Is there such a thing as a 'right time' to have a second child? Dr. Pat Spungin, Raisingkids' resident child psychologist, explains why the concept of the 'right time' is the wrong idea.

Raisingkids member's problem
I was wondering what the ideal age-gap is between children? I have a young son and wanted to know the best time to introduce a little brother or sister to him. Could you help?

Dr Spungin's advice
In emotional and psychological terms there isn't a right answer to this question.

It can be difficult for parents to cope with children under 2 years apart, but, depending on their personalities, the children will be close enough to be good mates. Between 2-4 years is the gap that often causes rivalry, but the kids are company for each other. A gap of more than 4 years often means the children go through their childhood always at different stages and are not close enough to play together. We do have some guidelines on our site about age-gaps.

On the medical side of things, recent research seems to suggest that a gap of between 18 and 23 months is the optimum time between pregnancies. A massive research in Columbia found that women who chose to leave this time between pregnancies were less likely to have a pre-term birth or babies with a low birth weight.

Click here to read that news story in full.

• Read Dr Spungin's Archived Answers
• Brothers & Sisters: More Information In Our Siblings Section