The Ideal Time for a Second Child

One of the issues that parents often ask and wonder is what ideal age difference should be between two children.

In other words, while planning the second child, they wonder what kind of planning they will do. Because families are worried about this. Some families think that if there is an age difference between the two children, they will not be able to take good care of both of them. Some families decide that when the age difference between the two children increases, the two children cannot get along with each other. It is not possible to give a clear answer to these questions of parents.

Because the age difference between two children is not an issue that can only be measured or evaluated with the agreement of the children. While making the evaluation, many factors such as mother, father, parent relationship, environmental conditions, developmental period of the child should be taken into consideration, and then a decision should be made for a second child. Therefore, physical health should be restored after childbirth. Obstetricians generally recommend that there should be a gap of three years between two births for the mother to be physically healthy after giving birth.

There are also other factors to consider. One of them is that dealing with a newborn baby will affect the physical health of the mother due to breastfeeding and frequent awakenings at night. Again, attention should be paid when considering mental disorders that may occur after birth.

Important problems that will affect the mental health of the mother. It may cause other problems for the birth and re-care of the second baby. The mother's mental and physical health is not sufficient for planning a second child. It should also be evaluated in environmental conditions. The economic situation of the family, how well the plans they made for the first child go, how the relationship between the parents continues are important factors to be considered in planning the second child. While scheduling the second child, it is necessary to consider the situation of the first child, apart from the father and social conditions.

It is a time when children aged 0-3 show rapid development both physically and mentally. This development is affected by the relationship with the mother as well as nutrition and environmental conditions. Therefore, it is suggested that the relationship between the baby and the mother should be more in order to contribute to this development. In such a period, especially if the parents are not ready, if they do not find themselves both financially and spiritually sufficient, the arrival of a second child affects both the development of the first child and the development of the second.

The fact that the mother is tired and has not yet recovered. The fact that she is receiving help and support may result in her giving up taking care of the first child with the arrival of the second child. The processes that take a lot of time, such as the sleeping times of the newly arrived baby, milk feeding and bottom cleaning will steal the time they will support for the development of the same first child. At the same time, sometimes families do not show much interest in the newborn in order to improve the development of the first child and not to pause it. However, in the newborn period, the baby needs a relationship with the mother in order to be able to bond again. Therefore, a sibling who comes in an unprepared period can be a factor that hinders development for both the newborn and the child who comes before.

Concepts such as growing up and sharing together can sometimes cause problems, even though there is a little age difference, and it can make the child angry when he is suddenly a baby with a new baby and to consider him as an older brother or sister.

On the other hand, as the age difference between children increases, of course, their childhood sharing will decrease. The puberty period of one may coincide with the transition period from infancy to childhood of the other. Therefore, although they do not share much during their childhood, regardless of the age difference in adulthood, the balance between siblings occurs spontaneously and sharing may increase. It is not possible to have a new baby just because the children want a sibling, so to have a new baby.

Parents decide to have a second child. The right time is when you feel ready to become a parent for the second time. Ideally, three years is said for the mother's physical health, but whenever you feel ready, then the ideal time will be.