As a mum of 1 I enjoyed the sincere advice of these posts, knowing it will be question I ask myself later and already thinking about.

Isn't the question here why you want a third child...what it means to you and your partner. Is there a gap in your life that you hope this child will fill? Are there issues you are avoiding by having another child? What are your dreams and ambitions for the future and how will a third child work with them? Life is all about choices and compromises. Someone once said to me that when it comes to children, two is not quite enough and three is too many! (I have three...of course!)

My main bit of advice would be to do it ASAP or not at all. Even if OP conceives tomorrow, her youngest will be the thick end of 3 years younger than DC2 and 5 years younger than DC1. Certainly in the case of DC1 that's pushing the boundaries of ages for kids to 'play nicely together'.

My personal, entirely subjective, opinion is that a 'pigeon pair' aged 1.5 yrs apart is perfect in every respect, but of course others may disagree. If money [and therefore living space, transport, etc] is no object then a really big family certainly has its charms.

The one thing I'd say to you is that you're never going to regret a child once he or she is there (you'd hope!). Hence anyone here who has gone for the third and has posted about it above doesn't regret it, of course.

I haven't gone for a third and personally I think it would be hell (ok slight exaggeration). You're outnumbered, you'll never sleep again,the school fees are crippling and holidays are far easier as a 4. This is all trivial(ish) stuff so it depends on how much you care about such things.
But you have one of each, so if I were you and you're not too bothered either way, I'd stick with two.

Things to think about:

1. Yogurts always come in packs of 4. Annoying.

2. You have to buy an un-cool car as 3 isofixes next to don't fit next to each other, even in an SUV.

3. You can't get an uber for 5 so have to get pricey black cabs which don't go south of the river this time of night luv.

4. you can only use BA companion vouchers 2 at a time. Annoying when redeeming air miles for cheap ski trips

5. You can't hold each one's hand when crossing the road so need to pick the two you like the most.

6. Franco Manca tables for 5 are really squashed.

7. Maybe just get a dog instead?

I don't think odd numbers work. Stick with 2 or go for 4.

I would agree with all of the above - I have three (5, almost 3 and 9 months) and it is unbelievably exhausting. I also found the jump from 1 to 2 more difficult than 2 to 3 - but that was because my middle one hardly slept for the first 6 months of his life. That said, I really have never known exhaustion such as I have experienced since the birth of my third. And you should really love doing loads and loads of laundry too.
We hadn't planned on 3 - but I love the chaos and the messiness and the craziness of a very full house now. And from the moment you have your third, suddenly only taking care of two children will feel like a holiday.
Our kids go to state school and I still had all the baby gear - got hand-me-down clothes from friends, but my family lives in California and the costs of flying all 5 of us does terrify me.
Bottom line - hard work, very little sleep, loads of laundry but I am really really happy with three. I had a book deadline this year, so we did get an Au Pair to help out and she has been a godsend. I think without her, I would have really struggled through having three under 5 (and none of them in school). I could have done it, but it would have been really really hard and I would have been a lot more stressed and a lot less happy.

Oh yes, and FionaG's point about older ones having friends who accept the younger ones is very good. We have weeded out several PITA playdate candidates who have been obnoxious or slammed doors in the face of the youngest (who is very sociable). I think it's a good character test - a kid should be able to be polite/kind to all siblings in the house. We do have a rule that the children are allowed to have alone time with their friends and the youngest can't just bust in and demand to be included, but that has to be handled kindly. One lovely boy, who will be welcome in my house forever, sat patiently over tea one day listening to the youngest tell a series of terrible surreal jokes and didn't once ask "what on earth are you talking about?" Another agreed enthusiastically to look for a bunch of random, unexciting stuff hidden in the garden during the younger children's treasure hunt phase. With larger families, good friends often become friends to everyone, which is lovely.

I agree with FionaG - we have 3 children, also now older and almost all in secondary school. We always wanted 3 and were very lucky to have been able to have them, but yes, sacrifices are made in larger families. We rarely go anywhere that requires a flight or out to dinner as a family, but we have lovely holidays camping or driving to France, and as the children have got older the gaps between them shift and alter so they can be closer for a while to one sibling and then alliances will shift again. And one massive bonus for me personally was knowing for sure that the the youngest was my last baby, which forced me to sit down and enjoy those years in a way I probably hadn't with the other two - I was always rushing about trying to juggle everything and a third child meant that I had to chill out. My standards dropped considerably - youngest doesn't eat many vegetables? Not the end of the world. He's very late to potty train and talk? Not the end of the world, he'll get there eventually. He doesn't have a carefully protected routine? Really, really not the end of the world! If tidiness and order are high on your list and you don't have the money to pay someone to help with that, then 3 children will be a challenge, don't underestimate that. And if you're keen on after school activities, remember that each child doing just 2 things per week means 6 lots of running about, paying subscriptions etc). But it is lovely, I loved my little pile of children when they were small, and I love my gangly teenagers who are mostly reasonable and good at sharing and mucking in with things because they have always had to. However, we have just had to buy the least sexy car known to man, a Ford SMax, because the gangly teenagers now need so much extra legroom!

Can I post as a Mum of three who are now well beyond the baby stage (ages 14,12 & 9) ...most days!
I actually found my 3rd the easiest baby, my oldest was already at school and my middle son at playgroup so the routine that I had struggled so hard to find with the first sort of happened naturally, although my daughter did come to school in her pyjamas on more than one occasion.
The baby years are tough but they do pass relatively quickly and it may help your decision if you think beyond those baby years and especially about your aspirations for your children and your family.

