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.

Mine was a mid August baby boy and when he started school I would say developmentally he was behind his peers. His brother was in the year above, so I already knew the school. That gave me the confidence he would be okay and to be fair Reception class is just an extention of Nursery.
If he had been my first I would say he would have benefitted developmentally from going to school a whole term later, but friendship groups would have been more established then and that would be another worry. I really think it depends on the confidence of the child.
However by YR2 he had caught up, did very well in his SATS and left uni with a 1st Class Hons Degree.

DD was born 1st August and it's never held her back. She's 14 now and in top set for English and Maths. Being a summer baby hasn't made the slightest difference for her.

I really think it will depend on your child, you'll know if you feel confident in them going into the year they're meant to or holding them back. My child is 31st of august and we're holding him back because kits obvious he would struggle significantly, if it had been my older son we wouldn't have held him back

I'm an early years teacher who ended up with a late July baby. I did have a brief moment of thinking 'uh oh could have timed that better' but I'm not too concerned really.

In my experience it's fairly common for late summer born children to find it a bit harder to adapt to school, and more so in summer born boys. In our tracking we do specifically keep an eye on summer born children for this reason. It's certainly not the case for all children though and even those who struggle, unless there are other factors at play things usually balance out after a year or two. Again this is in my experience and schools I have worked in - there have been studies that show summer babies can be disadvantaged right up to GCSEs but the key word is can . It's not a given.

I'd be reluctant to defer a year in dd's case but I will wait and see how she develops before I make any decisions.

Until I joined mumsnet I didn't know that summer borns were considered to be at a disadvantage. I now know that statistically this can be the case, and everyone's experiences are different. Clearly it didn't hold DD back, but I am aware it can be a disadvantage for quite a few children.

My brother was born 3rd August, he's an adult now but was never at a disadvantage at school, he got straight As on his GCSEs, As and Bs at ALevel and then a 2:1 in his degree, he's successful and very lovely (bias I know) he's had no problems from being born in August at all. My mum said the biggest issue was in the first few years at school he was the smallest boy by quite a bit so hung around with the girls but once he got to year 3 that changed and he played with the boys more. That was it.

Although statistically there is something in what they’re saying (eg month of birth affects likelihood of Oxbridge admission), it was insensitive of them to say anything since there’s nothing you can do about your due date now! Just enjoy and nurture your DD whenever she arrives

I have an 20 August child who was supposed to be born early September back when you couldn't defer and it was hard for the first few years but he's in secondary and on course for good GCSEs now. In infants you can tell who is the youngest but that difference disappears imo.

My son is a late August child, the only disadvantage he had was when he finished high school before going into sixth form he wanted a summer job like all his friends but he was only 15 so couldn't get one.
He is now a fully qualified lawyer!

The statistics are what they are, but as a PP put far more eloquently than I could there are a lot of "ifs".

I suspect if I had a summerborn boy without older siblings I would, all else being equal, be minded to defer.

FWIW though - I have a September born girl, 3.5, not due to start school until next year. Academically she's at around Y1 level ito reading and maths, when we go to playgrounds she heads for the 5/6 year olds and plays well with them... and she'll be in nursery for another year and a half with kids age 3-4. Not great either.

My ds was due middle of September had him 30th august . I have never heard of this before . My dd was born December and she was 4 when she started primary school and one of youngest never did her any harm

My ultimate bug bear ( is that right spelling ?) is people saying reception is like nursery or preschool. It really depends on your setting granted. I know some preschools do a lot of phonics and writing, letter and number recognition, but what my DS has been doing this year in reception at his state school is way way above preschool. He actually went to preschool at a private school and they were very much striving to have the kids at a high level. A better thing to say is there is a lot of play based and active learning rather than sit at 9-3 desk formal lessons. They do however have lessons and the play they do isn't little Johnny loves dinosaurs so get the box out, it's if I had 3 blue dinosaurs and 5 green dinosaurs then what is the number bond?

@RichTeaCheddars I don't think you can actually start them part through the term anymore in England. I believe they have to be attendance on the second week of term for funding purposes. You can certainly start them part time pre being Compulsory school age of 5, but again a lot of the learning accumulates and builds of past lessons. It just doesn't work as well if part time. Plus as others say friendship groups is a big part of school. Confidence is very key and being there full time means they gain friendships. Having seen the home learning it blew my mind what they were covering.

