Having children is a moment in life that modifies the plans of a couple in such a way that some decide to do as a parenthesis more or less fast, have at that time the two or three children they wanted to have and then move on with their lives.
This assumes that many times the second comes when the first has not yet turned two, and this is not recommended for either the baby or the mother, and is the subject of debate regarding the availability of the parents. Let's talk about all this:
The risk of having the second baby too soon
Several studies have shown that pregnancies that are very close to each other are more dangerous than the others. One of them commented two years ago and we saw that in women who had another baby before 12 months there were 20.1% of premature births, which in those who had it before 18 months happened in the 10% of the occasions and in which they waited more than 18 months happened in 7.7% of births.
These data contrast with those of the US Disease Control Center. made public last year when he explained that 30 percent of American couples don't wait long enough between pregnancies
Thus, it is concluded that Ideally, wait 18 months after delivery to get pregnant again, being even better than the difference is two years, as recommended by WHO.
But there is also a maximum: from 59 months (almost 5 years) the risk of premature birth and low birth weight also increases, as does the risk of hypertension during pregnancy.
Will it be small if we go for the second one already?
It's the million dollar question for those parents who don't want just one child. How long do I have to wait to find the second one? Will it still be too small? This is always at the discretion of each father and mother, because there are couples who prefer to have them fast, get involved in raising them all at once and end before the baby phase, and others who prefer to space it a little, move from a baby who stops to be another who has just been born, and to be taking care of little ones for more years, but with a little more calm.
When I have been asked I always answer the same thing, that the minimum that (I personally) consider advisable is three years, or what is the same: to look for the pregnancy when the first child has turned two years (or even a little more), so that it is born from the three of the previous one.
I explain it this way because my children were born with that difference (three years from each other) and that is what we did was combine the time when one left the diaper and more or less was already a little older with the baby care of the one I had just arrived.
In Babies and more Having a second child worsens parents' mental health: new study With three years a child is still too young, of course, but he is old enough to be a little "detached" from his mother and need it a little less, being able to play just for a while as well as getting along with staying with the father or even with a grandfather, uncle or relative with whom you have a little confidence.
With two years this is more complicated because many are still very attached to their mothers (they are like a satellite always orbiting them) and it is a little more complicated to reason with them, because their understanding is more limited. Come on, they can take a little worse that, even if they need time and care, they receive less for the birth of a brother.
And yet, with three years, there will be many children who have a relatively bad time, partly because of the parents, that when we see a little baby at home we go to see our little boy of three years with other eyes: as if suddenly it would have grown a lot, was very old and had to have responsibilities, obligations and capabilities that we had not asked until then (I explain it because it happened to us, and it is not fair to them).
So, in short, each mother and each father can have the children as often as they prefer, being recommended (I repeat, in my opinion, that it does not have to be the best for the rest of families) give a little margin to the first so that it grows, be a little autonomous and do not depend too much on the mother (if she is the one who will spend more time caring for the new baby), and waiting if it can be 18 months to the next pregnancy to reduce the risk of being born prematurely or underweight.
In Babies and more, we talked with six mothers who had children more than ten years apartPhotos | Philippe Put, Dan Harrelson, Ryan Dickey on Flickr
In Babies and more | The recommended spacing between pregnancies, waiting a short time between pregnancies increases the risk of premature delivery, how long to wait between pregnancies?
