As a mother of children eight months apart -- and four children under five years old at one point, I thought this article was really great! Here are four benefits to having children very close in age!
1. Getting all of the “tough stuff” over more quickly.
Basically, what this means is that you’ll get a good night’s sleep a bit sooner than if your kids are spaced out in age. And let’s face it, if you’re a parent with a young child, this is one of the most important questions in your world right now: When will I get a restful night’s sleep?
P.S. I did LOVE that I got to potty train two boys for the price of one!
2. The older sibling won’t remember life without the younger.
Sure, there’s going to be some adjustments to make when the little one comes along, but very quickly, your older child won’t remember life without baby brother or sister or around. Older kids might hold onto memories of “life before sibling,” whereas younger kids are more apt to take it all in stride. Siblings close in age mean that they can relate to each other a whole lot better as they get older, too. Win!
P.S. This I love! My kids don't know life without each other. And I love that.
3. Easy to remember “tricks of the trade.”
It’s a whole lot easier to remember all those little parenting tricks when it hasn’t been all that long since you went through them the first time. Remembering how to do a perfect swaddle, or how to change a diaper with one hand while slurping a cup of coffee and paying bills online are all very useful skills to have. Going too long in between babies can lead to a lot of memory loss (see point #1 re: sleep deprivation). Having your babies close together means less opportunity to lose those hard-won mommy skills.
P.S. I disagree with #3. Despite doing this very rapidly, I STILL cannot remember things!
4. Similar life stages.
Particularly as they get older, having children going through life stages at similar times can be a big benefit. No waiting YEARS and YEARS for the youngest to be tall enough to go on the rides at Disney. No years of the younger child being forced to watch longingly as their older sibling gets to “do all the fun stuff.” No holding back the older child, waiting for the younger to “catch up.” Siblings close in age means less total time that you’ll be stuck feigning enthusiasm through endless episodes of Dora the Explorer. Score!
P.S. I agree with this! The boys being able to do everything at the same time is awesome. Although, in my case, because they are the same age but starting to space apart height-wise, we are still running into this problem.
2 comments:
As a soon to be mom of 4, 5 and under, I also think that a Huge benefit is the sibling relationships. It's a benefit for them and selfishly, a benefit for me. My 2 oldest (5& 3.5) will play together for hours with little to no intervention. It's amazing and a huge blessing!
My father and stepmother had twins when I was 11. To this day, they still say they'd do it over again, in spite of the fact that the boys didn't potty train until 3.5 and sleep all night until they were well into their 4's. The twins potty-trained at once, teethed at once, walked at once, went to school at once, went to college at once, all of it at once. They thought having children at different stages would be more difficult. (Although she won't admit it, mom had a VERY hard time when they went off to college together. It wasn't pretty.)
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