The joy of having children close together

So I’ve posted before about the difficulties I have faced having a small age gap between my children. So today, I’m going to post the positives.

The one thing I will point out is that the first 6 or so months (roughly until bub is crawling) are the hardest. Once the baby is mobile and they can begin playing together life gets a little easier. The first 6 months are survival mode. If you lower your housework expectations and simplify your day then you’ll be fine. Expect too much of yourself or your children, and it’ll be a disaster.

1 When they play together it’s beautiful. It doesn’t always happen but when these two play together happily it just melts my heart.

2 They both have a day nap. They don’t always overlap but both children have a sleep at some point during the day, and if the toddler doesn’t sleep then she at least has some quiet time.

3 Now that baby is mobile, they follow each other around and need much less hands on entertaining.

4 Now that he eats and we are doing BLW, I only prepare one meal for everyone and it means mealtimes are simple. The toddler needs no help and the baby is quickly understanding the concept of feeding himself.

5 They travel well and keep each other entertained in the car. Since day dot, the toddler has taken it upon herself to calm the baby in the car, and it worked! One less stress on me.

6 They love each other, and it’s beautiful.

There are other pros like having them close at school, close in age can share a bedroom if required, still had all the baby gear from the first etc. Ultimately you have to pick an age gap that works for your family while keeping in mind that a bigger gap means a lower risk of uterine rupture in a VBAC (though that risk is still small even before 18 months). Read more about ideal age gaps here.