Will Our Age Gap Baby Be Lonely?

I only have a minute, but my boys are 6.5 years apart, and they are incredibly close. They have so much fun together, and we don't have issues with jealousy at all. That has been nice. They are 6 and almost 13 now, and it has been a little difficult with activities occassionally, but not too hard. Overall, I love the age difference, and so do they.

My one sister is 3 years older, and the other is 8 years younger. They are my best friends!

My sister and I are 6 and a half years apart and I have a brother 2 years older than me. I thought it was fun when my sister was little because we helped take care of her. I feel like there may have been a few tough years for her when I was a teenager and didn't really want her around, but we are really close now all three of us. I think it all depends on how you put priority on family. I think it is important for siblings to attend each others events if possible so you can show support and love for each other. If that kind of love and closeness is nurtured, then I don't think you will have anything to worry about. Make sure to have family nights where everyone is together and go on trips together. I think when the boys spend time with each other, they will be close, no matter what the age difference.

Good luck!

It is tough. I have it with my youngest and also with my own siblings. The best advice I can offer is to encourage them to do things together. Have you kids go to their siblings activities to support them and then I think you will create a bond that will extend to adulthood. I do have to say my oldest who is 27 now always looked out for his younger brother who is now 12 and there were 2 kids in between them. You can set the stage now and they will never know anything differently

My husband and me think about that sometimes too, but then we remember how well our daughter handled being an only child for a good while due to she always had friends, cousins and we paid alot of attention to her. Oh...our daughters are 16 yrs old and 20months. Yes, a teen and a toddler. Our teen adores her little sister and our toddler tries to copy her teen sister; so they dance together, share an ipod, type on the computer together, color together, they play tag which is so funny seeing our teen chase her little sister and then she runs from her little sis...oh the laughter from both of them is absolutely wonderful. Sure, we think about having a third but we figure they will be alright. Plus, with our huge age gap makes buying cars, college etc. easy on the finances. As long as a child is loved, has family, friends, and the attention of the parents everything will workout fine.

My daughters are 9 1/2 years apart and probably couldn't be closer now that they're 13 and 22. My older daughter lives in town but not with us, and we still see her a lot. Nobody is lonely. When your older kids are out of the house your youngest one will probably love that time of having peace and quiet and just parents. Just my opinion. I don't feel you should have any worries.

My sisters are 9 and 11 years older than me. It wasn't like I was growing up with other kids. One of my sisters took a lot of interest in me when I was a child but they were married and gone when I was 9 and almost 12. As an adult, we are all close and I have much more in common with each of my sister than they have with each other. As kids, they were 17 months apart but once they were school age, they were not friends and really didn't play or spend time together except on a family outing.

There were 8 years between my sister and myself. We were and are great friends.

I didn't have that experience, but my mother did - and since people are people, no matter when they live, I don't mind sharing.

She was born in a little town in Texas, and when she was a small child her family moved to a bigger town (not a city) - named Dallas. She was the youngest of seven, and a tot when her oldest brother went off to college. She had lots of friends her own age outside the family, and when she grew up she became friends with her own siblings - they helped her as much as they could, and she helped them, too.

Although there was an age difference, each one always thought the others were valuable people, and I think that's a big clue to this whole matter.

I think the worst thing she ever said about her siblings was that some of her brothers tried to boss her around - and that happens in almost every family.

My mom never, EVER complained about being lonely at home! I'm sure that if she'd been born some fifteen years earlier it would have been a different kind of childhood, but she never had regrets about the childhood she had! (If my mother were living now, she'd be 105.)

Our youngest brother was born when my oldest brother was 18, I was 15, siblings were 11 & 7...He hasnt experience any of that since we were all at an age to enjoy him and be there for him, teach him show him the ropes etc. He is now 16 and close to us all in a different way. The youngest did how ever act out from lack of attention (which she never really lacked) But I guess she felt she wasnt the baby anymore. Good luck, I think he'll be just fine

I've got both sides covered. We are expecting number 4 and our "baby" is going to be 8 the same month we are due, my oldest just turned 11. Part of me wants another soon, because I liked having my first 3 so close in age. However it doesn't bother me about the baby being close to the 3 older children. My brother, the only sibling I have, is 10 years my junior. We were close when he was very young, and did drift apart when I turned about 16 and wasn't around much, but he's 19 now and we are very close. We talk often and he's happy to come to me with girl issues and college issues, rather than go to mom.

