Would you have a third child

[bugnbear]

Three seems to be that awkward number or maybe just to me:giggle2: ....Im having a real hard time deciding whether or not to have a third....I would love one but when I think of all the things that are associated negativly with it like all the family of 4 things in the world, etc I have to be honest but it scares me. I also am not sure if we can afford it, I dont want to put my kids in daycare because I decided I needed another child...:blush: kwim....how do you know you're ready for another baby and is it really more expensive then two

[ClothDiaperMePlease]

I have 3. Only planned on 2 ;)

It isn't that much more expensive yet. He is almost 18mo.

I will say, I thought 2 was chaotic. Now I know what that really is.

[justlindsay]

I am and have been trying for 2.5 yrs. :) Im not sure how Im rationalizing it, lol. I just really want one last baby/child. I do think going somewhere with 3 kids could get insane but at this point even if I were to get pg, BOTH of my kids will be in school during the day so I think it won't be that much drama. I also have a couple GREAT friends who will help me when I need it.

[Drearina]

I would love a 3rd (and a 4th... and a 5th....) but it doesn't look like it's in the cards for us. =(

[jugrox91]

We had one and then we had twins, so we skipped having 2 kids. It's not hard at all. Of course, "once you have three you already have more kids than you have hands so why not just keep on going?" That was something said to me when I asked one of the older ladies at work why she had 9 kids.

[maureen73]

My children are 2, 3 and 4. when DD was only a few weeks ago, we were SHOCKED to find out I was pg with Jacob. What a blessing he has been to our lives. Due to a partial rupture sadly, he is our last baby. Cost wise no major difference between 2 and 3 in my opinion. I would say the level of chaos at times is a bit overwhelming with three toddlers so close in age BUT I wouldn't change it for even one second.

[nakedbabytoes]

Heck no! It makes the middle one weird!!!
Lol! With that said, me & my hubby both come from "3" families. We are both the oldests. Our "middles" are interesting at times but I can't imagine life without them. If I hadn't had my tubes tied:(, I'd be jonesing for a third right now!

[Crew&West]

We have 1 now and 1 on the way next month. DH is like you and thinks 2 is a good number. His reasoning (haha) is: we still have room in the car for 1 more adult, 1 adult per child in public, we don't have to buy a larger dinner table, 1 parent to attend each child's events i.e. soccer, ballet, or tennis match, etc. I would love to have 3, 4 or even 5 but he's set on 2. We might look into adoption later down the road though. DH is also 32 and he said "I don't want to be raising kids my whole life and then be to old to still do some of the things we want like travel etc.

[doublebk]

We have 3 and only wanted 2. Our last was an oopsie. :giggle: While I would never even think of changing it (how could you anyway....) I think it is much harder. Once you are outnumbered it is really hard. Not cost wise, ours 2 little ones are only 18 months apart so the clothes pass down really well, but it will be harder when they are older and want/need bigger and better things, but by then I will go back to work and it will be easier financially. I would have rather only had 2, not saying I dont love my ydd (she is actually my favorite, but dont tell), but because it would be easier. Actually, i would probably have stuck with 1, but we had her when we were 17, and dh BEGGED for another one when she was 6. He had to REALLY talk me into it. But, you are right, it is easier with 2, but do what your heart says to.:giggle: (sorry that was rambling)

[luvsviola]

We have two right now. DFS is very medically needy, but I think when he and DD are older, we would like to have one more. Ideally, it would be once DD goes to kindergarten so that if I had to pay for daycare, we could afford it. My mom is our current daycare, but I have to keep myself in a situation where I can pay my mortgage if she stops watching my kids.

[shelbell]

I have three kids and it's great. I thought since my boys were 8 and 11 when dd was born that I would have an easier time but not so much. I get lots of mommy and dd time with the boys in school but when they get home it's insanely chaotic. Homework, dinner, Scouts, choir practice, PTA, etc all have to be done with a toddler that used to be very high needs but is getting more independent but she's still very attached and that's fine with me. I can not imagine what in the world I did before her though and I'm glad we decided to have another one.

