by Suzanne Rose

Created on: January 29, 2010

Do people from small families make the most nurturing parents?  It depends on the family.  There are indeed some factors that would make people from small families become the most nurturing parents, however, there are also factors that would make people from larger families make the most nurturing parents.  It also depends on whether you are talking about the parents of these families or the children that come from these families. 

Discussing the parents of large and small families

An argument can be made that the parents of smaller families are more nurturing to each individual child because they have more time to spend with each individual child.  Their time is not split up between a lot of people.  In addition, the parents of a larger family may have to work more to support the family, which could further draw away from their time.  On the other hand, parents of large families often love having kids, and that is why they have so many of them.  They may just naturally be very nurturing because they love having children so much.  In addition, they may have a lot of experience with having the kids, and might be more skilled with that.  However, if they are very stressed by the amount of kids, than that stress can make them less nurturing than a smaller family would be.  Thus, there are factors that give smaller families the advantage and factors that give the bigger family the advantage.  It depends on the family.

Discussing the children that come from large and small families

Again, whether or not a child who comes from a large versus a small family is going to be nurturing will depend on the family, and the personality of the child.  There are factors that will influence both ways.  For instance, a person in a large family may have had to help with his or her younger brother or sisters a lot.  They may have had a lot of practice being nurturing from a very young age and will bring this with them when they have their own children.  On the other hand, some children might have resented the amount they had to help with their siblings and actually become less nurturing because of that.  With small families, if the parents had more time for them, they may learn how to be nurturing in that way.  A lot of people learn from how they were treated as a child. 

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