[ABabyPlease]

Hi - we are older parents and blessed to have a healthy and easy-going 6 mo baby. We would like our child to have a sibling but I'm not sure if I can face another pregnancy and am not sure how I would cope with 2 kids under 2 years. As I'm nearly 43, I can't wait to TTC when my baby is older, and I know I might not even get pg a 2nd time anyway. I'm coping OK now but get very tired, sometimes a bit grumpy, I have a very sore back and our sex life is minimal....

WDYT? Have you had a 2nd child just to provide a sibling? Did you ever regret this? Did your relationship & health suffer?

Do you reckon it would be hard for an only child with older parents? I do have nieces and nephews living close by that could potentially beome close like siblings.

Thanks

[tibs]

I'm in 2 minds on this. Some children are really suited to being only children and love to be by themselves or with adults. My eldest is like this and there are times I think that he would have preferred we didn't have a second child. My second child is the opposite - hates being alone and needs at all times to be with someone preferably my eldest - she sticks to him like glue. He can't even go to the toilet without her plonking herself at his feet. She is like this wherever we go - she gravitates to any child we meet and is their new best friend, whereas my eldest is aloof and doesn't really want to know other kids.

But then I think maybe it is just birth order, he was our only for 2.5 years so that made him the way he is whereas she only ever knew being a sibling. Maybe only children would all be like our eldest so not miss it. But if my daughter was an only child and was the way she is now I do think she would be missing out on something that for her personality she needs.

I don't know. I'm now pregnant with our 3rd and providing a sibling for my daughter to get her out of our eldest's hair was certainly discussed in the will we or won't we conversations, altough it wouldn't have been enough of a factor alone for us to go ahead.

This post has been edited by tibs: 17/03/2012, 08:09 PM