Ive recently made the decision to stop trying for baby number 2. My daughter is 2.5 and ive been ttc since her first birthday as ive always wanted a close age gap. However, life is moving to quickly so im now going to focus on my studies, saving and spending time with my 2.5 year old. My question is, has anyone had an age gap of 5 years? Ive always seen it to be such a negative things as the children are too far apart to play with the same toys and get along as friends?
5 Replies
Honestly you never know if they will get along or not.
My older sister and brother have a 1 year age gap and have never gotten along. Her and my other brother have a 2 year gap and there's always been alot of sibling rivalry. My older brother and I have a 7 year age gap we've never been best of friends but always got on really well. I have a 5 year gap with my sister and that was probably a good thing we never fought about clothes sharing or anything like that. We get along great and was awesome while I was growing up always looking out for me practically a second mum!
I don't believe age plays a part at all in if your kids will get along or not. I think you'll find a 5 year gap will be a good thing the oldest will be more helpful with the baby and is alot more independent
My sisters are 18mths apart, they have never gotten along. I am
3 years older than the eldest and 4.5years older than the next, and I get on great with both of my siblings.
My BIL is 11 years younger than his sibling, who he is extremely close to.
Honestly I don't think you can predict how well kids will get on based on there age.
There will be times where your eldest won't want to play with the youngest, no matter what the age gap. There will be times when your kids will bond no matter what the age gap.
My sister and I get alone better then with our brother. My sister and I are 7 years apart and my brother and sister are about 16 months apart. They got along well when little but the closser to adolescents he got the further they got apart. My sister enjoyed being a big sis to me more i think then the few years of toddler interaction. We fight alot but my brother and sister used to hit eachother with toy hammers so we got it better lol
I have a 14 year old from a previous relationship (had her in my late teens) and when I became a single mum I vowed not to have anymore children until I found the right man. That took me 10 years. As much as I never really wanted such a huge age gap I really can't do much about it now. My now husband and I have been ttc for over 2 years and even turned to IVF to have a children.
I've never parented children with large age gaps but I do have a couple of sisters who are 8 and 10 years younger than I. Growing up I remember playing with them like dolls and all my girlfriends would think they were super cute when they tried crashing in on my sleepovers (I remember getting annoyed at my siblings closer to my age than the younger ones)
Now that I'm 28 and they're 20 and 18, I find the age gap isn't that big a deal. And it's nice discovering things that I have in common with them.
I'd also like to add that I never fought or argued with them. I did boss them around a bit as a kid but my other siblings and I who are closer in age always fought and argued over the tiniest of things. We're good now but I don't know if it was much fun for our parents