Are big families good or bad for kids ?

Question

I grew up with 3 sisters and 2 brothers, so that's not quite a small family. I think single kids are sometimes too much pampered and don't learn to share. On the other hand parents can give more attention to each kid in a small family. What is your idea ?

Answer 1

I think a larger family is better. I have two older sisters and a younger brother. We learned how to stick together, appreciate family, sharing, and how to do things for each other for the family's sake. Whereas, my husband was an only child, and he expects everything to be done when he wants it, no matter what it takes. He always wants to be first, and it also was hard for him to learn to share his love with our children. (We have 3) It has been hard to break him of his selfish, spoiled habbits that his mother has done his whole life. Also, since he is an only child, his mother has time to do everything for him...and I mean everything. Not that it's a bad thing, but now that he's moved away from his mother and lives with me, he first expected me to do everything his mom had done for him.

Answer 2

I think having a big family is not so much of a good idea because then your children wont get the attention that they need.But its also not such a good idea to have a family of just one child because (and this is something I can relate to cause I am an only child) every once in a while your child will get lonely & they might sometimes ask you why you never gave them a sister or a brother & I dont know about you but that always made my mother feel kind of bad. A family not too big but not too small is good like 2 - 4 children.Good Luck deciding.

Answer 3

It really depends on the family. Some chiildren benefit alot from a large family. Larger families tend to be closer. With that, everyone contributes. I have a friend with 7 who is homeschooling. She says that after 3, it got easier. The older ones help with the younger ones. They tend to share and entertain each other. The downside is parental attention for each is not as great. For me personally, I would rather stick to a small family for financial and attention reasons. I come from a family of 2 kids and 2 parents.

Answer 4

I was from a family of 13. Believe me, every day was hell on earth. My siblings and I never got along very well. I now live alone and have a dog, something my family wouldn't let have before because "why would you want a dog, people are better than animals" and other stupid stuff like that. I really don't even speak to my siblings and parents anymore. I've had enough of them. For me at least, being part of a big family was not good.

Answer 5

Big families are bad for kids, AND for parents.
It's puts too much pressure on the parents to work very hard to bring home money. Of course when a family has over 5 kids, the parents have to work very hard and most likely won't have ANY time for the kids. It's better to have 1-3 kids so you don't have to stress yourself with many jobs to make money, and so you can actually bond with them.

Children are also often ignored in families with alot of children. As I said, The parents are too busy for them because of their jobs, and when they DO have time for children, they only give attention to the youngest ones, and the older ones "earn" the responsibilities of the mother, and that's NOT fair or right.

Answer 6

I came from a family of 8 kids. My folks had no problem sharing attention for us. Big families are great. Kids that come from a big family have more of a concept of sharing and doing without... (keep in mind there are exceptions, I am only talking generally here). In my opinion, I don't think anybody should stop at 1 kid. I think it is healthy for all kids to have at least one sibling. However, my sister has only one kid, chose not to have anymore, and her kid is a brat. Her kid thinks she should always be the center of attention, because that is what she is used to. I think that if you choose to have only one kid, that is fine, but, make sure you introduce them to the sharing thing before they start school. Because if they have a 'me me me' attitude when they start school, they are gonna get nailed by the other kids.

Answer 7

well... my kids think it's great to have a big family. they tell me that there is ALWAYS something to do. i have 3 step children that my husband and i have been raising full time for 5 years now (19-17-14 now). i have 4 biological children (16-14-10-7). they all get along GREAT (for the most part:). my husband and i are going through fertility treatments to have one more (or multiples if it happens with ONE pregnancy). the only kid that is worried about us having more kids is the one that's in college... she's worried this might effect her free ride :) BUT, the rest of the kids are excited and have been helping pick out names. 3 of the kids volunteered to help paint the guest room that will now be our nursery! our kids like big families!

Answer 8

It depends on the parents, in my opinion.

I have only one son, but he's fare from spoiled or selfish. He has seven other half/step syblings that he sees only once a year...and they're much younger than he is. He learned to share way before any of them were born.
He's just naturally a giving person. Made raising him pure joy!

I made sure that he had interactions with other children at an early age. He also has two cousins he's very close to. Almost as if they were baby sisters.
He's very protective of them and has more patience than I can even muster at times.

Answer 9

I think financially, smaller families are better, because the fewer children you have, the more opportunities you'll be able to offer them. It's not common to see a family of 10 on vacation in the Bahamas for 2 weeks unless the parents are wealthy.

Answer 10

I come from a huge family if you include cousins and such, since we all grew up together i'd imagine you could. I actually like it more because it gives my girls a large group of kids that they can play with and it's people that I already know I can trust.