16 Parents Shared Why They Think Having More Than One Child Is a Great Idea

Nowadays, the number of children you have has become a conscious decision for the couple, rather than a consequence of necessity or an indulgence of tradition as it often was for parents in past generations. More and more parents are now questioning whether it’s better to have several children or to only raise one. There are various scientific studies that support both points of view. But there are some valuable arguments put forward by people who have already decided to have a large family.

• Our first daughter was also an incredibly difficult baby. We started to talk about a second child, and I wasn’t sure if I was physically up for it again. The deciding factor, though, was when my 3 y.o. started to beg for a little sister. While there are times that I put myself in timeout because they are crazy, I wouldn’t change it for anything. © Abigail / Quora
• My brother is one of the persons I love the most in this world. Why deny such a thing to my kid? It brings so many experiences... Arguing, playing video games, trying to make boring situations fun. My life would be significantly less without my brother. When I was a kid, some kid we just met told us, “I wish I had a brother. Sometimes I feel lonely.” I still remember that. © Andrés Parzanese / Quora
• We had one. Difficult childbirth, health problems, trips to the doctors. We pulled through. But we thought something might not work out, the boy might disappoint in the future. There’s a lot that can’t be fixed with education and upbringing. We talked it over and 10 years later he got a little sister. Now the older one is 18 and the younger one is 8. On the whole, both make us happy. But we insured ourselves. © Alx.Hdhg / Pikabu

• Strongly feel that single child does not get proper environment as it does not face competition for love and attention. Parents and grandparents tend to overlook a lot of negative behaviour and are more tolerant towards tantrums and unreasonable demands. This can lead to adjustment problems later on in life. © Harshdeep / Quora
• We decided on the second one because we couldn’t get enough of the first one. We kept looking at him and thinking — kids are so fun, little ones are so cute. We just wanted those emotions to keep multiplying. The children are 3 years and 3 months apart, they’re very friendly, yes, sometimes they argue and hit each other with pillows, but for the most part they’re thick as thieves. It warms my heart to think that they’ll always have someone close to them apart from their parents. © Luckybr / Pikabu
• Selfish reasons: I want both a girl and a boy — so that I can experience both. I think as children grow it’s somewhat easier to have more than one, as they can to some extent keep each other busy. Selfless: I want my child to grow up in a world of coexistence, to prep him for future life. When life gets serious, especially in adulthood, siblings have the potential to offer a platform of support like no one else. © Menucha Citron / Quora

• Speaking as a father of five and gramps of three — with each kid love is not just added, it’s multiplied. And the world needs more love. With one child, the pressure to “do something worthwhile with your life” is way too intense on that child and those parents. And the world needs less pressure. Also, on a very practical level, your one child may choose or not be able to procreate. And the world needs all old grumblers like me to have grandkids on which to dote. © Jay Payleitner / Quora
• Our first kid was so fun, smart, and amazing, we wanted another! Then that one was a totally different kind of amazing so we had another! Did that until we had four. If we were not already in our forties, I think we would have had five or six kids. © soulcialbitterfly / Reddit
• I’ve always wanted three children. I just feel that is the right amount for me. The decision to have more than one is quite easy. I love my son, and I didn’t even know him before he was conceived. How could I possibly say that I didn’t want another child, when the decision to have the first was the best thing I have ever done? © Mel Lloyd / Quora

• If you have only one child, you will likely either take too much credit or too much blame for the person you produced. I recommend at least two children. Since they will likely be completely different from each other, you’ll see that you had only a partial role in determining what they turned out to be. © Richard Muller / Quora
• I wanted one child. My husband dreamed of at least two. But to give birth is not to him, and no matter how he said, I was adamant. We had one, enough. But one day he found such an argument that I decided: “OK I’ll give birth again. Let there be two.” He said: “You know, you can make friends, you can have a family, but you can have a sister or a brother who will always be your family, no matter what happens, only mom and dad can give you.”
• I wanted a second because knew my sanity and finances could handle it, my husband also wanted it, I really love the baby phase and wasn’t finished with that, I knew my body was in healthy shape to handle it. Reasons why I can’t have a 3rd even though I want to: my finances can’t handle it, my husband isn’t on board, my body got a little messed up and structurally I don’t think I could carry another. But I want the 3rd. © ayee_kay / Reddit

• My wife has the best answer to this. She always said we should have at least two children because otherwise the child would not have someone to conspire against his parents. © Martijn Sjoorda / Quora
• I had the wonderful experience when I was in my late teens of having two godsons. Brothers that I was very involved when they were babies/toddlers and they are only about a year apart. Through them, I got to see very early that two is actually somewhat easier than one. There are moments, sometimes huge chunks of the day, where you are not the only other person in their world. They have each other. © Oninokoneko / Reddit
• I was an only child. My cousins — three kids in the family — thought I had it made. I got “all” the Christmas presents, “all” the birthday present — woo! Me? I found it a lonely existence. I hated being an only child, and wanted a sibling. When my wife and I got married I told her, “I do not want to raise an only child. We can either have none, or more than one.” So we ended up with three of the best kids on the planet. © Bob Jarvis / Quora
• One thing that’s wonderful with having more than one is that you’re spreading the kids’ attention with another person. They will play together and eventually the oldest will help more and more. It’s always chaos in the beginning. But the more children you have, in my experience, the easier it gets. © clullanc / Reddit

Do you think there should be more than one child in the family or is it better to stop at one?