gap between children

it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

Cheers
Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

Do you mean optimal for health, for sibling rivalry/frienship, ease for
mother or all three?
Debbie

When I took child development in university, we were told more like 4 years.
The studies have shown that firstborn children are more intelligent, blah
blah and so on, but that if there is a 4 year age gap between the children,
this effect is not present. This is of course, statistically speaking.


"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

Cheers
Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

It was, I believe, more than one study. This was an
optimal spacing based on reducing physical complications for
mother and baby. I don't have the information handy, but
if I recall correctly, the relevant search term in Medline
is something like "inter-pregnancy interval."

Best wishes,
Ericka

Welches wrote:
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

Do you mean optimal for health, for sibling rivalry/frienship, ease for
mother or all three?

well precisely! i think it may be Larry who regular produces a mantra
with the low end being 18mths

Anne

It was, I believe, more than one study. This was an
optimal spacing based on reducing physical complications for
mother and baby. I don't have the information handy, but
if I recall correctly, the relevant search term in Medline
is something like "inter-pregnancy interval."

thanks, I didn't use that term, but still came up with more than one
with the 18mth threshold that Larry (I think...) mentions with moderate
frequency, of course they are all based on medical measurable stuff,
like low birth weight and prematurity, though the risk particularly
towards the end of the period doesn't seem that high, it's when you get
a whole population with shorter gaps being common that the number of
those occurances starts having an impact on health care services and
what not.

Cheers
Anne

In article ,
says...
Anne Rogers wrote:
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?

It was, I believe, more than one study. This was an
optimal spacing based on reducing physical complications for
mother and baby. I don't have the information handy, but
if I recall correctly, the relevant search term in Medline
is something like "inter-pregnancy interval."

Best wishes,
Ericka

Yes. This is what I was talking about. It only measured physical
recovery of the mother in preparing for a subsequent birth. I don't
know of any studies on emotional or developmental questions.

Larry

Larry Mcmahan wrote:
In article ,
says...
Anne Rogers wrote:
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is the
optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I don't
think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone provide a
link to studies, or whatever it was based on?
It was, I believe, more than one study. This was an
optimal spacing based on reducing physical complications for
mother and baby. I don't have the information handy, but
if I recall correctly, the relevant search term in Medline
is something like "inter-pregnancy interval."

Yes. This is what I was talking about. It only measured physical
recovery of the mother in preparing for a subsequent birth. I don't
know of any studies on emotional or developmental questions.

I believe that there have been some studies like
that, but my general impression of them (without hunting some
down) is that results are quite mixed, with advantages and
disadvantages for most spacings.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
Larry Mcmahan wrote:
In article ,
says...
Anne Rogers wrote:
it comes up quite often and various people have said the evidence is
the optimal gap between birth and conception is 18-30 months, but I
don't think I ever looked up where this came from, so could someone
provide a link to studies, or whatever it was based on?
It was, I believe, more than one study. This was an
optimal spacing based on reducing physical complications for
mother and baby. I don't have the information handy, but
if I recall correctly, the relevant search term in Medline
is something like "inter-pregnancy interval."

Yes. This is what I was talking about. It only measured physical
recovery of the mother in preparing for a subsequent birth. I don't
know of any studies on emotional or developmental questions.

I believe that there have been some studies like
that, but my general impression of them (without hunting some
down) is that results are quite mixed, with advantages and
disadvantages for most spacings.


Kinda sounds like life, huh? And hard to quantify the personality aspect of
it as well.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04

Jamie Clark wrote:
"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..

I believe that there have been some studies like
that, but my general impression of them (without hunting some
down) is that results are quite mixed, with advantages and
disadvantages for most spacings.

Kinda sounds like life, huh? And hard to quantify the personality aspect of
it as well.

Yep ;-) I think it helps to know what the studies
suggest, but in many people's lives, practical factors overtake
many of the other issues anyway! I think if you have particular
issues in your history, maybe some aspect or other becomes
more salient. For instance, if you have a history of preterm
labor, maybe it's worth your while not to space too closely.
Otherwise, maybe other factors are more important.

Best wishes,
Ericka