[mommy2gr8kids78]

I have 3 children ages 6, 4 and 1. Our daughter was a TOTAL surprise! We were toying with the idea of having a third, but she showed up when she wanted. :giggle: I love her to pieces, and couldn't imagine life without her. I would even love a fourth, but we'll have to see how my body likes that idea. Having a third is not that more expensive than 2. It's just a little more food on an extra plate! :goodvibes:

[Pompoms]

We're debating a 3rd. Mostly because we live in the boondocks. There's no place for me to work, really nothing else to do except have kids (which is why so many people out here on average have 4-5) and quite frankly I'm enjoying making diapers and only so many of my friends do cloth.

[Twinvillageiowa]

I would like to have one more in a few years. We had twins the first time around and we didn't plan on them so it would be nice to have a planned singleton.

[elizabeth.scalf]

My sister has 3. The two boys are 10 and 6 and the girl is 5. She says 3 can be awkward- either the two boys play together and the girl is left out, or the two close in age play together and the older one is jealous. Its getting better. But she recommended pairs, either 2 or 4. But everyone In my family is 3s (my mom and her sibs, my sets of cousins, me and sibs). No one else has that theory of 'pairs'. Its works out however you have them :)

[raindrop_333]

SO and I used to say we'd have 4, and then we were pretty set on 2. Now I find myself wishing for a 3rd someday...well, maybe. I go back and forth on it often, and SO hasn't openly admitted he wants a 3rd someday. It's a huge maybe :)

[calideedle]

I have three, the third was very planned.

No weirdness or jealousy at all (and I think it is silly saying the middle child will be weird because of it) DS1 and DD are best friend and play together 24/7. They adore their little Brother & kiss, hug, squeeze him all day :giggle2: Three is an amazing number :wub:

[z2akids]

We have 3. DS#1 is 8, DS#2 is 6 and DD is 4. The boys were almost 4 and 20 months when my daughter was born. The first year was rough in some ways - my middle was still pretty needy in those early toddler ages. However, all 3 get along beautifully most of the time.

In terms of cost, it isn't really much more when they're all little. The boys were able to hand down a lot of clothes. When our daughter was born, we didn't have anything at all girlie, so there were expenses for clothes and girly toys. She still doesn't eat much, so that's not a big deal. But, now that all three are in activities (football, baseball, soccer, wrestling, scouts, gymnastics, ballet, tap, etc.) it is getting more expensive.

[boy-oh-boy]

Well... DS1 was DH's #3 and he's a great kid. The only problem has been DSS2 feeling a bit displaced, but he came to live with us a week after DS1 was born, so he went straight into 2-kid house from every-other-weekend visits...

My #3 was my most difficult labor (sunny-side up baby), but is the absolute most mellow of all of the kids. Nothing upsets him except for poop and not getting food quickly enough :giggle: DS2 is actually the MOST protective of his little brother. He is totally rocking this big brother business.

We've handed down clothes since DSS2 was little - we get a lot of cousin clothes and I pass them down as much as possible. I pass down toys as much as I can too, but my mom loves to overload gifts.

[pumkinsmommy]

I always wanted three children. I had my only baby at the age of 39. It looks very unlikely that I will be able to have another. The main thing is that I don't want my daughter to be alone when we are gone. My family(except my mother) doesn't have much to offer. My husbands family is wonderul but they are all in another country.

