Those with 3 or more kids

keelykat

My brothers and sisters are all older then me, because my parents are in second marriage and then had me. My youngest sister is about 6 years older then me, brother-8 years older, other brother 10 years and eldest sister is 12 years older. Im not that close to eldest sister but are getting on great now im older and we have more in common. But ive always got on great with the others, and being the youngest like this meant they fussed over me loads and i got lots of presents at xmas etc lol. As i got older they gave me great advice, let me stop over at theirs, took me out etc. And now im an adult we have plenty in common, esp with my sister shes a star.

I wouldnt have another kid just to make youngest not feel left out, you dont need to. I would have hated a younger brother or sister-mean arent i lol.

keely.

kr15snw

Dont worry about the age gaps.

Im 20, my brothers 30 and the other one is 33 and we all get on wonderfully!

As my parents are older (59 and 62) my brothers took over the role of taking me to the park, or acting like an idiot on my bike (when learning to ride it). I remember my brothers both trying to ride my tiny bike and them falling off into various bramble bushes.

But I adored them and Im the way I am due to them. For example I copied them alot! Hense I now love football and beer, lol. Honestly Im not a lout.

But it was nice having older brothers as its made me a lot more grown up. Most of my friends are older than me and my boyfriend is 35, but then he reckons Im a lot more level headed than most people my age.

Hope that gives you some perspective!

Oh and just reading what someone else was saying the presents are then GREAT. Lol. By the time I was 6 / 7 both my brothers were working and buying decent presents (you know what I mean), meaning more for me. Lol.

cazziej

Hi, I really wouldn't worry. We have 3, aged 22, 19 this month and 12. The "baby" was conceived with a coil in situ and was a big surprise - hence the large gap.

The eldest 2 are a boy and a girl, the youngest is a boy. All of them get on really well together, even though they do have their "moments". :rolleyes:

Over the years, the elder 2 have "mothered" the youngest, and now they spoil him even more than we do!!

Both of the older ones have cars and act as personal chauffeurs to him, "take me here, drop me off there, pick me up", etc - but they the fools do it!! The eldest boy plays with him on consoles for hours at a time and takes him to his football matches (with us) every Saturday and Sunday, he has plans to be his manager when he makes it big (already had trials for Manchester United and Blackburn!). :j His sister is worse with him than me, she wants to inspect any girls that come knocking at the door and isn't happy when he trots off out with them. She moans at me when I let him go off into town with his friends (she forgets she did the same at his age!).

All in all, I would say that having a big gap is a great experience, from a parents point of view (all the help you get) and a childs point of view. He has the best of both worlds, when his parents are being "muppets" as we often are:rotfl:, he can go and moan to big bro or sister and charm them into doing something for him!!

Don't worry - be happy and enjoy them while you can.

Best wishes

Carol
.

dora37

We have 3 children DS1 nearly 17, DS2 14 and DD 6.

I actually find it gives the older two a great excuse to join in all the things they are probably too old to admit to doing, but actually quite enjoy without losing face!!

They get to join in the fun of Father Christmas etc, which ordinarily if DD hadn't come along all the magic of Christmas etc would have long gone.

DD loves to give them kisses and cuddles and both DSs like to receive them too.

flea72

from my perspective, having an age gap (theres 14yrs between me and my sis) i would say that it has its good and bad points.

on the bad side, i spent alot of my time having to babysit my sister (with little or no reward), however on the good side, due to the age gap, by the time i had kids, she was old enough to babysit for mine

bad point, none of my friends would come to stay at my parents house, due to baby crying all night (or waking us up early by jumping on bed when toddler). good point, i could use it as an excuse to stay at friends houses (and not have to live by my parents early curfews)

Bad point, my friends would always ask me to bring my sis along when we went up town shopping (they thought it cool to look like a young mum) - good point, for some reason teenage lads love fussin over babies (good pulling technique lol)

Bad point, you feel really old when your sibling is still into clubbing, and you'd rather be at home with your cocoa - good point, they have really nice clothing that they wear once (then decide its soooo last week), so your kids get great hand-me-downs

But really, i did find growing up, that me and my sis had very little in common, until she started doing the 'house' 'marriage' 'baby' thing herself. Now i find we get on alot better. But its taken 20yrs to feel that were anywhere near approaching what i would call good friends, just due to the generational differences.

