I am a big fan of the six year age span between my two kidlets. After #1 we were adamant that we were NEVER going to have anymore kids! Terrible pregnancy, bedrest at 26 weeks, premature delivery at 32 weeks through a traumatic abruption, 4 weeks in the NICU, 6 months of colic, two full years of exhaustion with a child that would not sleep nor slow down.
Our lovely 5 year old DD sat sweetly on Santa' lap and asked for a baby for Christmas. He winked at me and said that he would see what he could do. I loudly told him not to bother... bring her a pony or something else. I was pregnant within the month. Best Christmas present I ever got!!
I don't know if things were easier the second time around because DS is such a relaxed and different child or because, as someone said above, I got better at parenting an intense child. What I can say for sure was that much of the problem with DD's first year was that learning how to incorporate a baby into your life is hard in the best of situations, but when you have an intense baby it beats your self-esteem down and makes you feel like a failure. I wish I could go back and redo DD's babyhood knowing what I do now! I bet it would be so different.
Age span preferences are very individual. For and OCD mom like me who was right in the middle of graduate studies (and lacking in the patience department), having kids too close together would have pushed me right over the edge!
