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Please consider whether or not YOU can take care of more children. As a second child, it was necessary for me to spend a lot of time taking care of and "raising" the younger two. Two of my cousins were also in this situation. It isn't healthy, and can have a negative effect on the sibling relationships.
As the oldest, I spent countless hours taking care of my younger siblings. I'm 5 years older so of course I could do a number of things on my own by the time they came along. My parents used that to their advantage and had me babysitting them by the time they were 4 and 5 years old! Needless to say, those 2 siblings are still close. Neither are close to me and always call me "mom" in a snarky way. They had a lot of resentment about their older sibling taking care of them which I always thought was funny since I was the one stuck with them.
As the oldest, I spent countless hours taking care of my younger siblings. I'm 5 years older so of course I could do a number of things on my own by the time they came along. My parents used that to their advantage and had me babysitting them by the time they were 4 and 5 years old! Needless to say, those 2 siblings are still close. Neither are close to me and always call me "mom" in a snarky way. They had a lot of resentment about their older sibling taking care of them which I always thought was funny since I was the one stuck with them.
Yeah. I know. Even as adults they can't (won't?) see it from the older one's point of view. Oh well, my life has turned out great even though they still try to make me miserable.
I've heard from my friends and family that going from 2 to 3 is no big deal. You would need a bigger car though. For me I was happy with 2. Had I started having kids earlier then I might have had 3; however, I have always thought that right now with 2 kids we are even. Once we have another, then my husband and I are out numbered, LOL. Anyway, it wasn't in the cards for us. We are a happy family of 4
I only have two kids, but grew up in a family with three.
One thing I remember is that it was very difficult to cut up doughnuts or other things like that into 3 equal and satisfying pieces. Halves are much easier.
It will be hard to fit 3 kids in the back of a normal car too, though it seems every single parent has an SUV these days anyway.
Two kids and "Nanny" in the backseat is tough. When I go places with my daughter, son-in-law and the grandkids in their car, I'm wedged in the middle between two car seats. They're shopping for an SUV...and told me I'd better not gain weight in the meantime. I grew up in a family of 3 kids (younger brothers are twins), and we fit six to a car...my parents, brothers, me, and my grandmother. I don't know how we did it...except no one sat infants and toddlers in car seats back then. We sat on our parents' laps.
With 3 you learn to juggle. With 2 parents and 2 kids, there is always someone there for 1 on 1. With 3 kids it now becomes a test to juggle whose needs to tend to first.
My 3rd was my hardest, but partly it was because of the kids' ages (my kids were 4 and 20 months when #3 came on the scene) and my 3rd child did not sleep. She had reflux and only slept about 30 min at a time. My 20 month old has special needs, so that just added to the chaos.
By the time my 4th child came along 3.5 years later, it was just one more monkey at the circus LOL
I only have one kid, but I did watch my brother go from 2 to 3. He was heartbroken to have to trade in his beloved Honday CRV and buy a minivan. Poor guy spent an entire day trying to make 3 car seats fit in the CRV, but no-go. When the kids were little (ages 6-4-1), they rarely spent time out of the house as a family because it was too much hassle. They do travel, and it did make it much more difficult when there was more than one child per adult. My SIL is a SAHM, but their lives at that time were utter chaos because of their personalities and the number of activities she thought the kids needed to do.
When I was first married I coached community sports, and I had a glimpse into the lives of parents of 3 or more kids that were involved in activities. The parents were pulled in multiple directions every weekend, and often had to rely on other parents to take up the slack for them in regards to transportation and the like. That made me decide that two was the max for me.
That said, if you truly want 3 kids, then the pros will outweigh the cons. Which is how it goes for this entirely personal decision.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I have three (grown now) and the switch from 2 to 3 was not bad. My first baby was incredibly hard for me to adjust to, but babies 2 and 3 were not. Go figure.
Mine were very close in age. They were each 2 years or less apart. I do remember when deciding on number 3, that I did not want to have a newborn and a child starting kindergarten in the same year just because of the logistics. Fortunately, our timing worked out.
Also, I did not want to have both kids out of diapers and then have to go back to diapers.
It is slightly harder with a family of 5, but not particularly difficult. I did drive minivans and it didn't phase me at all.
Once we have another, then my husband and I are out numbered, LOL.
Heh; that what I was going to say: You will be outnumbered. And there will be a "moment of clarity" that occurs the first time this happens when both you & the other parent has their hands full & something else happens & you will look at each other with that "Now what" look in your eyes.
And again when you are by yourself with all of them & you realize you only have two hands but three kids. And that's not even the hard part; that part you figure out along the way & develop a system of sorts. Like Triage.
Just wait till they are all in school & you have to figure out how to clone yourself to attend three kids worth of parent teacher conferences into two days. Then they start middle & high school & thats 6 periods of teachers, per kid ... Eighteen parent teacher conferences in 2 days.
That being said; it was easier having 6 (and more!) than it was having 3 but I wouldn't trade any of them for all the $$ the world.
I'm sure going from 2 to 3 must be huge. Going from 1 to 2 was a big thing for me. Now I had to watch baby #2 even more closely to make sure #1 didn't try to pick him up or accidentally hurt him. Then there was the fun of buckling a newborn and a 22 month old into their car seats in the Florida heat when the car was a million degrees. If I had it to do over again I would have spaced them out further but I was already in my 30's with a much older husband so I didn't feel we could wait too long for # 2.
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