between my 1st and 2nd was 18 years...talk about child spacing,lol
The 2nd and 3rd are almost 19mo apart and I like it alot. The two girls are like best friends, both are gifted and intense, the first 12 months after the youngest was born was the hardest as far as sleep goes. But as soon as they could start playing together (youngest was around 2 - 4 months)things were better during the day. Reason being is that all their attention was not always on me it's on each other.
From the time I brought the youngest one home the 19mo old wanted to help me with everything from getting the diaper for me to holding the bottle for the baby. Also in the mornings when both of them would have a bottle (when the younger one was able to hold it herself) the older one would go get hers then climb in the crib with the younger one and they'd have the bottles together, super cute.
Now that they are 6 & 8 I really see the benefits. They are close enough to take some of the same classes together like in art and music, they have alot of the same friends, there's none of the go away little sister stuff your too young.. I must also disclosed that if I wanted to have the 3rd child I had to do it quickly because of my age, I didn't have the choice to wait and space them 3 to 5 years. Fortunately it worked out to be a great decision for us.
