How long did it take for you to feel back to 'normal' after your 2nd child?

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

How long did it take before you felt relatively 'normal' after you had your second child? And how old was your first when you had your second? I'm trying to work out when to have our second and am in two minds about hitting them up kind of close together (starting TTC when DS is 2, he's now 13 months) or starting to TTC when he is 3 and working part time for a year in between. What did you do and do you think it worked out well for you? Thanks!!!

[visitor1]

I felt fantastic after my 1st bub...and she was a few days under 11 months old when our 2nd child was born. DD1 was around 5 weeks old when i fell pg with DD2.

I think you need to do what works best for you and your family. For us i wasnt working and we have a home business so i had alot of help from DH as he was home 24/7. We have no family or friends for support however. My DH has since gone back to FT work when DD2 was 3 months old and thats when i went ARGH....but we worked out a routine and now i feel great.

Now pg with #3 and DH is about to give up FT work again and come back home...so again, its worked for us!

For us there was no question of waiting for #2....she was 110% planned.

DD1 will be 25/26 months and DD2 will be 14/15 months when #3 comes along..and thats a great age gap that works well in our family.

[Antheia]

We started TTC #2 when DD was 7.5 months old, fell pregnant when she was 13 months old. So they are 22 months apart. I love that age gap and it works great for us. I felt absolutely fab after #2 was born. I was back on my feet straight away and didn't even feel like i'd just had a baby.

[~Saram~]

We had #2 when DS was 4 and I love this age gap, he is independant enough so that we can have individual time with both of them. He went to pre-prep when Ari was born so I had a couple of days a week where it was just the two of us and DS is great friends with his little sister they have barrels of fun together and he loves helping out with Ari.

Having two does take slightly more organisation but on the other hand they keep each other amused :-)

[sangie]

Hi Jan!
Well obviously I can't tell you how I feel after number 2 yet LOL
But we are going to aim for #2 to arrive when DD is 2.5-3 years old (so starting TTC early next year and hope my body cooperates!). It will be roughly the same age gap between myself and my brother and we have always been super close. I am really enjoying working part time as well and want to continue for another year or so and also we want to be settled into a new house before #2 arrives. So it is different for everyone but I guess just go with your gut feeling hun and it will all be so wonderful no matter when your new addition arrives!

[Visitor7]

DD1 was 12 months old when I fell pg with DD2 (not exactly planned though). But I love the age gap, which is 21 months. I had a great labour second time round, and recovered really quickly, so felt normal pretty much straight away. I only spent one night in hospital, as I was keen to get home and get things back to normal.

[Naomi]

We started TTC #2 when #1 was 14 months, there is a 26month age gap between 1 and 2 and i felt great after #2 was born even though i had a c-section and there is a 19 month age gap between #2 and 3
This age gap works well for us

[rosehannah]

I had planned to have my first two, three years apart but as it turned out, they are nearly four years apart as I had a miscarriage on my first try for no. two.
My body felt tired quicker with no. two and I think this had a lot to do with looking after DS and working from home doing family day care, so I wasn't able to rest as often as I did with no. one. My body took longer to get back to it's pre preg. weight too.
I found that my DS being a bit useful in being able to help mummy, and get some things for himself was great when I was feeding my DD, also he was out of nappies so that ment only one set of nappies to deal with.

Now for no. three, she was my wake up call to find a better means of contraception LOL. Surprise babies take all this planning away. I think that now that my youngest is now twenty one months old and we have finished breastfeeding, she is sleeping through and she is starting to try the potty, I feel like there is time for some "me time " now and then, and I'm back to playing sport and getting involved in some school projects and thinking of finding some casual work. Good luck with your plans.

[~Trish~]

We have a 3 year (plus one day LOL) age gap between our boys. We had that age gap for a few reasons, one was that I had low iron and low energy levels so I didn't think I'd cope with 2 any earlier than that. Also I had a home business that I enjoyed so much I wasn't ready to put it on hold just yet. The age gap has been fantastic, DS1 is toilet trained and he is pretty independant so it made things with a newborn much easier.

I felt fantastic the day after I had #2! I bounced back straight away, whereas it took me months to feel normal after DS1!

[Liz]

We have a 19 mth age gap (was supposed to be closer to 21, but she came early!) and it's a fantastic age gap so far. DS is smitten with her, helps look after her, smothers her in kisses, and he helps me now and then by fetching nappies and things. He's looking forward to sharing his toys (he obviously doesn't have the concept of 'mine' yet LOL) and he always wants her to read his books and ride his bike LOL.

I felt fine after #2, but my situation was a bit different.. I had 3 weeks in hospital with a prem.. so had my meals cooked for me everyday and didn't have to run around after #1. So in a way it was a great babymoon with #2.

I haven't returned to work as such. I work from home on a couple of things, so this works well for us.

I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever happens for you