Age gaps

[Maggie-Mae]

Has anyone got children with a large age gap between them? If so, did you find it difficult to adjust to having a young child again. My children are 14, 12 and 4. When I had my daughter, my sons were 10 and 7 and even four years on, sometimes I still have occasions where I feel like I havent fully adjusted to having to "start over again". It would be nice to hear how other people have got on - thanks x

[noxlumos]

My wife's eldest son is 21, my eldest son is 20 and our youngest daughter is a month old and we haven't really noticed any serious problems, but then we have lots in the middle:)

[cliffsdoll]

my daughters were 15 and 12 when i had another daugter, that baby girl was 14 months when her brother was born, boy was it hard having two babies to look after, plus having to cope with difficult teens as well, but after a couple of years things got better and i had live in babysitters.

[SaxyJag]

My sister is almost eight years older than me. She is currently 54 going on 70 and I'm 46 going on 18 (according to our Mum). We have never been close, we have nothing in common, and I doubt we ever will.

I have a cousin 3000 miles away in America whom until last year I hadn't met for 26 years, and he is more of a sibling to me than my sister is.

[alijangra]

Im the youngest of 5. My oldest sibling is 20 years older than me. My mum had my brother at 39 and me at 40 she claims we kept her young. At 66 she is wonderfully fit for her age, and she is glad to have my brother and I although we both flew the nest a long time ago.

[hiliry]

My husband is 35, his eldest son is 17 and daughter is 14, Im 28 and we have just had a baby who is 5 months old.

My oldest brother is 8 years older than me and my youngest is 8 years younger.

So i dont think age matters at all in the slighest.

[sandra22465]

my oldest daughter is 22 i went 9 years before i had anymore then i had 3 more daughters all within 5 years they are aged 13 / 12 / & 9 i didnt find it any different to having my first to my last only with 3 girls all under 5 it was a bit tiring

[chris26]

I'm 26 and my dad became a father again 2 weeks ago. Bit difficult to think of her as a sister because of the huge age gap, i think i will be more like an uncle.

[kazzianne]

My eldest is 18,then I have a 15 yr old ,a 12 yr old,a 6 yr old and my partners child who is also 6 yrs old.

[tradey]

hi we thought wed finished then along came our little girl we have a boy of 21 and a girl of 17 then a 2yr old bit of a gab isnt it. i thought id find it hard but it all comes flooding back to you.

[B00]

I've 2 daughters, the eldest is nearly 18 and the baby is 17 months old.

I've noticed that i've a heck of a lot more patience this time round and I'm enjoying my baby more, I think it's because I'm mentally more mature and not wanting my freedom back the way I did when my eldest was a baby.

[andy-hughes]

I 'inherited' two girls when my wife and I married, and we have a third daughter, so the age gap is considerable. The oldest is 31, the middle one is 29, and the youngest is just 17.

The big advantage for me as a parent of a new baby is that my wife knew what she was doing, and i learned from her. the age gap meant no jealousy, my youngest daughter has worshiped her oldest sister from day one, and still does - they are very close. Our eldest daughter has a ten-year-old daughter of her own, and a sixteen-mont-old son. The middle one is off living the single life with her fiance, so we see her when she can fit us into her schedule!

I wouldn't dream of 'starting again' now - I'm 51, I wish all the luck to the soon-to-be 'oldest mum' who is all over the media. Nativity plays at nearly 70? No thanks!

[Cheesefreek]

My friend had her first son when she was 18, and then her second when she was 40. Her eldest son had left home by then, but takes a great interest in his younger (now aged 12) brother. They've got a great bond, and the older takes the younger everywhere - Legoland, Alton Towers - places he missed out on himself!

[Kathyan]

I have three children (all grown up now!) There is 4� years between the first two and 11 years between the second and third. I found I had more patience with the youngest than I did with the other two, probably because I was a lot older then. The younger two (both girls) get on really well and are very close. The eldest (a boy) moved away to live with his dad when we split up so wasn't around when the youngest was born, although they do get on well when they do see each other.

[hereicome]

I'm 22 and my dad has just had a daughter a few months ago, its been mentioned before but because of the gap i think i feel like more of an uncle than a brother but this isn't really a problem just we probably won't be as close as she grows up.

[jo90]

My children are 20 and 12, just as one has come out of his teens, the other is about to enter them. What a nightmare.
On the positive side, the elder son helps the younger with his homework and spends hour talking about all the mistakes he has made and hopes his younger sibling wont do the same! I always felt I had two "only children" -, the younger seems to have grown up very much quicker than his brother and since the elder has gone off to uni. they miss each a lot. Hang on in there - it's worth it.
Jo90

[spk]

Hi maggie mae- Im the youngest in a family of 4 and the age gap between the second youngest and me is 8 years. I found growing up I was a bit of an only child at times ( still very loved though I know that !) but as a consequence Im not quite as close to my siblings as they are to each other. Never caused me any major issues though I think so long as children are loved and nurtured it doesnt matter

[purple-eth]

I'm 29 and have sisters aged 28, 27 and 15, so I was 14 when my youngest sister was born. I also have a very close extended family of a niece aged 7 and a nephew aged 16 months.

[mkt]

my eldest sibling is 18 years older than me and the nearest to me in age is 9 years. its never been a problem for myself or anyone else in my family. we're all very very close and we wouldn't have it any other way. my parents said it was easier that we werent all born within a year or two of each other as they found it far easier to cope having a child that was old enough to listen and understand whilst trying to train a new baby/toddler etc. when i was at school a lot of my friends found it weird that my eldest brother was pretty much the same age as their parents but i was fine with it.

it needn't be a problem