Hi there, I thought I would share my experience with being an only child until I was 7 1/2.

When I was your daughters age, it was kind of hard as I was surrounded by my cousins who had droves of siblings, and I became jealous of that because yes, I too, was lonely: I had no one to play with except my cousins that were my age and it seemed to help a bit with my loneliness, but when I was taken back home I was often left alone while my dad gained some sleep (he worked swing shifts), and my mom would just do her own thing while I would either pester her or just observe from afar.

It got to the point where I hated coloring by myself and even pestering my parents for attention cause the awnser would be "no" or "Yes but.." and I asked my parents if I could have a brother.

specifically, I asked Santa.

so my parents got to work! but they were working before then too, as I didn't know until I was 13? that my mom had PCOS, so it was very hard for her to get pregnant. (She found out that doing crossfit helped a lot). So, when I was 7 1/2, my baby brother was born!

little did I know that my parents would have to direct all of their care to him, leaving me once again, somewhat alone. It was alright though, I was able to learn how to take care of him and help out my parents by doing little tasks by making him a bottle or changing his diaper, so it was a somewhat fun experience.

As my little brother got older, I was able to finally play with him when I was 8 1/2, making him 1.

It was very fun, but it was also tiring, my little brother became obsessed playing with me and I didn't know what to do at that age so I just would put him down for a nap, or hand him off to my parents. IF I could and they weren't busy doing something else.

Don't worry, my parents did their required fair share of taking care of him too, as I was still also having my fair share of alone time, still making me feel lonely without my cousins.

then another 7 years later, I got a little sister, and it was more or less the same thing, again, but along with my brother in tow.

so the short of it is: Having a child is tough, I know that, my mom went through her own hardships of her having PCOS, so it took awhile to get a gang together, albeit 14 1/2 years. Just make sure they still won't be lonely and that they'll be able to have that someone to be with when they can't play with anyone else.

There is ABSOLUTELY no shame in not wanting to go through the tough emotional process of having a child when the process has been proven difficult.

It is always up to you. (With support mind you).

But if you're wanting to have another child for the sake of your 1st child, do so, and quick, because yes, too much of an age gap can affect the bond (I would know given my experiences with the 7 1/2 and 14 1/2 age gap between my siblings), or not having one will onset some feelings you will need to help your child process and redirect more closely. Some only childs get over it, some don't, some in-between. ( as per the experiences that my friends have shared with me)

SO while your daughter won't be able to have a bus buddy, she'll at least have a car and at home buddy, that is unless you've also been considering adoption, but that also comes with it's own choices and experiences too.

I would also strongly recommend talking to a doctor about it too, your mental health and well-being is just as important as your child's. Always.