Parenting: Ideal Age Difference Between Children

Parenting: Ideal Age Difference Between Children - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Hi, I am Dr. Laura Markham of ahaparenting.com. You are thinking about having a 2nd child and you are wondering what the ideal spacing is between children? Well there is some research on this, there is a research study that showed that less than two years is a risk factor for your child. You do not want to space your children closer than two years. Now why is this? The researchers think that it is because it is hard to be a good enough parent to two babies, and a kid younger than two is still a baby himself. So when you have another child, you are a parent to two babies. So think yourself about the kind of parent you are, you are totally patient person who never loses your temper with your child, does not get frustrated ever, finds it easy, your child is sleeping through the night, and you find that it is pretty easy to be a parent. You have always got enough energy to really be patient with your child and listen and offer guidance in a healthy way. Well, if you are that kind of person you might be someone who can have a great relationship with two children who are just two years apart or even a little closer than that. But for most of us, that is hard to do. So for most of us, we want to space a little bit longer apart and so really the person to look at in the mirror is you and figure out what is going to work for you because the biggest thing you can offer your child is a good relationship with you. If you do that, and you are closely bonded with your child, you are going to have a child who wants to behave and wants to stay connected to you and wants to cooperate. And you are going to find parenting a whole lot easier, right? So space your kids based on what you can handle and enjoy them.