Kids are expensive. They require a lot of time, hard work, and effort. Motherhood is exhausting whether you work full-time or stay home with your kids. There are plenty of reasons not to have another child, but have you considered the reasons to have one last baby? Here are six reasons to think about deciding if you want to have one more child.
Reasons to Have One Last Baby
1. Best Buddies
Having another baby means your child(ren) has another person to play with. If you grew up as an only child, you know how lonely it can be. Even if you already have more than one child, having one last baby can give your other children another option for a playmate. As they get older, they can play baseball or dance ballet together. Even if your children are too far apart in age to be in the same class or on the same team, they can share some of the same interests. It gives them someone to commiserate with and confide in and encourage. As adults, a sibling can also be a best friend.
2. Education
Just being around a baby is an invaluable lesson for your other children. As a new mom, I remember how many times I wished I had known how to change a diaper or had some experience caring for a baby. If you have an older child, they can help hold or feed your little one. When my youngest son was a baby, my oldest frequently wanted to hold his baby brother. I believe this experience will help him be a better father one day. When there are more children in a family, more chores must be done. Even though your children may complain and grumble, doing chores around the house is an excellent way for them to learn life skills.
3. Another to Love
Having another child means you get one more person to love. One more person to hug. One more person to read to, kiss their booboos, and rock to sleep. There’s something special about cuddling with your child. My four-year-old still occasionally comes into my room at night and wants to snuggle. It makes all the hard work worth it. As a bonus, nothing compares to your little one wrapping their tiny arms around you and saying, “I wuv you, Mama.”
4. Stop and Appreciate the Little Things
Seeing things through a child’s eyes keeps awe and wonder in your life. On a particularly busy day of picking up and dropping off kids from dance and football, my youngest child asked me to wait a minute. He stopped, picked up a pine cone, and said, “This is so cool!” If not for him, I never would’ve stopped to notice how special little things like pine cones can be. Occasions like holidays are so much more magical when you have a little one as well. There’s the fun of dressing up for Halloween and the delight of seeing their faces on Christmas morning. These are all things you can continue to enjoy if you have one more baby.
5. You Don’t Have Forever
If you wait too long to have another baby, you might find it impossible. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a woman’s fertility begins to decline after 32 and drops significantly after 37.1 It’s also important to consider that the risks of pregnancy complications like high blood pressure and genetic disorders increase significantly the older you are when you conceive. While this shouldn’t deter you from having children if you’re older, you may find it easier to conceive when you’re younger.
6. Your Family May Not Feel Complete
Can you picture your family as being complete if one of your children wasn’t in it? It will feel that way if you have another baby. You couldn’t picture your life without that precious little one. Each child is a special and unique little person. If you have one more baby, you get to celebrate their accomplishments, cheer them on from the sidelines, and enjoy seeing them learn new things.
Let’s be honest. Motherhood is hard. Having a baby is exhausting, and there are always reasons to quit having children and “be done.” However, I know several wonderful ladies who wished they had more children when they were younger. They had two or three kids, and after several years, it didn’t make sense to have any more. In retrospect, though, they wished they had more children once they were past childbearing age. I don’t know of any moms that wish they didn’t have one of their kids. Don’t look back and wish you’d had more children. Having one last baby can help you live without regret, and that’s a true gift.
