Loving more than one child
Show your support
@Lindsey I wholeheartedly disagree with you regarding your comment on only children being "babied". This is simply not true. In fact, only children often mature from a young age and result in very pragmatic adults who have no issues with sharing or bonding (these are long debunked myths).
To the author of this post - if you want to give your little one a sibling, great! And I'm sure you'll be able to love them both very much. But if you don't, you won't negatively impact them either way x
@Elizabeth in my experience of seeing only child in the family gets spoiled rotten and have to lean on family to get where they are. Not all are like that which I did state but everyone is different
You stated that "most are". Your example is circumstancial and is not indicative of most only children. It shouldn't be a justification to bring another child into the world. Making sure a child isn't spoilt is down to parenting, not how many children you have
As an only child, I can relate. It’s a strange feeling. I do struggle because mine are 1y 6d apart but I love them both so very much. I don’t really ever feel more love for one over the other but I often (guiltily) feel sometimes more content around the one who is behaving well/not sick/sleeping well. Before anyone comes at me, I am not neurotypical so sometimes I don’t experience things the way other people do so please be kind.
I had postpartum depression really bad and I didn’t love either of my sons after they were born it took awhile. I mean months. After getting to know them I loved them. Have a child is like having a partner. You’ll Always worry about them but if you raise them right you can worry less. My son is almost 20 months but I worry less everyday. He runs around and plays and i know he knows better.
@Elizabeth I was an only child and loved sharing even as a baby. It was a little sad as a kid. I literally would walk around the neighborhood looking for kids to play with and I would tell my parents that I was "looking for friends to share with". However, ALL of my only child friends except for 1 are spoiled. I'm actually not friends with a lot of them anymore. They were lovely in a lot of ways, but insanely selfish in key others. I got used and as soon as I was in a bad place (mom's health decline, verbally abusive bf, more sick family and financial troubles)and couldn't give anymore then I got tossed away. And these girls were the "nice girls" that even to this day are kind of in pedestals.
It's nice having the little one grow for awhile til you decide if you want another. It's nice that the kids have a sibling. Most kids that are the only child get babied a lot and still want that as an adult. Not saying you do that. As a kid who has a sibling, I learned how to share, bond, always have someone to play with and someone to go to school with and they protect each other. Yes they fight but it's hard at times but I love them equally! You will learn to love both if you do decide to have more.