When is the best time of year to have a baby?

[daisyoranges]

This is meant as a fairly light hearted chatty thread, I know many people don’t have the luxury of choice and I know many babies don’t arrive on time! However, if you could choose, what month would you say is the best to have a baby in? Ds was a December baby. It was so lovely having him before Christmas and very cosy but January in lockdown was hard!

Late winter/Early Spring: end of pregnancy is way more comfortable than going through that in the summer, weather starts to be nice after re cooperating unlike autumn, & we're in England and being mid-academic year resolves a lot issues of being at either end.

My February baby seemed to have it best, followed by November (though I needed a longer recovery post-birth then), with August and September being an even split.

[quote Notavegan]@Waxonwaxoff0 my girls are June and July and are noticeable immature compared to some friends with Sept birthdays. Also, we are very short all three of us so the smallest in the year by a long way. My parents said I looked like a baby when I started reception. Being summer born has more pressure to be fully independent on the toilet soon after 3rd birthday for school nursery. This was tricky for one of mine and it led to issues. Reading has been slower and I notice a difference in ability between her and her older friends.[/quote]
Guess it depends on the child. I was fine at school. I have a June born and he's fine too.

Summer. Sleepless nights didn't seem so bad when it was light from 5am anyway

I've a December baby and a May baby.

The broken nights were much easier to deal with in May, June, July than in December, January and February.

Sunlight and warmth cheer. Easier too to go out for walks - 12 hours to do it rather than 7. No ice, less rain.

Having said that I have an August born who settled just fine socially and academically at school and has always had lovely birthday parties. When we were in the ‘whole class party’ age bracket we just shunted his school birthday party early or late by a few weeks and celebrated with close friends and family on his actual birthday - he loved getting to celebrate twice!

Sept/October if I could chose.

My youngest has an April birthday and I hate the thought of her going to school this year. She seems so much younger than my October baby did going to school.

I have an April baby and it was such a lovely time for a newborn. The evenings were longer so could get out for a stroll after dinner and at a couple of months old I would park the pram under the parasol.in the garden and sit and read beside her.
And here in Ireland her dob means I have decided she will be 5 and a half starting school.

Autumn. My three were all born in October and early November, hence the username. I liked the dark early evenings, they helped me establish a sleep routine. Well, it did with the first two. Ds3, not so much. Then, in spring they were old enough to be a bit more interested in the world. They were among the older kids in their years when they started school. It worked for us.

As a parent- late spring, early summer. Nor pregnant in the heat, nice weather to go out with a small baby, birthday not near Christmas.
Academically- sept-nov.
Worst- December and January. Possibly August academically and being the last to learn to drive of all your peers etc.

Spring is best for the mum. Easier to be pregnant over winter as no overheating. Better to have newborn in summer, picnics, park etc.

Anytime in autumn is better for the kid as they're a lot older, in terms of life spent, than their year group. Reading, writing and all sport is easier when you're 25% of your life older. Its like the difference between a 20yo and 25yo, if we grew forever.

I've got two summer born children (May and August). Both struggled when they started school as they were so much younger than many of the others. However summer birthdays are nice and there's a good gap between their birthday and Christmas which makes it easier for presents.

My birthday is October which has always felt ideal to me. I benefited from being one of the oldest in my year and I liked being one of the first to learn to drive (and to be able to legally buy alcohol!) The weather is normally ok in October and I think it's just a nice month in general.

June: lovely warm days and short nights. Empty postnatal ward. A nice Christmas pregnancy announcement. Big billowy sundresses to hide baby weight.

Downsides: some really hot days in summer when your baby is very tiny. Only three months to sort a decent routine before every spider in your house emerges during the night feeds in September and October.

I have September, November & December, as a December baby myself i really regret not timing them better!

@Waxonwaxoff0 “I'm an August born and being the youngest never bothered me, I don't get why it would?”

Being nearly a year younger than a five year old can make quite a difference when they start, academically and confidence-wise. In the first few years there can be a bit of “I’m older than you so I get to choose the game/tell you what to do”. Not at all schools and not all children.

@Miljea

September.

Your child will be among the eldest in their class. They will be physically bigger and have almost a year's more social and intellectual development that the youngest in the class; therefore their 'superior' prowess will gain them praise and accolades.

This will increase their self-esteem, which will give them confidence; a trait admired by all.

There is a reason why Oxbridge students are disproportionately Sept-Dec born....

Interestingly DP tells me that this doesn't hold for Oxbridge maths, apparently they did a show of hands at the beginning.

DD1's birthday is right at the end of August and it's rubbish. She lacks emotional maturity due to her being autistic and being the youngest in her year doesn't help.
She's also always disappointed her birthday is never mentioned at school.
DD2 is October and I think that is much better.

Also trying to arrange a birthday party in August is a nightmare as everyone's always on holiday.

I always wanted to have a baby in April but had summer born ones instead.

Not all babies due in September will be born in September. Some will arrive early. That baby planned for September could arrive in August. It happens.

July. Me and my 2dc are July babies.

I had DD early December. I wouldn't recommend a winter born baby at that time simply because winter with a young baby is tough. It's cold, you can't leave the house much and SAD on top of PND or post birth blues is extra hard. I think I would go for an early spring baby had I the choice.

Not Oct as DH and I have our birthdays then on the same day......

I had two autumn babies which was good as they were around the eldest in their respective school years, but having a late February baby was the nicest, going into spring. That was lovely.

November was good for me. Avoided being heavily pregnant during the hottest time of year and was never pregnant at Christmas. Hunkered down with a newborn during the darkest part of the winter and emerged to start doing stuff together in the spring. Had a lovely long summer on maternity leave and didn’t have to worry about a small baby overheating because she was big and robust enough by the time it was hot. I’m not fertile enough to have been able to plan anything but it all worked out swimmingly.

Interestingly DP tells me that this doesn't hold for Oxbridge maths, apparently they did a show of hands at the beginning

It was definitely true amongst my circle of friends (including mathematicians), there was one girl who was born in May and the rest of us were all Sept-Dec. I also knew way more people who were identical twins than you’d expect proportionally, but I have no idea if there’s any mechanism behind that or if it was sheer coincidence!

Anyway, DD was born in March and I thought that was a great time to have a baby. There was still snow on the ground so we hid inside for a few weeks and then once I’d got to grips with motherhood a bit we could have lots of lovely picnics in the park and long pram walks.