Spacing
How far apart you would like your children to be: close together, moderately spaced or wide apart.
What is the best age gap between children?
In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: Close (under 2 years); Moderate (2-3 years); Wide (4 or more). Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: 6–12 months.
- Evidence
- Evidence leans one way
- Best settled
- 6–12 months
- Part of
- The family system
Spacing: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 3 approaches.
1. Close (under 2 years)
Children are born less than two years apart.
2. Moderate (2-3 years)
Children are born two to three years apart.
3. Wide (4 or more)
Children are born four or more years apart.
Spacing: what does the evidence say?
Evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. (Leans, above a medical floor)
ACOG: avoid conceiving within 6 months of a birth and weigh the risks under 18 months; gaps of two years or more helped the older sibling's test scores
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
Spacing is the gap between births. Medical bodies advise waiting at least 18 months after a birth before the next pregnancy, for the mother's and baby's health. Beyond that, closer and wider gaps each have advantages.
Questions to ask each other
- What would the ideal gap be and why?
- How might age, health or work change our timing?
- What did our own sibling gaps feel like?
More in Family size and siblings
First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.