I was closest to my sister that was 9 yrs older than me. I currently have 11 yr old triplets and a 2 1/2 yr old. Now that she is more mobile, the older kids do play with her. And of course she sometimes gets on their nerves. :) I am sure as my kids hit their teens and she enteres school, they will split into their own groups and as they get older and once again have something in common as adults, will reconnect.

I was the baby in our family. My oldest brother is 11 years older then me, and my other brother is 5 years older then me. Not to mention I only had 2 cousins and 1 was 18 years older then me. So, literally, I was the youngest! I was never lonely. I never had to share my toys, never had to do the same activities, my brothers were independant at the point when I needed a lot of parent time, my parents had free babysitters, and so on. It's true we weren't super close growing up, but as we got older that changed. =)

I have kids aged 11, 10, 8 and 17 mos. Yes, the toddler was a....surprise. I was afraid of that, too. My sister and I are 7 years apart and growing up, we weren't that close. Now, we are very close.

My kids are sooooo in love with their baby sister. I figured my older daughter (8), would be close to her, eventually, too (like my sister and I), but it's my oldest son (11) and the toddler who have a special bond. It's crazy and wonderful.

I won't lie to you and say that the activities are not a problem. My older kids are in football, cheer, baseball, guitar, etc. Yes, it's hard to cart around the baby/toddler. I can't sit and watch them practice or really enjoy their games, recitals, etc. It sucks sometimes. But, if you find a good babysitter to watch the younger kids while you spend time with the older kids, it can work out fine. I think that will be one of the things you'll have to carve out time for. The younger ones will have a different interest than the older ones. For example, if you can't watch your 10 year old's homerun because you are running after toddlers and tending to a baby, then maybe you can find someone to watch them while you concentrate on him. Also, we can't just take off and go to a movie like we used to. We'll pick out a movie everyone wants to see and find a babysitter for our toddler. This way, we are still doing the things we used to, but still have the toddler for the fun things we all enjoy. We recently went to the apple orchard where my toddler had a BLAST picking apples. It was so much fun for all of us to watch her. We also did Disney with her as a 9 month old. Sure, my hubby and I had to take turns doing the rides and such, but the older kids still had so much fun and didn't even seem to notice.

There will be sacrifices made by the family as a whole, but as far as how close they are....only time will tell. The older they get, the more they will find they have in common. Sure, I don't know my youngest brother as well as I'd like(we are 12 years apart), but when we all get together, it's like we have been hanging out everyday for the last year. It will depend on your kids' personalities, too. Don't worry, they'll love each other and be protective. They'll also fight like cats and dogs. It's how siblings were meant to be.........congratulations and have fun with them all!!! :)

I think I just answered your wife's post, but I will post here too.

I am the youngest of 5. My oldest sister is 12 years older than me and my second oldest sister is 10 years older than me. I never remember my oldest sister ever living at home. I didn't even realize she was my sister for the longest time ( how sad is that). She was away at college by the time I was 7. I vaguely remember my second oldest sister living at home. I really had no relationship with either of them until I was older. I do feel like I missed out a lot with them.

My brother is 4 years older and my sister is 2 years older. They are the ones I grew up with. Yes we fought a lot because we were closer in age, but we also shared a lot of good times too. We shared a lot of the same friends and as we got older we all would hang out together. I am probably closest with my sister that is 2 years older than me now. I talk to her about everything because she knows me the best.

The only time we did "family activities" with the whole family was when we went on vacation otherwise the older ones were already out of the house and had jobs.

I say if you want another child so the youngest isn't lonely, that is your choice and there is nothing wrong with that. But just know that because they are close in age, doesn't mean they will get along or even like each other.

I hope this helped some.