How far apart in age are your kids?

[usnuzuloose]

13 months

 

[holden]

4 years 5 months between our two. Recently realized that one will be away to college and then come home (I’m assuming) when the other is heading to college.

Then younger DD will be at college while older DD gets started with her career (or grad school). We figure older DD will move out at some point and then younger DD will be finished with college and moving back! We did not plan this correctly. Lol!

 

[Tattylou]

And would you choose the same age gap over again?

DH and I have been discussing this over the past few weeks. We have a 3 month old right now and I like the idea of an age gap of 2 years. On the other hand, DH is just a year apart from his sister and likes the idea of having our kids as close together as possible (we are planning on 2, possibly 3).

Lots of friends seem to have enjoyed the 2-3 year age gap where the older child is slightly more independent and self-sufficient (and able to communicate).

Would love to hear from others what their age gaps looked like and how that worked out! I'm already expecting a few years of chaos at the beginning.

My boys are 22 months apart. Now they are 8 and 9 (he'll be 10 next month). I would 100% do this age gap again. They are buddies. They share similar interests. They are basically able to do all the same activities, which really helps for day trips and vacations bc we are able to easily do things age appropriate for both. They have a lot of the same friends. They keep each other entertained. I also got rid of baby gates, strollers, etc around the same time so that was nice to just be done with all that. Obviously, they annoy each other sometimes, but its just regular sibling stuff. For the most part, they are really close and I'm glad they have each other.

 

[Chelley00]

The first two are three years apart. Then we took a 6 year break (not by choice) and then had two more that are 3 years apart.

It was nice never having more than one in diapers at a time I guess.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

4 minutes

 

[MrJT]

I've got 3 kids. My daughter is from my first marriage, and she's six years older than my first son. My second son was born 12 years after his brother. My boys live in the same house, and they still act like siblings even with the huge gap.
With my oldest and youngest being over 18 years apart, I paid off the first one (child support ended when she graduated high school) just as the last one was born.

 

[mousefan73]

Our are 14 months apart. I love it. Many friends planned at least a 2 or 3 year gap. Mainly as they didnt want two kids in diapers.. IMO, I preferred having 2 diapers babies, then it was all over in about 4 years or so. Carrying 2 sizes of diapers no big deal and for a while they were the same size.

Having kids with larger Gaps means you are always carrying a diaper a bag forever.
We also love having the kids one year apart in school. Makes things so much easir as you are then on a roll. We keep all the stuff from the first kids and then use that as a resource for the other. Teachers also seem to know our 2 kids better.

the only negatives I can think of is that they are like twins from sizes ( we have a boy and girl so no clothes sharing) .. Soooooo no hand me downs on expensive stuff bikes, skiis etc.... they have the same size skiis and boots. and the sleep issues at the beginning..

It was a challange when one was really little and then the 2 year old also couldnt sleep.for a few years I had to lie down with them in their room. Also when the older started school and the other I was still in kindergarted it was an adjustment as one could stay up later and the other not. there was a 1 hour differnce start time in the AM.

But both are very close even as a boy and girl. they still share a room and they are almost 12 and just turned 13.. they do have HUUGE room. each has their section split by a ping pong table. Plan was years ago to split into two rooms.. Both say no still as it's their party room. At some point their opinions will change and then comes the drywall.

 

[Klayfish]

DS14 is 3 years 4 months older than DD10

DD10 is 90 seconds older than DS10.

Cool to see so many parents of twins here. What an experience that was....the best...and toughest...times of our lives. And we've always made a point to be sure our oldest never felt less special. I always remind him that he is and forever will be our first and DW and I built a very special bond with him before the twins came along. We also tease him that we did all of our learning and screwing up as parents with him, so we thank him for making raising the twins easier.

 

[design_mom]

Mine are 3.5 years apart, and are opposite genders. One will be a freshman in high school next year, the other will be a senior.

I think it's a little far apart in age, especially since they're opposite genders. Mine don't fight/argue (that much), they just don't seem to have much interest in each other. It makes me kind of sad.

