Survey Finds That Three Children Give Moms More Stress Than Other Numbers of Kids

The results are in: Three children give moms more stress than other numbers of kids.

A study conducted in 2013 has resurfaced with some insight into the stresses of raising kids. After surveying 7,164 moms in the United States, Today concluded that moms of three are more stressed out than moms of one, two, four or more children.

Psychiatrist Dr. Janet Taylor explained to Today why moms start to relax after they give birth to their fourth. She commented, “There’s just not enough space in your head for perfectionism when you get to four or more kids.”

“The more children you have, the more confident you become in your parenting abilities,” Taylor continued. “You have to let go … and then you’re just thankful when they all get to school on time.”

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Scary Mommy founder Jill Smokler told Today in 2013 that she experienced the telltale spike in stress when she welcomed her third child.

“Going from one to two was an easy, breezy transition,” Smokler recalled. “Two to three, everything was turned upside down.”

She added, “I did not feel like I had it together … just crossing the street and not being able to physically hold all their hands I found tremendously stressful.”

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On average, moms responded to the survey admitting that their stress level was at eight and a half on a scale of one to 10. Of the responders, 46 percent said that their partners stressed them out more than their children did.

Furthermore, 60 percent stressed more about their girls than their boys and 60 percent said that they stressed the most about running out of hours in the day.

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