how does baby bunching affect your kids?

Several readers have written to ask about how Baby Bunching can affect your children's developmental rates? This seems like such a difficult question to answer because so many factors have to be considered. But I decided to do a little research....for our readers we always go to great lengths. And here is the closest thing I found.

A Harvard study was released in 2006 by two Swedes* who studied just this: Does child spacing affect children's outcomes? Now I need to provide a bit of background on this. Many countries in Europe are undergoing a population decrease. So to help people procreate they offer incentives. In a place like Sweden where many families have to have two incomes to live and pay the high taxes, the government offered an incentive in 1980. A woman could take maternity leave and keep her job at 90% pay if her births were less than 24 months apart. So basically the Swedes were paying for Baby Bunching. Apparently, there was a tremendous increase in Baby Bunching in Sweden after 1980. Big surprise, huh?

I welcome anyone to wade through the research. My wanky statistics class in college made it hard for me to get through so much of the lingo, but I'm going to try to pull some interesting bits out and share.

Overall, their research showed that close spacing has a negative effect on "school performance" and "educational attainment." That actually surprised me. But there are several things to consider here.

First of all, they mention that when kids are Bunched, "childrearing obligations dominate and parents cannot give their undivided attention, commitment or energy to any one child." Hear hear! I'm guessing we all knew this was the case, but hard to read it in print.

Another point they make is "close spacing may also drain economic resources." Their point is that decreased child spacing actually increases your chance of a larger family. If you are 25 and Baby Bunch, you have a larger window of time to expand your family. If you are 39 and Baby Bunch, nature pretty much dictates your family is going to remain on the smaller end. While a larger family holds many positives, they are saying over all attention and resources are limited when you have many children.

After reading this, I wasn't sure what to do with this information. My kids are Bunched and that's the way the cards fell for us. Do I love it? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Let's be honest here, taking care of kids is difficult. And one of the hardest things is the unknown.

Each phase requires a certain amount of energy and attention: baby, toddler, preschooler, elementary, etc. In the beginning when you find out you're pregnant for the second time while your first is so little, most of us are unsure of what is to come. How hard is it to take care of a toddler? What's it like to be the parent of a preschooler? What will their needs be in second grade? While my kids now take so much less physical energy now, I don't have to hold them or carry them or chase after them, they challenge me constantly on an emotional and mental level. Now at ages 6 and 4 1/2 years old, they need an enormous amount of resource for each of them individually. Even if I didn't enroll them in camps or classes, just school, learning and play takes more time than you realize when your baby is 6 months old.

It's a difficult call to make sometimes. I love my kids and they love each other. I feel lucky that they have each other as built in playmates. It's an amazing gift, but one that doesn't come without hard work on our end as well. The juggling of two tots and multiple diaper sizes doesn't end when they get older. The need to continually provide as best as we can on an individual basis is critical for success. We must remember they are not only a Bunch but individually different kids with different needs. 

To answer the question: Yes, Baby Bunching does affect your kids, but as parents we have the ability to make the choices that will better our children for the future. And in the end, remember your kids will be each other's best friend no matter what. After all, the only other person who really "gets" mom and dad is your silbing, right? The fact that they will stand together as a Bunch to either make you crazy later in life or take care of you when you're old and sick is important.

* Study by Per Pettersson-Lidbom and Peter Skogman Thoursie. Does child spacing affect children’s outcomes? Evidence from a Swedish reform. 2006.
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Comments

[jesspond]

I agree...it's our job as parents to MAKE TIME to help kids with learning tasks and MAKE them feel important and loved. So that even if they don't have our attention 100% of the time, they still feel they CAN have our attention.

Additionally, I want to say that I feel SURE that sometimes baby bunching can be entirely beneficial as far as development is concerned. I have a daughter (adopted, and an absolute extrovert in every sense. Very outgoing, energetic, etc.) and a son who is 6m her junior (bio, and an absolute introvert, more there in a second.). My son has some sensory issues and is in therapy but of course since they're young (2) we have only figured out his issues (SPD, mild hypotonia, along with some food issues and reflux) and I believe WHOLEHEARTEDLY that he would have been MUCH worse off if not for his sister. Because she was close to his age, he wanted badly to do the things she was doing and I think that she really pushed him to keep him going. Without her I think that he would have been MUCH farther behind in a lot of developmental areas and I think that having her around has also helped in his recovery once we got him properly medicated and such. I think she keeps him interested and engaged, and is also a positive role model.

SO....it's not ALL bad. :)

[Mother of two]

Here's a thought- this study was performed in a country that used an economic incentive, targeted primarily at working mothers who were offered a deal that was difficult to refuse (something to the extend of 90% pay during their maternity leave period, if the children were born less than 24 months apart?)....
So am I incorrect in assuming that the vast majority of the children who were born during the period that this incentive was offered were born to dual-income families? Did the study offer a control for this? Was there a control for economic standing (read: financial stability)?

For what it's worth, a friend of mine who is a pediatrician (and accustomed to reading and interpreting these studies) has said that if there is a detrimental effect in families that elect to space their children close together, it's usually observed in the oldest child. She also mentioned that (the slight) ill effects of child spacing are most often observed in families with limited resources, and there is an inverse relationship between the effect of child spacing on the oldest child and the highest level of education attained by parents. Food for thought....

[Baby Bunching]

Mother of two--Actually most Swedish families are dual income. Its almost impossible for native parents who have to fully pay into the system to not work. Cost of living is ridiculously expensive. But their long maternity leaves (for both mom and dad) allow them quite a bit of time off during that time. Yes, they did use a control for this.  They also studied native parents vs. foreign born parents. The foreign ones are not as tied into the economic system. Skim the survey in the link. Its an intesting study....Im not saying I agree or disagree just gave me some things to reflect on.

 

 

[Jerseygirl89]

I suppose I'm not surprised, but I think that there are so many variables when raising kids that I'm not going to let a study make me feel bad.

[Baby Bunching]

You are absolutely correct!

[Amber]

In my experience, baby bunching has had a positive outcome for my kids - academically they are quite advanced (though my non-bunched kids are as well). I don't see how bunching could have any adverse impact on a child's development; it seems that the oldest would develop completely normally and the younger one would be advanced because s/he would be motivated to hit milestones at the same time as his/her older sibling.

[mrs.notouching]

I personally know way too many clinically depressed and lonely PhDs... I bet babybunchers are happier :-)

[online doctor]

i think those poor parents are the people who had difficulty in taking care of their bunch of babies. That's why our government pursue the reproductive health bill to minimize baby bunching..

[HillaryMAYS25]

Different people all over the world get the loans in various creditors, just because that's comfortable and fast.

[Red Wing 875]

Beautiful!!! You truly have an eye for colour.

[Christian Dior Glasses]

Christian Dior Glasses