Siblings and Conceiving a Second Child
So now that you have one baby, you can't wait to do it all over again, right? There are various schools of thought on the ideal spacing of babies. Some feel it's too exhausting to have children back to back, others say that's precisely the way to go. Adherents to the latter philosophy say the difficulty of having more than one baby around pays off later, once the two infancies end almost simultaneously.
Most agree the first child will probably be slightly jealous no matter when a younger child arrives. On the bright side, there are plenty of benefits to having a sibling. Doctors say having babies too close together can create medical problems. Studies show that getting pregnant within 6 months of giving birth may increase risk of premature birth and low birth weight. Some women can get pregnant again soon after giving birth, others may not be able to conceive until six months after pregnancy, or until they've finished breastfeeding (though doctors stress breastfeeding is not a fool-proof birth control method). In the end, experts say, child spacing is a highly individual decision.
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