I would have preferred them to be closer together (2 years-ish), but we adopted and the second one took longer than we expected. I also wonder if there was MORE of an age gap if they'd be closer (big brother would have been more able to "help" with little sister, etc.) I don't know.

 

[DVC-Don]

11 months. Sometimes referred to as Catholic or Irish twins. We're not Catholic but my wife is mostly Irish.

 

[JediBonas]

Mine are 1 minute apart, LOL.

My brother and I are nearly 10 years apart, we both pretty much feel like only children and never really got along. I know such an age gap was not what my parents wanted and I wouldn't want kids with such a big age gap, either.

 

[lovin'fl]

By the way...my twins are 50 minutes apart. I gather that's rare.

 

[Elle23]

2 years 10 months between 1 and 2
22 months between 2 and 3
20 months between 3 and 4

I was baby crazy for a few years and had too many kids. If I were to do it over I’d only have 2. 4 is too many. I hope my kids stick with 2. I think it will make their lives easier.

 

[Elle23]

By the way...my twins are 50 minutes apart. I gather that's rare.

A lot of twins these days are born via C-section due to the high risk. That’s probably why they come in such rapid succession.

I assume you didn’t have a C-section?

 

[Elle23]

Cool to see so many parents of twins here. What an experience that was....

Tons of twins!

I always wanted boy/girl twins.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our are 14 months apart. I love it. Many friends planned at least a 2 or 3 year gap. Mainly as they didnt want two kids in diapers.. IMO, I preferred having 2 diapers babies, then it was all over in about 4 years or so. Carrying 2 sizes of diapers no big deal and for a while they were the same size.

Having kids with larger Gaps means you are always carrying a diaper a bag forever.
We also love having the kids one year apart in school. Makes things so much easir as you are then on a roll. We keep all the stuff from the first kids and then use that as a resource for the other. Teachers also seem to know our 2 kids better.

the only negatives I can think of is that they are like twins from sizes ( we have a boy and girl so no clothes sharing) .. Soooooo no hand me downs on expensive stuff bikes, skiis etc.... they have the same size skiis and boots. and the sleep issues at the beginning..

It was a challange when one was really little and then the 2 year old also couldnt sleep.for a few years I had to lie down with them in their room. Also when the older started school and the other I was still in kindergarted it was an adjustment as one could stay up later and the other not. there was a 1 hour differnce start time in the AM.

But both are very close even as a boy and girl. they still share a room and they are almost 12 and just turned 13.. they do have HUUGE room. each has their section split by a ping pong table. Plan was years ago to split into two rooms.. Both say no still as it's their party room. At some point their opinions will change and then comes the drywall.

I ferberized my twins. Initially ds was in the crib by the door, because my girls were better sleepers than my son, but it turned out that dd15 was the bad sleeper. It always amazed me how they learned to sleep through the other one crying.

 

[wenrob]

A lot of twins these days are born via C-section due to the high risk. That’s probably why they come in such rapid succession.

I assume you didn’t have a C-section?

Yes. I was 37 when I had mine and DS was taking all the nutrition. (I always tell them it was payback for her sitting on his head all those months, lol). DD was not growing anymore and we ran the real risk of losing her.

Tons of twins!

I always wanted boy/girl twins.

It’s crazy but I always knew I’d have twins. I talked about it all the time when I was a kid.

 

[Eureka]

I have two kids, they are 27 months apart. We wanted 2-3 years apart so they were close enough to get the baby stuff over with at once. Now they are 15 and 17 and get along very well, I'm sure in part because of the closeness of age.

 

[PrncessA]

Mine are 23 months apart, and I think it worked out perfectly. They are just close enough in age to enjoy a lot of the same things, but far enough where they don't encroch on each other.

When I was pregnant with my daughter though I had a lot of complications and was put on bed rest for 3 months, having a 1.5yo was a challenge at that point.

 

[china mom]

2 years, 2 month between ours. I thought they would be closer but DS is very mature and advanced for his age and DD is lagging behind due to a language processing delay. Between that and their very different personalities, they seem like they have much more of an age gap than they do. They love each other but are not what I would call Pals.