We're at 2 with the option of 3 camp.
We will reassess our mentality after LO#2 in the future, how I feel (emotionally/phyiscally/etc.) after the next LO#2, and also how we will transition to a family of 4 in the future.
Financially, family support, age-wise, we feel secure to have more than two children, so DH says that the driving force will be our life/work/family balance + my feelings on being two and through once we experience it!
pineapple / 12526 posts
Attaining certain life goals before expanding the family, and how long that takes to accomplish.
eggplant / 11824 posts
Desire. We have 1 and don't feel like anything is missing. We're happy.
cantaloupe / 6687 posts
We are likely done after baby #2 bc I'm a bit older (35)... I don't want to be too old by time the kids are out of the house. I want to enjoy retirement with DH
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Age & how we feel probably. I'm thinking to cap it at 2 b/c DH is older and I'm not sure if he'll have the stamina for 3 by the time we get to 3 (unless I'm popping one out every year!).
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Desire - we've always wanted to be a family or four and have two children, so that's what we'll do! 
persimmon / 1194 posts
Coming from a big family that's what I've always wanted as well. We will see what happens when LO2 gets here in a couple months but we have pretty much agreed that there's a third in the picture for us. Financially we are ok to have 3 so I hope everything works out!
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
Mental health. I personally feel that I can be a great mom to 1, or a subpar mom to 2. We also feel really complete with 1, which helps!
squash / 13208 posts
#1 reason is probably $$.
DH has 2 boys and then we added 2 more - so even though I only have 2, we technically have 4 and that's expensive!!!
honeydew / 7091 posts
Hmmm, money would be the driving factor.
I would definitely have a million kids if that were realistic.
I always thought I wanted 4 kids as a reasonable number, but it's looking more and more like we'll stop at 3 due to money. We'd have to both gets new cars with a 4th kid, it would be *another* plane ticket when we travel (2 times a year), we'd be outgrowing our house (although sharing rooms is entirely plausible).
A little bit of a bummer for us, but we have to find a happy balance between family planning and our quality of life!
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@Bookish: Yes! Before we had LO our #1 reason would have been finances--wanting to be able to save for college, daycare expenses, etc. Now that she's here it's my mental health. I always thought I wouldn't feel complete with just one, but I've had the opposite experience.
papaya / 10560 posts
Financial and age. I'd be mid-30's by the time I have my next child, we'd need new cars and new house, if it were sooner, I'd have to quit my job and I don't want to do that.
persimmon / 1385 posts
Age (DH is 42) and DH was 2 of 4 and is against having a "middle child." I think he'd be ok with 1, but as an only child myself, I'm in the 2 camp.
coconut / 8681 posts
Desire. We've always wanted a bigger family. Since having LOs we also just love being parents and our children have brought SO much happiness to our lives. We definitely want more.
papaya / 10473 posts
Finances, for sure. I want to maximize what we are able to do for our children, and the more kids we have, the more diluted our resources will be.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Desire. We want an option for a 3rd. We don't feel done with 2.
bananas / 9899 posts
We want a big family, but finances come in to play too. If money was no object I'd probably have 5-6 kids. As it is we're thinking MAX 4.
Also, whether or not I'll physically be able to have that many kids and/or be able to adopt that many is also is a factor.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I just want three. The end. Thankfully there aren't any factors right now hampering that.
eggplant / 11408 posts
How well NFP works? 
I suspect the real answer will be some combination of finances, the demands of my job, mental health, and how long it takes to recover from this baby and get pregnant again, when the time comes. Right now, we'd love a big family, but we'll have to see how it goes.
honeydew / 7230 posts
Finances is a big one. We want to continue to live comfortably while I stay at home so 2 seems manageable. Also we don't want to be outnumbered, my dh does not want a minivan, and we went through IVF to get pregnant and don't want to do that again.
cantaloupe / 6086 posts
fertility is our issue. I'm not really even positive we'll get #2 at this point. that combined with age makes me pretty sure we won't try for #3. I can only imagine it would be harder when I'm two years older than I am now
pineapple / 12053 posts
number of siblings we grew up with! we were each from families of 3, so it was an easy choice for us!
bananas / 9628 posts
Finances. I'd love to have a big family, but life's expensive & that's not in the cards for us.
papaya / 10570 posts
The main driving force behind the number of children we will have is DH's opinion. DH wants two (I want three).
Secondary to that, it's a mixture of finances and age (in that we could afford three but over a longer space of time - and we don't have that kind of time!). If I could see a way around it without sacrificing too much I would attempt to talk him around but I don't really have much of a leg to stand on.....
cantaloupe / 6791 posts
Desire. We want 3 and we feel comfortable enough in our age, family, and financial situation.
pomegranate / 3759 posts
Desire! I come from a family of 2 kids and it is/was not enough. I like larger family dynamics so much better (from seeing DH's family).
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
Desire. We'd like to have 3 but we will re-evaluate after we have #2. We bought our house planning on 3 but based on how long it took to get pregnant with #2 we may either NTNP after or just call it.
apricot / 274 posts
We're planning for 2 with the option of possibly having a 3rd one. I'm in my first pregnancy now, so a lot of it depends on how this one goes. I'm an only child and I want to give my children siblings. DH is one of 4 and he enjoyed having siblings, but we would probably be happier with a smaller family. We think we could afford 3, but we'll also see what they actually cost once this one gets here.
persimmon / 1367 posts
Desire -- and avoidance?? We're planning to be 1 and done, which works for both of us. I've always planned for 0 or 1, and my husband is in the middle of 7, which he hated as his parents never had any time for him. So, his goal was to only have 1 and avoid having to split his attention, which works for me!
(ps. not saying anything bad about large families, they can be great...just not his experience of it.)
honeydew / 7504 posts
Desire and finances. We're in the probably-1-and-done-but-still-maybe-open-to-2 camp.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
I'm in the 2 possibly 3 camp. Ideally I'd love a large family with 5 kids. I know I could do it...we could always make it work financially. But after having this LO, I'm not sure how many babies my body can take. Pregnancy and birth really took toll on me. I for sure want another LO, probably start TTC this time next year. After that we will decide if we want a third.
pear / 1693 posts
We're also at two with an option for three.
I think the biggest factor will be how adding a second is. LO 1 was a dreadful sleeper until recently (she's almost 8 months), and that was very stressful for me and DH. He's wary of going through that again. Finances will also be a factor.
papaya / 10343 posts
Desire. I'm finishing up cooking #1 and I think it is likely we'll have a second. I just always pictured 2 kids, if I had any. I think finances might limit us to 2 anyways because we're not the sort of people who want to sacrifice quality of life for a house full of kids-- but it isn't really THE reason we'll stop at 2.
pomegranate / 3904 posts
We always wanted 2-4, but after our baby passed away, we now want as many as possible. I'm almost 31, so age will be a factor at some point, but we are financially stable, and want as many kids as possible. Having experienced unconditional love for our child, even if it was only for five weeks, makes us want that again and again, and we are willing to give up anything for that. That said, I have IF issues and will probably have some trouble getting pregnant in the future, so it's likely that we will only have the same amount of children we originally planned for.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 1 | 0 |
| Posts | 0 | 1 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
73 comments