If you already have a child and want to surprise him with a sibling or you are just starting a family, get familiar with the easiest age gap between babies: 5 research studies.
Even though having a baby is the happiest time in parent’s life, it can and it will be very stressful, especially for the younger parents. There will be many changes and adjustments once the baby arrives. There will be no more sleeping until the late afternoon, there is no going out every night, and you can just forget the mommy-and-daddy-time. Your schedule would have to be adapted due to the need of your child and you will have a break between sleep every 2 hours. But you will love your child the most and even if you start hating your life, you would never change it for anything.
But when is the right time to give your child a little brother or a sister? The truth is, it does have something to do with you, but you will be the least important person here, especially as a father. Some scientific research says that mothers can stress some serious health conditions if they give a birth to the second child within a year and that’s all that concerns parents. The thing that you should pay attention the most is the first child.
The truth is, his physical condition will remain the same, but their mental condition can be a bit corrupted. Bringing up the new baby, in general, can really mess up with their little heads and they can feel either replaced or neglected. Children can feel that they did something wrong which is why their parents want someone else in their life, especially around the age of three, when they will meet the feeling of selfishness and egoism and want their parents only for themselves.
Some people believe that getting another child while the first one is still too young to know what it means is the best solution and, at some point, they are right. But the problem is the health conditions that will both mother and the fetus face. Unfortunately, in most cases, the consequences are deadly. Besides losing the other child, your first born will be left without the mother, and that is definitely something that you want to avoid. Growing up without one parent is very hard, trust me, I have the first-hand information about that.
On the other hand, there are people that wish the bigger gap between children so they can benefit from it the most. They want their older child to be old enough to be able to take care of the younger child, but parents also want to be young enough when they get it. The problem here is that you are forbidding your older child to have a childhood that he or she deserves. He or she wasn’t meant to be a parent, you were. They are in a stage when they need to start school, study, spend time with their friends, and not babysit their siblings while you and your spouse continue with your life and rest after work. The new baby is your responsibility like the older one was.
To sum up: nothing before the first year because of the health problems both mother and infant will be facing. Nothing between the age of two and three because the older child would be intimidated and feel replaced by you two. And nothing more than 6 years so that kids can bond. According to this and the testimonials of the psychologists and pediatric experts, the perfect gap between two children should be around 4 years. To see why and how to find the best transition methods, check out the easiest gap between babies: 5 research studies.
