Is having an August baby really so terrible?

[SunflowerOwl]

I'm expecting my first DD in late August. I'm so excited and thrilled.

But people keep telling me I should 'keep my legs crossed' until September as summer babies are at a massive disadvantage when they start school, they will be a year younger etc.

Aside from the fact that theres very little I can do about when she decides to arrive, is it really so terrible? People are starting to make me feel like I've set my child up to fail already and it's making me feel pretty crap.

My August baby is at med school. I'm very late August and it never affected me either.

@RichTeaCheddars

I think in my council you can delay the start of school by a term, 2 terms or the whole year. But if by the whole year then they go to straight in to year 1 and in to their original cohort, skipping reception.

My baby is summer born, I'm thinking I'll send her for last term of reception.

But then they’ll end up missing most of their foundation year. I have a child in reception, returning to school tomorrow, the start of the summer term- since starting schools she’s made friends, has been progressing with reading, is confident with numbers up to 20... basically meeting expectation and hopefully ready for the big jump in y1. I don’t want to sound like I’m scaremongering but I don’t know why you would want your child to miss out on most of the year and be behind their peers? If you want them to start at 5 you could look into applying for a reception place (though I think admissions for 2021 have just been done)

@RichTeaCheddars ah I just realised I don’t think your child is reception age yet, but definitely look into CSA start if you’re not keen on them starting at 4

I'm an August baby. I also essentially missed a year of school when we moved from Scotland to England because of the school year difference.

I have a degree, speak three languages and have a good job which I love. People talk all sorts of BS, ignore them and enjoy your baby 💐

IMO it's a load of rubbish!!!

The child in my KS1 class who struggles the most socially & academically is actually Sept born. It has nothing to do with his actual age. From professional experience, it can make a slight difference in terms of maturity, but most children catch up eventually anyway.

My August born boy is as sharp as a tack and doing really well academically. He was always incredibly sociable and confident making friends. The only downside that I can remember, was that it was a bit of a rush to get him potty trained for nursery (school nursery).

Otherwise, ignore, ignore, ignore!! People always like to spout their opinions when it comes to babies. Most of which are total nonsense (apart from mine of course )

@delilahtheparrot

Here is a quote from gov document "Alternatively, a parent delaying their child’s start until the September after their
5th birthday, could make an in-year applications for a year 1 place for their child
that year. In that case the child would miss reception year and be taught in
their normal year group."

"For children who are under compulsory school age, once a school place has been
accepted, parents may, if they wish, agree with the school a pattern of part time
attendance or a deferred start until later in that school year (but not later than the
beginning of the summer term). These arrangements should be discussed with the
school."

.www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission

This is repeated in my councils website. "Once a reception place has been offered and

accepted, the parent/carer can request that the

date their child is admitted to school is deferred
until later in the year, or until the term in which
the child reaches compulsory school age. They
can request that their child takes up the place
part time until they reach compulsory school
age. Such requests will be met by the school. To
make this request"

Obviously things have changed since I was at school, but children did start in reception in a staggered way. They didn't all start in September. The younger ones all started at start of term 2 or 3. I believe this was more standard then.

Not for me. Both of mine are late August, now in their teens. I am a secondary school teacher and can't tell who was born when in my classes.

Don't worry and enjoy your baby when s/he arrives in the summer.

@whatisshe thanks, I'll look in to it. It is a difficult choice. Sending when only just 4 means a whole year behind in terms of overall development, emotional not just academic. But then sending a year late or even 2 terms late means they'll miss out on that much schooling.

Oh, and one of mine was 4 and started reception the same week......no difference between them and the others. I do think the fact they'd been at nursery full time helped though that was work led not a specific choice regarding age/ development.

The only disadvantage for DD was not turning 18 until after she left school. She never had nights out in town because none of the clubs would allow under 18s in after 10pm.

@RichTeaCheddars

I think in my council you can delay the start of school by a term, 2 terms or the whole year. But if by the whole year then they go to straight in to year 1 and in to their original cohort, skipping reception.

My baby is summer born, I'm thinking I'll send her for last term of reception.

That is a terrible idea, she will of missed all the phonics and learning the numbers adding and subtracting. My child is in reception now and can blend and read, couldn't pre starting only knew his individual letters. Either delay them so they start reception one year later or not at all.

