Child spacing

by Melanie

Hi, I'm new here and I have a question about child spacing.

I am having a conflicting thought of getting pregnant with baby number 2.

My oldest is 14 months and we are still strongly nursing and of course eating solids. I have yet to get my period since giving birth. I have been continuing to take prenatals, folic acid, calcium and vitamin d.

I remember hearing your body is not nutritionally restored until 2 years post partum. I want to give both babies (current and hopefully future) the best healthy chance for their immune system as possible.

Any thoughts on this type of child spacing or know any medical research to this?

I would like my kids to be close in age too but I guess healthy would be best.

Also how did you handle breastfeeding while ttc and during pregnancy as well as tandem?

Sorry for the slew of questions but I know there are a lot of smart mama brains that I would like to pick to get feedback :)

Thank you!

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by: Julie

Hi Melanie,

You ask a very complex question!

If you approach the question of child spacing with your new child's health in mind, then it is probably better to wait another 4 months before getting pregnant. I'm basing this opinion on the analysis of studies that was performed in 2006 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It reflects the experiences of over 11 million women. The study found that the physical health of a baby is much better if his mother waits a minimum of 18 months after the previous baby before she conceives.

Many studies show that women are often anemic for a good year after a birth because of the months of iron that were allotted to the baby and placenta. Blood loss at birth also contributes to this. However, if you eat liver once a week, you are likely to build your iron stores up much more quickly.

Regarding child spacing from an emotional perspective, a survey of more than 1,700 teenage boys that was conducted by Jeannie Kidwell, a psychologist at the University of Tennessee found that siblings under one year or over four years apart had the most positive view of themselves. She claims that ideal spacing to protect self-esteem and to lessen competition between kids is four or more years.

I think that seems awfully long! I wanted to have a close nit family and spacing kids over 4 years apart means that the kids are unlikely to play together while they are young.

My kids are spaced 20 months and 28 months apart. The two that are spaced 20 months apart have always been best friends. They have more in common and play together more than my middle and youngest daughter who are 28 months apart. As they get older, I expect 8 additional months between my 2nd and 3rd to make less of a difference.

In general, from an emotional perspective, I think the key is to ensure that all of your children are getting enough individual attention. Nursing, tandem nursing, and a lot of family time are the key things that I've employed to meet my children's individual needs and foster a close knit family.

I hope this helps!!

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