by Whitney Barthel posted in Parenting

Child spacing has always been a hot topic in the parenting world. What is the optimal amount of time between each child" Apparently, that entirely depends on who you ask. The dilemma seems to be choosing between giving yourself time between pregnancies for optimal recovery, and keeping your children close enough in age to be life-long companions.

My boys. Then ages 5, 3.5, 2, and newborn.For us, we waited between nine and thirteen months between pregnancies. All four of our boys were born in barely five years. And while that may seem crazy to most, it really doesn?t seem all that wild to us.
My husband and I didn?t have our first baby until we were 25. Because both of us want a large family, we decided to let nature take its course until we were ready to be permanently done having children. As I researched the topic I noticed a major trend -- couples preferring to limit their family to three or less children spaced their pregnancies farther than families choosing to have many children.
In a BabyCenter Community thread one mom shares her concern for having two children sixteen months apart. She states,
?I feel bad for [my son]. And guilty as heck. He's just a baby and I don't want to replace him. I feel so bad for needing to divide my attention?One of these two is going to get shafted?I feel beyond guilty. ?
Her statement brings back intense memories. Before having my second son, Frankie, I felt the same way. I thought, ?I love ...