What do you think is a good age gap between siblings?

Question

I have a one year old and we are thinking of having another child. we can not decide how much of an age gap to put between them.

Answer 1

I believe the current best amount of time between children for you physically is 18 months. Which puts the children about 2 years apart. This is a good amount of time. My husband and his brother are about this far apart and they are pretty close. My brother and I are almost 4 years apart and I wish we were a little closer in age. Please read this article for the experts take on the subject:

Researchers Seek 'Optimal' Pregnancy Interval
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter on 04/18/2006


TUESDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnancies spaced less than 18 months or more than 59 months apart carry a higher risk of low birth weight, preterm birth and small size for gestational age.

"This sort of upholds the conventional wisdom that you want to wait between pregnancies, and you want to plan your pregnancies," said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "The conventional wisdom is to try to space the births two years apart at least. A family needs to recover physically, emotionally and financially between babies. It needs to be able to devote enough time to each child."

Wu was not involved in the study, which appears in the April 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Having these accumulating studies adds strength to the conclusion," added Dr. Peter Bernstein, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Bernstein was on a select panel making recommendations to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for guidelines on preconception care coming out this Friday.

Although experts were hesitant to suggest an optimal interval, Wu said that ideally a couple would want to wait 20 to 40 months between pregnancies, with the earliest interval being nine months after the first delivery. Eighteen months is considered optimal by many.

Previous research had suggested that both short and long intervals between pregnancies increased the rates of adverse outcomes, but it wasn't clear if other factors (for example, socioeconomic status or mother's health) also played a role.

For this study, researchers at Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota in Colombia conducted a meta-analysis of studies published between 1966 and 2006. Sixty-seven articles met the criteria for inclusion in the study, representing more than 11 million pregnancies.

The evidence showed that babies born to women who had an interval of less than six months between pregnancies had a 40 percent increased risk of preterm birth, a 61 percent increased risk of low birth weight and a 26 percent increased risk of being small for their gestational age, compared to children of mothers with an interval of 18 to 23 months between pregnancies.

Babies born to mothers with pregnancy intervals longer than 59 months had a 20 percent to 43 percent increased risk of these outcomes.

For each month that the pregnancy was shortened from 18 months, the risk for preterm birth, low birth weight and small for gestational age increased by 1.9 percent, 3.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

For each month that the time between pregnancies was lengthened beyond 59 months, the risk for increased by 0.6 percent, 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

It's not clear why short intervals make for worse outcomes, although several theories have been put forth. One is the maternal nutritional depletion hypothesis, which suggests that the mother doesn't have time to recover from one pregnancy to the next. Nutritional deficiency in the mother means the child doesn't get enough nutrients either.

It's even less clear why extra-long intervals run into more problems. "It may be related to the fact that women who have long intervals are getting older, and women of advanced maternal age have an increased risk of some of these things," Bernstein said.

The paper is, in a sense, an argument for family planning.

"You don't want to do it too soon," Wu said. "You want to plan a pregnancy."

"I don't know that providers are out there telling their patients at their postpartum visit you really should really try and not have another pregnancy for 18 months," Bernstein added. "Health-care providers need to start identifying this as a high-risk problem, and they need to counsel patients about planning."

More information

For more on healthy pregnancies, head to the U.S. National Women's Health Information Center.

Answer 2

I don't think the gap should be more than 7-8 years. The reason is because you have a child all to yourself for so long, and then another one is born. Not only do you have more ties to the first child, but they will also have developed an "only-child" behavior and will have a hard time adjusting. I would suggest a 2-3 year gap between children. I think children too close in age end up developing rivalries. At least if you have a 2-3 year age difference, they will have a chance to grow, apart from each other. They won't be in the same school at the same time, they will have a chance not to have to live up to the expectations of their older sibling, etc...

Answer 3

1 1/2 to 2 years

Answer 4

Hey!
I can tell you from experience that any age gap is actually pretty cool.

I am the oldest in a fairly large family in todays standards.
There is a 3 and 1/2 year age gap between me and my younger brother. There is a 13 year age gap between me and my twin brother and sister. My mother is now pregnant, so there will be a 15 year age gap between me and that baby!

I love the fact that I can be her right hand man(girl in this case) because I am old enough to help out.
But, since your child is 1, I would think that is a great age to decide to have another one.

Good luck and God Bless!

Answer 5

2 or 3 years

Answer 6

1 1/2 years.

Answer 7

5 years

Answer 8

I think 2 years is ideal.
My first and second are 4 years apart, and my second and third are also 4 years apart. They each fight constantly about everything. There is to much of an age gap for them to have anything in common.

Now, my third and fourth child are 22 months apart and for the most part get along great. They are close enough to like the same kinds of things (toys, games, tv shows) And they always have someone to keep them company.

Answer 9

My opinion is the closer the better because they grow up closer and have more experiences to share with someone. I had to wait a year (and still only waited about 10 1/2 months) because of a c-section. I would always say to talk to your doctor and find out what YOUR body can handle. Some women have hard pregnancies and need more time to heal and return to normal. Plus, like I said, you should wait a year after a c-section because you run a very high risk for a couple of serious complications. But good luck! My daughter is about 12 months and 2 weeks and I am 8 weeks pregnant. I think it is perfect!

Answer 10

I would say a good age gap is between 2-3 years apart. I have a brother who is 9 years my senior and we never bonded, because he was so much older. I also know that it was difficult on my parents putting him through school and then having to start all over with me.

Answer 11

I would say about 2 years because I wouldn't want too large of an age difference between them. The age difference between #1 and #2 is 16 months and between #2 and #3 is 2 years. Perfect for me.