According to the research paper “Birth Spacing and Sibling Outcomes” by Kasey S. Buckles and Elizabeth L. Munnich of the University of Notre Dame, spacing siblings more than two years apart results in better scores on reading and math tests for the older children. Parents naturally want to do everything they can so their child can have an advantage, but there are other pros to spacing out your children.
I can’t say the spacing itself is the sole reason for the spike in test scores. I have three kids, each five years apart, unintentionally. They all do very well in school, but so do many of their friends, and some of them are only children or siblings spaced close together. I tend to believe that the parent’s educational goals and imposed study habits combined with a child’s natural ability and quality of teachers will largely determine a child’s educational outcome.
In our hyper-driven educational system that often cares more about test scores than actual learning, I wonder how much it even matters. Still, I have to say there are some definite advantages to spacing siblings widely apart.
Here is my top five:
Individual attention. With each child, I had time alone for him when he was a baby and toddler to focus on him for many hours a day. By the time another baby was born, the baby prior to that was in school, so I happily devoted time each day to playing, teaching, and enjoying the new addition. It was lovely.
Never diaper train more than one child at a time. My hat is off to the many moms who pull double duty and potty train multiple toddlers at a time. I don’t believe I’d ever have the patience to pull off such a feat.
Stagger out tuition. None of our kids will ever be in college when another is, and that realization is huge. I especially recognize this perk since our oldest started college.
Live-in babysitters. As your oldest gets more mature each day, he can be a big help in watching the younger ones. This privilege should never be abused, of course, but sometimes having your 10-year-old watch her younger siblings — so you can finish dinner, help another with homework, or take a shower — can be purely joyful.
Prolong having a baby in the house. By the time my oldest was no longer a baby or toddler anymore, I was pregnant again with another. I was lucky enough to have a baby in our home for many years. Now that it’s over (my youngest is 11), I can’t explain how much I miss it. A couple of years ago, when the baby urge hit an all-time high, we adopted an adorable black lab. Coincidence? I think not!
Danielle Sullivan, a mom of three, has worked as a writer and editor in the parenting world for more than 10 years. Sullivan also writes about pets and parenting for Disney’s Babble.com. Find Sullivan on her blogs, Just Write Mom and Some Puppy To Love.