[smblake]

we have 2 amazing boys right now and would love to add a third, fourth, fifth and maybe sixth, but we'll see how things go - we've suffered a lot of losses and the thought of ttc and go through pregnancy again is very terrifying to me... but we want a large family and I'm willing to do it... I think :giggle:

But I will admit, there are those chaotic days when I think, "what am I thinking?! I've got my hands plenty full with these two little monsters!" Did I say monsters, I meant munchkins :giggle2:

[Liddle1]

I would like to have one more in a few years. We had twins the first time around and we didn't plan on them so it would be nice to have a planned singleton.

be careful!!!! that's how jon and kate plus 8 started out :giggle:

[sourpatch_babe]

It's definitely easier to have an odd number of children in the house. This is what I tell people: if you have two kids and they're fighting with each other, they will both be fighting over your attention to try and "win" you over to their side. Now with three kids, if two of them are fighting they will be fawning over the third child to "win" them over to their side and stay out of your hair:giggle2:

At least, that's what we did growing up. if two of us were fighting we could never allow any other child to join the ranks of the "enemy" and tried to get the other kids to get in our side.

[bugnbear]

I loved reading through all your responses, its made it a little easier...I think I am def ready for a third....my monkeys are 5(6 in dec) and 2 in august so I think its a pretty good spread, we wanna try next june/july so all the birthdays are spread out :) So my dd will almost be 3 and ds will be turning 8 that year and be in full time school....anybody have recommendations on a vehicle...An affordable one at that lol hubby really wants to stay SUV, I would love a van with a tv but if I find one thats roomy enough and will tow a trailor (he says they dont pull very well) then I think he'd go for it

[Chey]

We have three....only planned on two, but that's what 4 years of NFP Birth control gets ya!! LOL.

I'm happy with three, always wanted three, it was DH who was happy at two. I will say this though, it makes travelling a bit more challenging. We are going to Mexico in December and again in the new year and it was tough to find resorts that do families of five. Lots of the time too, two kids are included and then the third pays a price, or one child included, one at cut rate then the third pays full price. We managed to find a great resort that had SUPER cut rates for kids for the December trip. We haven't been able to find anything so great for after Christmas yet though.

[MT_ranch_mom]

We're in a 'different' position in that we have two together and then dsd. So technically we have 3 kids. Just because dsd doesn't live with us full time doesn't mean that she's not ours. She still has her own bedroom, we pay child support, we buy her clothes, etc.

We are probably done, but we haven't ruled out the possibility of a third 'ours'.

[CouponMama]

We have two right now with one on the way, so soon to be 3. I am so excited because I have my two boys and now I am finally getting my girl. Two is pretty inexpensive for us since we can reuse all the clothes (hand me downs), so I know this baby is going to cost a bit more, but I just didn't feel our family was complete with just 2 kids.

[hac1224]

I think moving to an odd number is always supposed to be a bigger adjustment than an even, and having a third only 15 months after #2 has definitely kept me busy and things interesting. I'll tell you if the odd vs even thing really holds true after #4 comes in about a month. :giggle: With 3 (or really with any number of children) there will never be a dull moment in your household! I love having 3+ even on the crazy, chaotic days and wouldn't go back to only two for the world!

ETA: Someone mentioned travel, but it doesn't become an issue if you mainly travel by car and stay in family-friendly campground cabins like we prefer to. We also don't eat much. On the kitchen table size you mentioned, add a bench! It will easily fit 3 littles across, and you can find them online for cheap to match almost any decor. We had to do that when we moved to a rental because our big table didn't fit, and this house actually came with a small 4- seater table. We just bought a matching bench and moved two of the chairs to the sides. Works great for us!

[Birbitt]

I have three, and while I wasn't planning to have a third I can't imagine life without him now. It's not really that hard with three (at least not yet since the baby is only 4 months), and financially it's not that different either but we BF and I'll be making his baby food (when he's ready) from the foods we are eating. Also since I have only boys the clothing passes down perfectly! Yes I have more children than I have hands, but my oldest two are 5 and 6 and they are responsible enough to stay close to me without holding my hand. I think the biggest factor in how hard it is to have a third is the ages of the children, had I given birth to a third child when my other two were still preschoolers I would probably have pulled all my hair out, however since they are older and pretty well behaved (most of the time) I don't feel overwhelmed.