Statistically summer-born children are at a disadvantage academically and in sport. This does level out over time, but Oxbridge students are 25 per cent more likely to be born in the autumn than summer. Of course all of that is at a population level - at an individual level, there will be plenty of September born children who struggle and August born children who excel.

Tbh, if you do feel they aren't ready for school, you have the option to defer for a year and then they have the "advantage" of being the oldest in the class?! My DD is an April baby, and I wish I had to option to defer for a year as she's definitely not going to be ready come September. She's too "old" for the year to defer, so would have much preferred her to be a July/August baby, so I had that option. I would definitely defer if I had a summer born though, unless they were hugely advanced... The older children in the year to seem to settle and get on with things easier in reception/yr1.

I've got 4 nieces and nephews born in august and they are all doing fine academically- i would say family support is more important. They are from two different families and the two whose mum spends more time educating at home appear to do better academically than the other two.

My niece turned 4 just days before starting school but you would never know it.

I was born August the 15th I dont think I'm at a disadvantage. I'm in my 40s now and I dont think I every really noticed I was younger than others, and a massive bonus is I never had to go to school on my birthday

People are silly OP. As someone who lost a baby to stillbirth at 40 weeks, this is really not something to even worry about.

Thank you for your opinion but I really don't think it is. If it was so terrible for the child's development parents wouldn't be given several different choices about when a child starts.

Some of that can all be learnt at home or in another non school setting.

Thankfully I don't need to make a final choice just now.

I really only brought it up so OP and other PP knew that it was an option should they want to consider it. School start isn't only at 4 in reception or at 5 in reception. There are other options.

DH is August, Oxbridge and a leader in his field. Four things at play: his intellect, being the first born, supportive, functional and educationally motivated family and thirdly his Leo personality.

I'm an August baby!

I'd be more worried about her being born in September and having to wait an extra year.

Sorry my last post was in reply to @hamandcgeese

My best friend's son is an August baby and is the most advanced kid in his class. He was reading chapter books independently in reception. My October born is in year 1 and is only just grasping phonics now. You just never know 🤷🏼‍♀️

@RosesAndHellebores

DH is August, Oxbridge and a leader in his field. Four things at play: his intellect, being the first born, supportive, functional and educationally motivated family and thirdly his Leo personality.

Love this! I really dislike all the negativity that comes with having a “summer-born boy”. My son is mid August and he is flying (so far!) I had so many comments on summerborn forums that I was being cruel by him starting school at just 4 I was not allowing him another year of being a child and would give him a disadvantage. I really think having a supportive family is the most important thing, it totally comes down to the individual and what their interests are and how they are treated. My October born girl is less interested in school and reading!

Also at school there are other factors that make a difference - whether they are read to at home, if English is their first language/spoken at home etc

Lovely to have a baby born in the summer. You can always have parties in the garden. They will always be on school holidays.

Unlike me with a Feb baby. We have a small house so hosting at home is hard in winter

My first hand experience is my own children. One late December and one late May. Due to their innate curiosity and the fact it was equally facilitated, they were both champing at the bit to start school and both were leaps and bounds ahead of many of their peers. TBF dd was behind at sport and co-ordination but it wouldn't have mattered if she'd been born in September or August. She is not naturally sporty and has zero interest in it. Just like me and I am July and frankly being a summer born AND crap at sport never held me back once I left school but I do think the way schools organise sport can have a fundamentally corrosive impact on self esteem. I didn't give a flying bit dd is a sensitive soul and it mattered to her.

@Happynewtier

Tbh, if you do feel they aren't ready for school, you have the option to defer for a year and then they have the "advantage" of being the oldest in the class?! My DD is an April baby, and I wish I had to option to defer for a year as she's definitely not going to be ready come September. She's too "old" for the year to defer, so would have much preferred her to be a July/August baby, so I had that option. I would definitely defer if I had a summer born though, unless they were hugely advanced... The older children in the year to seem to settle and get on with things easier in reception/yr1.

Just so you know, the government definition of 'summer born' and thus entitling you to request a reception start at 5 is April-August birthdays. So you can request this if you want but you'd have to hurry up because depending on your area this can be a long process.