Im trying to pursuade Hubby to ttc again soon and i need to arm myself with a list of pros and cons.

What would you say were pros and cons?

My MIL had two of her kids close together and she said that the first 3 years where hard but they went to school and nursery at similar times, could play together easily (depsite one being a girl and one being a boy), she didn't have to store the baby stuff for long, they had a really good bond (and still do). She said that she found it easier coping with a 15 month age gap than she did with the 5 year one (when she had my hubby) and she was still in a routine with the first two and by the time that she had him she had 'got her life back' and was able to socialise with other mums whilst her first two where in school and ahe also had a part time job which she had to give up when she had my hubby.

I'm interested in the replies to this as I'm starting to think about this. I don't think I'm quite ready for it yet but I'm starting to think maybe in a few months...

I hated being so close to my brother, for the first few years we got on but now we dont have a good relationship. Also think that the first child gets a bit left out when the second comes along and if theres at least 15months or so between them then the first gets lots of 1 on 1 before the new baby comes.

I think the perfect age gap is 2 and a half yrs,

I got very broody when Alice was about 3 months old, but I read that your body takes around a year to top back up on vitamins and minerals after birth, so we're going to wait until she's 1.

1st - 5 years ( 6 in june ) girl
2nd - 4 years ( 5 in july ) boy
3rd - 3 years ( just turned 3 in jan there) girl
4th - 3 months girl

must admit it can be hard work but now the bigger 3 are bigger they get on really well, (sometimes), The older 2 girls get on really well and are very close but hey fight with my boy, its half and half, they play good and then they all fall out,

it is hard work when they are small but i wont have it any other way, i wouldnt like a big age gap between tham, and plus they have never been themselves to no any different, so i never had any problems when the others came a long

everybody is different, and its not for everyone to have them close together, but something i will say is if u have them close together like my eldest 2 (nearly 13 months between them, so eldest was 3 months old when i was pregnant again, is ur body never had the time to get back to normal and recover

We are starting TTC in a few weeks. It will probably take quite a while for us to conceive, so they probably won't be that close together - but if it worked out right away our LOs would be about 14 months apart! My bro and I are less than 2 years apart as well and I really like the age gap. It is close enough that we could play together when we were small (the younger one "plays up" an age level, and the older plays down) and we get along really well now. OH has a 5 year age gap and thinks it is more like being an only child. He was too young for his older sibling to take any interest (he was always the annoying little bro) and by the time he hit high school, she was out of the house. So I would like mine to be less than 2 years apart!

Also another reason is I would like to be out of the workforce for one chunk of time only. In my profession, it really makes a difference when you leave the workforce to have kids - it can set you back quite a bit career-wise. It is better for me to take time off and have both and stay home for several years, then re-enter the workforce - rather than leave, go back, start getting into work again, then leave again, etc.

xx

There are lots of reasons that I am going for a closer age gap. The more self-involved/practical reasons (depending on how you view it) are definitely financial/career-based and my age. I'm 34 and I know that I am at the beginning of the higher risk group for fertility and genetic disorders. If I want more than two kids, I feel like a closer gap is managing those risks better, if you know what I mean?
I also would like to take the financial hit in a few short years rather than spread out over a longer time. That just suits our situation better. I think it's easier on the career, too, although I'm less concerned about that.
For the kids, I think age gaps are only one of many factors influencing how well they will get along.

I like threads like these as I'll be trying for 3 in the next 4-5 years before I hit 35. (crazy?!)
I was 7 and 9 years older than my siblings and never really connected with them. They, however, are still fairly close.
I would like to wait at least the 6 months (6-17+months) that your body takes to get back to normal, but we will see how that works out.

theres a 6.5 yr age difference between me and my middle sister, and another 6.5 yrs to the youngest, while we all get along i wouldn't call us super close simply as we've always been at completly dirrent stages of life. i certainly won't be having that huge a gap.
We've spoken about number 2 and will probably start ttc mid 2011, if we fall straight away then there will be about 2-2.5yrs between them. I'm fine with this and it means i get to have a few drinks at my 30th as i won't be bf'ing this one any longer and won't have started on the next one yet!