First and foremost do you want to work and if so how would you cope with childcare? I never planned to stop working but it sort of happened and it made sense to have a break with my third as we couldnt have afforded or wanted a nanny to look after them all.

But money was tight, eg £30 a week for school dinner moneys seemed extravagant - I could make packed lunches for a lot less. Birthday parties were more homespun and we relied on generous Grandparents to help with Christmas.
When my daughter started in Reception I was lucky to find a part-time job and this made life financially a lot more comfortable.

We still can't afford private school for 3 but we have been fortunate that they are all at 'outstanding' state schools. We have had to keep a close eye on their education, help them at home, boost with tutoring and fill in the gaps (eg competitive sport). This involves 2x football matches, 2x rugby matches/training, swimming and hockey every weekend which as you can imagine leaves time for little else.

We didnt go on foreign holidays at the start - caravans in Devon, staying with Grandparents etc. Also be aware very few hotels in this country or abroad offer family rooms for 5 (so you will always need 2 rooms & may have to split as adults if rooms aren't interconnecting). We now can afford one really good Neilson sailing holiday a year (my treat as I dont have to worry about feeding/entertaining/washing clothes etc & we all love sailing/tennis being outside) but still we look at the price for 5 of us and think, one of the kids is going to be on a camp bed.... and it's one school trip a year as a rule.
High value items like bikes are handed down - my 12-year-old will probably get his first 'new' bike this Xmas but he doesn't mind - he loves having his brothers pre-loved stuff.

We don't have a big car & its 13 years old with a roof box and not much leg room now the kids are getting bigger but we get by with bikes and a Family Rail card. We also are reliant on friends to lift share when matches/activities clash but I think/hope we reciprocate enough in return.

On the plus side, my oldest is incredibly patient and good with his little sister and her friends. My daughter is very mature and considerate and adores her big brothers and their friends. Interestingly the boys' friends who have stayed the course have been the ones who were most accepting of having a feisty young sister insist on joining their games, doing their hair and nails etc. And I can only recall one tiny little girl being so overwhelmed by the big brothers that she didn't survive the play date!
They can share, take turns and are considerate towards others (again most days!). When my oldest started his moody teenage phase his younger brother and sister shrugged and played together, and occasionally reminded him that he could still have fun with them.

If you do go for a third my one bit of advice would be make sure you have a big kitchen table - many of our happiest memories are as a family on Sunday evening having a roast or when I somehow mucked up play dates and ended up with 6 or more children for tea.
So apologies this post is longer than I meant it to be but as I started it is back to aspirations: if you are happy to slow down a bit & make packed lunches, fill your life with occasional treats rather than 5* hotels etc, from my experience 3 kids has made a rich family life. If you think you would rather concentrate on the two lovely children you already have, then stick with that and be grateful.

We are incredibly lucky to have the choice and we need to keep remembering that as we live in this fantastic South London bubble - our kids are well fed& clothed, well educated and generally very happy, as well as loved. Not all children in the world or even in other parts of South London are so fortunate.

This is a hot topic in our household too at the moment! A further question would be whether it's easier to just get the baby stage over and done with and have all three in relatively quick succession or whether it's easier to have a bit of a gap/breather after number two and wait until the elder two are in school/nursery at least so you have more time to devote to number three and so you only feel like you are looking after one baby rather than three babies! I guess parental age would be a factor in that decision.

I believe you know in your heart of hearts if you want another child, for most it's an urge that can't be ignored (unless of course you have twins or fall pregnant unexpectedly) but understandably difficult if money is an issue and as a couple you don't feel the same desire/urge. Good luck!

Well, our third was a surprise as we only ever intended to have two kids. The scan where we found out it was twins was fairly shocking!
So for a brief period of time we had 3 kids under 3 and I cannot lie to you that it was anything other than utterly exhausting.
The jump from 2 to 3 also affects things you don't really think about. We had to change our car, move house (we couldn't physically fit 3 beds into the 2nd bedroom), childcare costs, holidays and kids clubs (ballet, swimming etc).
For the last few years we've been stinking broke!! Although with the younger two starting school in September I am finally getting back to work which will certainly help.

However, having 3 is absolutely wonderful. The noise, the play, the cuddles, the crazy family dynamic. We absolutely love it. I never intended to have a large family...and now I do I can honestly say I don't regret a bit of it. My heart is now 3 times bigger, I am very, very grateful.

Hi there,
We have three and a forth one on the way (which was not planned btw)
We had a boy and a girl too and then another girl. They are 5, nearly 3 and nearly 1 and although the first couple of months were stressful, it is getting easier every day.
The older two were always very sweet with the baby and care a lot about her. If you go for state schools, I don't think that money is such a big issue, especially as you can hand down all clothes, toys, etc. Travelling, of course, gets more expensive - so it really depends how much (air) travel you have done so far and are planning in the future.
I always wanted three and it's just so much fun seeing the three together in the bath tub or playing together.
But if you can, get some help in the beginning, especially the first three, four month can be quite tough.
I wish you all the best in your decision whatever it will be.

Hello there,

Money of course is something to consider especially in London but i think you shoukd ask yourself if you are done with making babies or not. Not an obvious question ti answer, here a tip: could you give away your maternity clothes ?
On the daily managing of 3 kids or more I found the passage form 1 to 2 far more traumatic than from 2 to 3 (or 4 in my case). Supposedly with 2 kids you already have a nice routine in place, you know what you are doing (most of the time), you just need to add an extra one to the loop.
God luck with your decision making