Baby Fever, JFF

Updated on January 15, 2013
J.K. asks from Kalamazoo, MI
15 answers

I dont actually want more kids. We have 2 now, and having more would mean needing a bigger car, bigger house, things we cant afford. I also had health problems with my last pregnancy, and dont really enjoy being pregnant. The urge for more babies is so strong though. My dh calls it the 'baby fever'. As in, dont look at that cute baby for too long, or you will get the baby fever. My 1 yo is still nursing, so I the urge is not so intense yet... But my guess is it will return. Do you ever stop wanting more babies? Does that urge ever go away?

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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

Probably not!

I'm due with number three in less than 2 months. I don't even have this baby, and I'm starting to think why not add another! We already have the bigger car, we are saving for the bigger house. If we go on vacation we will need an extra room. What's another 1k on tickets to see the in-laws when we are already dropping 5k! I mean really, 5 or 6k! Either way is a ridiculous amount of money!

I know we will stop, but I wonder. Hubby hasn't gone and gotten a vasectomy, even though I asked him to. Maybe I should hold on to my boy clothes, just in case!

I seriously hate being pregnant, and the sleepless nights of the first year leave me depressed and moody, but, man are kids great!

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B.B.

answers from Missoula on

I have two boys, the younger one will be two in March. I can honestly say I have no desire for another one. None. Zero. After the first was born I wanted a second, definitely felt the baby fever. My second baby seems to have been the cure.

So, yes, at least in my experience, the urge does go away.

4 moms found this helpful
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S.R.

answers from El Paso on

LOL. My mom got her tubes tied because she KNEW that if she didn't she would just keep having more babies (because she wanted them). So, she did what she could to make sure she wouldn't be able to have more than she could afford to care for. :)

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K.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

My youngest is 10. Baby fever left me LOOOONG ago. One of my friends had a baby last weekend. She's my age. Happy as I am for HER, my first thought was "What a *nightmare* to have to start all over with an infant - I can't imagine having to do that! Thank GOODNESS my kids are older!"

So...yeah...no baby fever here.

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N.G.

answers from Dallas on

That has happened to me three times, and I've gotten pregnant three times. One of these days, I'll quit. :)

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M.P.

answers from Green Bay on

I initially saw the subject of this post and thought "What is fun about a baby with a fever?!" :-)

I LOVED being pregnant. I LOVE babies. We have one DS who is 2.5. We knew we didn't want kids too close together, but I am afraid of "throwing off" the balance. DS is a pretty easy kid - his dr says he is "false advertising" for #2.

I have KINDA had baby fever lately, now that it is to the point where we would be OK if another were to come along 9 mo from now - but I still have huge anxiety about disrupting what we have and "taking away" from DS...so I guess that is what I have to deal with when it comes to baby fever. Probably not the answer you are looking for, but that is me! :-)

I know people do it all the time, but when DS was 1 and still nursing, I couldn't DREAM of adding another one! I was not interested ONE BIT! I still loved babies, but just not the "baby fever" you talk about of adding another one to MY house just yet! :-)

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B..

answers from Dallas on

I've known elderly people who wish they could still have babies!!

The urge isn't there for me. I would have been fine not having children, as would my husband. We decided we did want a child, and had my son. I LOVE him and he is incredible, but I have no urges for another. I am happy with one, and have zero desire for another. I do find that I am generally in the minority.
Oh, I also hated every single moment of pregnancy. Even if I wanted another, I wouldn't be the one growing the baby! I would NEVER do that again!!

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N.L.

answers from Boston on

This probably sounds crazy because my youngest is only six months, but I crave the brand, brand new baby stuff. That moment where you literally just had the baby and they give it to you to hold and it's all warm and slippery and strange and amazing. And then being in the hospital and being so wrapped up in that new little person. And the hospital brings you food and you get to lie around with nothing to do but cuddle the baby. Oh, and that wonderful feeling of not being pregnant anymore (I hated being pregnant). Pretty sure I'm done having babies, but I loved that amazing little space of time.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

When your existing child or children start growing up or are not a "baby" anymore, these hankerings for another baby comes up.
Common.
In me too.
My kids are 6 and 10. I look at my youngest, my son who is 6... and I MISS him and my kids being babies. I mean, they are growing up! Gosh darn it!
And with my youngest, I wish he weren't growing up so fast.
Sure, I've thought of having more kids. I was telling my Husband yesterday that same thing. And he replies "Well, Johnny wants a brother.... you never had problems getting pregnant and you make good babies..."
Yah, but in REALITY... my 2 kids are enough. And I will not have more. Logically speaking. No more kids for me.

