best reasons for having a SMALL sibling gap. Here’s a breakdown of what they told me:
TEN: Sibling Bonding If you have children who are close enough in age where both are not yet in school, they will be able to bond together all day. No waiting for big sister to come home from kindergarten.
NINE: Tandem Nursing If you are still nursing the older sibling during pregnancy, you may worry about the impending rivalry over breast milk. Instead, continue to nurse after baby comes as well, and use it as a way to share your time with both children. Your boobies may thank you for not drying up only having to re-lactate again!
EIGHT: Spoils of Labor? You’ve most likely heard of only children being “spoiled” and “selfish”. This is not always true, of course. But having many children or spacing children close together can assure that no one child feels like the center of it all. They will all have to learn what it means to be a family and work as a team.
SEVEN: Seconds Having a sibling of the same sex that is many years older may mean passing down their out of style hand-me-downs for a full eighteen years! But having one close in age means the clothes will still be in style by the time baby #2 can wear them them.
SIX: Equal Opportunity With kids in the same general age group, you don’t have to make sure activities are age-appropriate for everyone. You’ll never have to forgo something or leave someone out if one of them isn’t old enough. Likewise, you’d never have to drag an older child to see a show that’s beneath them.
FIVE: Inches of Milestones Those first few years can be difficult. There’s potty training, sharing issues and toddler temper tantrums. But having children one after another will get them out of the way faster than if you spread out the time you have your kids.
FOUR: Reuse and Recycle When my daughter grew out of something, it wasn’t saved in case another baby came along because I wasn’t planning on having more kids yet. When I got pregnant again, we had to get all new things – crib, car seat, clothes. Having kids close in age may mean you’ll only need to buy things once.
THREE: School Dreams If you home school, teaching children that are in the same age group will be a lot easier. You can sit them down together, teach them similar lessons, take them to the same activities, and won’t have to split up your day between them.
TWO: Sleep(or Lack of) If you’re going to have a bunch of sleepless nights with an infant, you might as well make them all in a row. Get those difficult infants years out of the way early and then you can enjoy your preschoolers knowing the worst is over.
And the NUMBER ONE reason to have a small sibling age gap is:
Sharing Secrets Having siblings that are close in age means they are able to share secrets, clothes, and even friends. Many close-aged siblings end up being best friends for life. Of course, you don’t have to be close in age to be close to your siblings, but it can’t hurt. Coupled with the other nine reasons above, a feeling of sibling closeness may be the #1 reason to space them close together.
What is a “small sibling age gap” to you? Four years? Three years? Less?
If you were close in age to your sibling(s), how do you feel it affected your relationship?
Make sure to check out The Let’s Talk Blog Top Ten – Reasons to Have a Large Sibling Age Gap as well!
The Let’s Talk Blog Top Ten – Reasons to Have Children Later in Life
The Let’s Talk Blog Top Ten – Reasons to Have Children Early in Life