Anyone have kids 15-18 months apart? Pics? Advice?

[tsavoie11]

I have 5 total. My first two girls are 17.5 months apart. They are built in best friends. Then we waited 3 years to add the third. She was the biggest adjustment only because I went from one kid for each hand to more kids than hands! LOL! My 4th daughter is 15 months younger and my son is exactly 17 months younger than her! They fit right into the flow. I love having them close. The first year is the hardest but after that they are generally "into" the same things at the same times. They play together nicely. I have felt a bit sad that my son won't have a "buddy" but my husband says that I have to be his buddy because we're done!

[babylove921]

My boys are 16 months apart. I don't have any pics of them together yet.

[Fashionably Green Baby]

I don't have that close of spacing but for me the transition from 2 to 3 was pie. It was so easy. Now 1 to 2 was a bit harder but once you are used to having more than one I think it gets easier. Our spacing between 1 and 2 was 3 1/2 years and between 2 and 3 was 2 1/2 years. I much prefer the 2 1/2 year spacing. I think the smallest spacing I would ideally do would be 18 months but probably right at 2 years would be my ideal now that I know close is ok.

[jen_batten]

I don't have any *quite* that close together, my closest are 19 months apart. That worked out AWESOME for us though. DS was such a good big brother! He loved his sister so much and was so good to her. It's also great for homeschooling, because they're pretty much going through together. They are best friends and love to do everything together. To me, going from 1 to 2 was easier than adding the 3, who came 22 months later. I'm guessing this varies pretty widely due to each child's personality though. In general I've seen Moms have much more problems with sibling rivalry when their kids are spaced further apart rather than closer. If you space them closer, they don't remember all the time they had before the new babe came along, and they seem to adjust a bit better.

[mcpforever]

My younger two are 14.75 months apart. God gave them to me in the right order personality wise! DD just "gets it" when it comes to her little brother and has from day 1. I don't know any other way to explain it other than she never acted jealous or unhappy about him, seemed to always understand when he was angry/frustrated as a toddler and forgave him for his temper, and knew when to back off and when to help him. She is amazing. I can't imagine them being born in the opposite order. My oldest was 6 when our third was born, so having him so much older worked very well for our family dynamic.

My biggest recommendation for having two so close together is routine, routine, routine. (notice I said routine, not schedule!) Get your system down and stay with it! For my babies, I found it best to let the newbie take his morning nap and late evening nap when he did 3 a day, in the swing or sling. For my toddler's afternoon nap we ALL 3 (newbie, toddler, and me-oldest kid at school) took one together and then got up to go get my eldest from school. It saved my sanity.

I did diaper changes for both babies at the same time and developed a routine around that. First diaper change of the day was together, changed diapers again after taking oldest to school, etc. If one baby needed a change, I checked the other and then changed the other if needed. The newbie went far more often, so unless the toddler had a BM, it was just simpler to base the diaper routine on what the newbie was doing.

Eating was a little different as I tried to make sure the newbie was well fed and happy to swing for a little while while I fed the toddler and 1st grader.

Here's an extremely awkward picture of the three of them when the youngest was about 2-3 months old:


Last summer:


And the most recent one of the two so close in age:


They really, really love each other and are very close. My two that are so close in age really stick together and stick up for each other and take care of each other now. I have to watch DS2 to make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble for defending his "princess." (his words.)

[2beauties]

My first two were 15 months, the next gap was 2 1/2, this next gap will be 26 months. The 2 1/2 was way easier for me. I really mourned that I didn't really get to enjoy my first DS during the sweet 1 to 2 phase, because I was so consumed with a newborn. You can do whatever you want, but I wish I had that time back, not that I do not love my DD, but I really feel like I missed out. They are close now and play a lot together so that is nice too.

[Psychomom]

My 3rd and 4th are 19 months apart--I love it! I tandem nursed and the hardest part was getting the toddler to understand that the baby needed me first. They are 5.5 years old and 7 years old now and I still love the age gap, probably even more now. Here are some FB pics I have of them together. I just made the album public so I hope it works:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...8635575&type=3

[bluedaisyma]

my 1st 2 are 14 mo apart and it was the easiest by far. the others were: 20 mo, 23 mo, 12 yrs and almost 2 yrs

[elkay724]

1 and 2 are 7 years apart. HUGE adjustment period there. 2 and 3 are only 14 months. Tough in the beginning but it worked itself out. They are very close now.

[songbird516]

My only advice would be to make sure that you're eating a very nutrient-dense diet starting now. Pregnancy takes a huge toll on the body's nutrient stores, and having them close together can contribute towards problems in the next pregnancy. Of course lots of moms have babies that close together without problems, but there's a reason that many healthy cultures around the world had an average age spacing of 3 years- it's just healthier for the mother and baby.