For a woman, it is a Rite Of Passage, to go through this I guess. Of seeing our existing kids, grow up. And realizing that the children we have are enough! We just "miss" the babies they were. But for me, that does not mean I am actually going to have more kids or get pregnant again. I don't want that.
So I know, the reality and basis, of my feelings.

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A.C.

answers from Atlanta on

I don't know if the urge goes away.

It hasn't for me. We have two children, a boy and a girl. Everyone from our neighbor to my mother has assumed we're done. I wasn't sure right away. I even thought maybe we were done. But for the last two months or so, I've been feeling that urge again.

Right now is not the right time to have another. My husband's job isn't as secure as we'd like, and he is working much longer hours than I am used to. We just moved across the country and don't even have a pediatrician yet, much less an OB, and I'm not close to family anymore. Plus, a third would make flying back to see the folks harder, it would make vacations harder, and it would make international travel (something Hubby and I plan to do the moment the kids are old enough, since we have been WAITING to get back to our travels ever since our first child was conceived) much more difficult. Our house has three bedrooms, so while we could fit another, the kids would have to share rooms. I'm not even sure how I feel about going through the newborn phase again, or changing the wonderful dynamic in our family. Hubby and I haven't agreed on whether or not to have a third, but we've both agreed that now is not the right time.

But the urge to add a third is pretty intense for me. I don't know if that baby craving vanishes once you hit the number you want in your family - I always wanted more than 2 kids, so maybe my body is just waiting to hit that magic number. Or will I just keep craving another and another? I am enjoying reading the other responses. Maybe I'll find an answer in them, too.

1 mom found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

I have 3 children, my youngest is 3 1/2. I think I finally feel like I'm done. I see a newborn now and think about what it would mean and I don't have the desire anymore.
For the longest time there was always this poke of well what if. But after my third I've not had it like I did after my other 2.
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and most likely beginning menopause (testing right now) so the hormones aren't there anymore or if I am just content now.
If I find myself pregnant we'll move on and figure out how to deal with 4 but there is no desire to actually try.
So for me at least it does seem to be going away.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Every 2 years for the past 10.... BabyCravings.

Its pretty easy to tell the difference in my own life. One is actually wanting to add a CHILD to my family... The other is

LITTLE TOES!!!! And smoosh face kisses, and Wookit! Widdle ________. And new baby smell! And and and

1001 things BABY related, that are grown out of in a year.
My mum saya it never goes away
Although it morphs into GrandbabyCravings (complete with Los if boundaries) at a certain point.

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C.B.

answers from Detroit on

I think what cured me....I wanted a baby girl. And to do sex selection, it cost some big bucks. I was in addition supposed to take clomid, to enhance the chance! It came to be too much 'roller coaster' as far as emotional state. When I got my period, it hurt too much and my husband was not exactly the strong, 'be there when you need me' type. I mean I literally had to ASK/BEG for comfort once on a less life changing instance! And during this sex selection program, it was not the most positive thing if I initiated intimacy in order to 'get the job done'. Really zapped the entire mood. So I finally gave it up. I have 3 wonderful sons.

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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I have loved being a mom more than anything on this planet, we were fortunate to adopt my biological niece as an infant. I enjoyed every phase and have always been that house filled with extra kids.

No way ever, ever though would I want to birth a human!! That urge has never hit and if I see an infant that reminds me to keep up with my three methods of birth control (not that I need any reminders). Babies are perfectly wonderful for everyone else, just not me.

D.P.

answers from Detroit on

My 2nd and last baby was very challenging. To the point that I did not seek out cuddling the next 2 babies (niece & nephew) that came after her. She is 6 now and I am finally able to enjoy my latest niece.

I am also an older mom and the thought of me driving around the streets in my 50s looking for my wayward teenager (crossing fingers that this does not happen) is just something that cures my baby fever in a snap.

I have 2 and if I was even 10 years younger, yes without a doubt, I will have 2 more.

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