Weird thing is, ive gone and done the same thing myself, ive got 13yrs between my eldest and youngest. However on another plus point, having a baby in the house during your teenage years, does tend to put you off wanting to start your own family any time soon.

Flea

poet123

Ours are 24,20,17 and 10 and I have the same experience of older kids parenting the younger one,he loves it and they love it,and they are all great friends(most of the time!!). We always have a willing babysitter or he comes with us. Dont worry about the gap.

vixarooni

I have an age gap of 13 years between my brother and i. It works out perfectly. My brother was/is protection, he still allways goes on about covering up my drink when i go out even now! Its cute, and its nice to know hes there.

It will probably work out the same with your children. I did ok being a child on my own with a teenage brother, ive never once felt left out. Good parenting perhaps, who knows.

nickym

I had a son (11) & 2 daughters (5 & 9)
I was devastated when i found out i was pregnant again! Then after the initial shock I was quite pleased although i knew it wouldn't be easy, not just financially, we lived in a 3 bed semi!:eek:
I went on to have a son who spent the 1st 3 yrs of his life sleeping in our room which was a nightmare!
As we only had a small mortgage, we remortgaged & had an extension built. We now have 5 bedrooms & all the kids have their own space!
Even with the age gap, all the older kids spoil their little brother who is now 6!
I'd never have another baby for anyone other than myself!

vixarooni

flea72 wrote: »

from my perspective, having an age gap (theres 14yrs between me and my sis) i would say that it has its good and bad points.

on the bad side, i spent alot of my time having to babysit my sister (with little or no reward), however on the good side, due to the age gap, by the time i had kids, she was old enough to babysit for mine

bad point, none of my friends would come to stay at my parents house, due to baby crying all night (or waking us up early by jumping on bed when toddler). good point, i could use it as an excuse to stay at friends houses (and not have to live by my parents early curfews)

Bad point, my friends would always ask me to bring my sis along when we went up town shopping (they thought it cool to look like a young mum) - good point, for some reason teenage lads love fussin over babies (good pulling technique lol)

Bad point, you feel really old when your sibling is still into clubbing, and you'd rather be at home with your cocoa - good point, they have really nice clothing that they wear once (then decide its soooo last week), so your kids get great hand-me-downs

But really, i did find growing up, that me and my sis had very little in common, until she started doing the 'house' 'marriage' 'baby' thing herself. Now i find we get on alot better. But its taken 20yrs to feel that were anywhere near approaching what i would call good friends, just due to the generational differences.

Weird thing is, ive gone and done the same thing myself, ive got 13yrs between my eldest and youngest. However on another plus point, having a baby in the house during your teenage years, does tend to put you off wanting to start your own family any time soon.

Flea

ha, that made me chuckle. I've never thought about what my brother feels like because im the youngest and hes the oldest.

I can tell you one big perk right now to an older brother: His hot friends, i fancied every single one i think ha. Ok maybe not every single one, but majority of his friends were 9/10's. When i hit 18 i dated one of them, that was a tad weird on reflection, but it had to be done.

I also enjoyed the fact that he had so much stuff. I used to go in his room and read love letters, play his cd's and read his !!!!!! stash (before i knew what they were!)

Maybe its different being boy - girl. I'd HATE to have a sister now. Could not be doing with that hassle, think the relationship is too similar then. I say, enjoy the age gap, it has its perks and downers but then i would rather have an age gap than two close in age siblings any day in the week.

kr15snw

Vix : This is where I differ. My brothers had NO hot friends!!

I was highly dissapointed!!!