2 or 3 years between twins and younger sibling?

Just curious what has worked out well for others. I'm planning on doing a second round of IVF because I have 1 embryo left. That will put the new baby at 2 years and 2 months younger than my twin girls. I know it will probably be very tricky at first, but I just want them to be close friends and I don't want a baby that is left out because he or she is too many years behind. It will most likely be our last child, unless something happens naturally somehow. What have your experiences been with age gaps between twins and a younger singleton?

 

We had a singleton first and then had our twins, 4 year age gap. Personally I love the age difference. My son is helpful and very independant and he loves his little sisters, plus the thought of three in diapers sounds expensive (ouch)! but I most of my friends did it the other way around and I see the positives there also....
I see that you were on bedrest with your twin pg and maybe thats something to think about. Will you have help if you need to go on bedrest again ? I was on bedrest with my son and then went on bedrest at 18 weeks with the twins and was admitted to hospital at 29 weeks where I stayed until I had them at 34 weeks. It was so hard being on bedrest with one child and he was able to understand, it might have been harder with younger ones...just something to think about...good luck with your decision.

 

I really don't think there's a wrong age here. There are great things about both ages. My DD waas 2 yrs. 7 months when our twins were born and it was perfect for us.

 

I wanted about two years between siblings. And we also had to do IVF to conceive. We went to the RE to start the FET process, as we had 10 embryos left. I wanted to start around the boys first birthday, because I thought it would take a little while to possibly work.

Wrong. LOL! My boys are 19 months apart from Annabella. They turned 20 months old eight days after she was born. And I wouldn't trade it for the world! There was a little hairy time right before they turned two. Other than that-it's been amazing! I don't think there will be a wrong age to have #3. Each age has it's perks I believe.

I love how close the boys are to their sister. They ADORE her, and she ADORES them. Just this afternoon, we were in the camper. Nicholas was on the mattress as was Annabella. Nicholas would laugh, Annabella would laugh. Nicholas would clap, Annabella would clap. We just sat there and smiled and laughed with them. It was just priceless. My boys are young-but already they seem to be the best of friends with her.

She did just start walking-so this could change within the next week! :laughing:

 

My singleton was just shy of 2.5 years old when the twins arrived.
We did have 3 in diapers for a bit, ugh.
We never really saw issues when they invaded his world, he always has been very protective of the little ones.
They do play very well together which is great. Outings are pretty easy since they are all entertained by the same things (Sesame Place, etc).
Good luck!

 

Thanks everyone for your responses! This makes me feel better about the decision to have them 2 years apart. I have very much worried about the bed rest I was on with the twins, but after many chats with my OB's and the Perinatal docs, they really really feel like all of my issues were just "because of a twin pregnancy". Fortunately, even with thousands and thousands of preterm contractions, my cervix never changed one bit. I hope my uterus was just irritable from double the growth inside. Agggh. Still makes me nervous, but I'm hoping it will be ok.

 

My boys were 23 months when our third was born. If a friend asked me, I would recommend waiting longer. This has been extremely difficult, and the boys hit the terrible twos right around the time the baby was born. Personally, I think 3-4 years would be better.

Of course, like others said, it is a personal decision, and you have to weigh the costs and benefits.

 

I love the 3.5 years between my oldest DS and my twin boys!