She's reviewed dozens of single-child family studies and finds that only children aren't any worse off than their peers with siblings. "The studies all show that only children are not
Parenting having one child
Parents to onlies often feel social pressure from friends and family to add more kids to the family. You might feel that pressure, but having one child is more than okay.
Research has showed that, while having one child is associated with a gain in happiness, having a second is associated with a drop in happiness for mothers.
Women are happiest with one child
One study looked at identical twins aged 25-45. By comparing twins, researchers could ignore genetic causes for having fewer children or being depressed. They found that a woman's first child increased her happiness. But each additional child negatively effected her well-being.
Disadvantages of being the only child
Only children tend to overcompensate this factor by being social butterflies. Parental pressure: The undivided attention and focus can cause parents to push their child towards being an idealistic high achiever, making it stressful for the child to live up to their expectations.
He found that if you want to be happy, that is, enhance your well-being, you should stop after one child. Child number two or three doesn't make a parent happier. And, for mothers, he found, more children appear to make them less happy—although they are happier than childless women.
The truth is that having one child as opposed to two or more allows for a much more controlled environment, and there are also fewer relationships in the family to potentially complicate the overall family dynamic.
Want to be a happier parent? Grow your family to at least four children! According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children. Dr.
“Throughout the lifespan, people who have close sibling relationships have better mental health, better psychological health, and better social relationships, generally speaking.”
You get to focus on quality — not quantity. Having one means you can give your child undivided attention when she's having a hard time and needs you to be there, really be there, for her. It means she will grow up knowing that she was all that was needed or wanted.
Most parents are concerned about how their children will hold up after they are gone. Having another child solves that for good. They'll have each other's lifelong company. If you're close to your siblings, you'll know that your child deserves the same solid support system you had when growing up.
There is evidence to suggest that healthy sibling relationships promote empathy, prosocial behavior and academic achievement. While healthy sibling relationships can be an incredible source of support, unhealthy and toxic sibling relationships may be equally devastating and destabilizing.
It's okay if two kids is way harder than you thought. Researchers found that having a second child puts a lot of pressure on parents' time and their mental health, and mothers bear the brunt of the burden. People often say that having a second child doesn't much add to the workload of parenting.
Indeed, most contemporary studies don't find any notable disadvantages for only children. Onlies actually tend to have higher intelligence-test scores and more ambitious educational goals—perhaps in part because they face less competition for their parents' emotional and financial resources.
Bottom Line: Are only children lonely? Sometimes, but it's not a unique circumstance to singletons. Only children who have the opportunity to spend time with other children their own age report feeling less lonely as adults.
An only child is more content and confident than those with siblings, reports The Observer. Happiness in children declines once there are more siblings in the home, an Understanding Society research study has found.
Three or more children = wrong
Despite the growing trends mentioned above, two children still seems to the ideal number. An actual study revealed one to two children is the ideal number for “happiness”, but with two you don't have to deal with the aforementioned only child issues.
By 4 years old, firstborns are a bit more mature — which means they may be less likely to feel threatened, jealous or insecure with the arrival of a sibling. And since physical aggression is most pronounced between the ages of 2 and 4, your older sib is apt to be gentler with the baby, too. You're at ease.
Harman interviewed 950 parents from a wide range of family set-ups, and concluded that the happiest families were those with four or more children. The main advantages cited by these parents were increased positive social interactions within the family and high levels of support among siblings.
According to some random online survey, the most stressful number of kids to have is three. In fact, having four is supposed to be less stressful than three kids.
The secret to a happy family
Well, it turns out that two is in fact the magic number… 49% of you told us that two children is the secret recipe for the perfect happy family. This was followed by 14% voting three and 9.5% for one.
One-fourth had three children, and a similar share (24%) had two children. Only 11% of mothers at the end of their childbearing years had had only one child.
Having two kids is exponentially more difficult than having just one. Just when you think you've figured things out, you'll face an entirely new challenge, like trying to feed a baby with a toddler climbing on you, or changing a diaper while your previously potty-trained toddler poops in the corner.