If you saw my previous posts I applied to decelerate my DS and was awarded the option. So I know a reasonable amount about it. The LA did our quite a lot of pressure on me to make a decision to take his school place or accept the delay to be able to apply again the next year. He did in the end start school at 4 in Sept 2020, so is now in reception and he's still 4 now, not 5 until end of August. He's doing well academically, but I think he would of been equally starting reception this September , he is emotionally young.

I was a late August baby back in the sixties. I didn't find it a disadvantage at all.

I was about the youngest in each school year but that didn't bother me. I also liked having my birthday always in school holidays. It meant I wasn't expected to have a party (didn't like them then and still don't) and there was a greater chance of reasonable weather.

DS is August born but the option o defer wasn't available back when he started school. I'd have taken it if he was. He has struggled and it really showed in things like sports teams (prep school so sport taken seriously) where he was never in the A team but would have been if he'd been with the year below. In the end, it really depends on the child so there's not much you can do but watch and wait and make a judgement at the appropriate time.

I don’t think you can ignore the statistics but there will always be exceptions. My 4yo summer baby is very bright and is up there with the clever September born girls if not ahead but I think the summer borns are at a massive disadvantage. At the start, she was really aware of the drawing skills of the autumn born girls compared to hers for example. Even with something like toileting the older ones will have more practice, more confidence with getting dressed etc. I don’t think it will affect her long term and there was no doubt she was ready for school.

From her nursery there was one august born who deferred and that was definitely the right thing to do. There were two others who were more borderline but didn’t. Both are often in tears at the end of the day. One is fine academically- it is the social side and Independence that is trickier but suspect she will be absolutely fine by the end of y1. The other one may have found it better to have deferred an extra year in all honesty as he struggles with behaviour and the more formal learning.

@hamandcgeese yes I'm sure. In the info sent to parents "Once a reception place has been offered....can request that the
date their child is admitted to school is deferred
until later in the academic year"

She will be fine. Just dont expect her to be reading as well as her winter born peers in reception (experience of winter born DC1 and summer born DC2). I teach secondary and unless a child has SEN, any gaps based on birthday are well closed by y7.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone fret about February babies in Scotland.

My cousin was born August 31st (at 11.25pm!) He is now 12 and in top sets at school.

Oh my cousins son was tiny. He weighed 5lbs at birth, was still in 0-3 clothes at 12 months. They couldn't get uniform in his size so he went in plain red tshirt and navy shorts for the first 2 years. Now aged 12 he taller that me. I'm 5'2.

@StayingHere

She will be fine. Just dont expect her to be reading as well as her winter born peers in reception (experience of winter born DC1 and summer born DC2). I teach secondary and unless a child has SEN, any gaps based on birthday are well closed by y7.

That's YOUR experience with YOUR DC. It doesn't apply to everyone.

The only downside to being an august baby is that your friends are often away on holiday when it's your birthday party. The up side is never having to go to school (or work if you're a teacher) on your birthday. I wouldn't worry OP

Stastically as a group summer born children, particularly boys, perform less well at school than those who are at the older end of their year group and the difference is demonstrable right through the school years.
But stastistics look at populations. They can't predict outcomes for individuals and are not intended to. Not every summer born child will have any difficulties and not every autumn born will do well. A large number of other factors will impact on each individual's progress.
So no, an August born baby is not doomed to fail at all. But knowing that the statistics do indicate a higher probability of difficulties is a good thing in my opinion. As others have said, there are alternatives to starting full time in September after they've just turned four. Knowing about the potential issues and what your alternatives are will help you when the time comes to decide what you feel is best for your individual child.
I really wouldn't worry about it at this stage though. There are options if you feel she's not ready when the time comes.

@MrsAvocet in the previous post is right. It is a fact that, statistically speaking, summer born children are at a disadvantage throughout primary school. That doesn’t mean that any one child won’t succeed, but it does mean that all the many posters on this thread saying there’s nothing to worry about because they know a few summer borns who happen to be fine, are wrong.

It shouldn’t be an issue for you though because either your daughter will be ready for school, or she won’t and you can defer her. It’s good to be aware that you have that option, even if you don’t ultimately need it.

@Babdoc

My DD was an August baby. She was reading at 2, writing stories and doing arithmetic at 3. She got 5 straight As in her Highers, 5 straight As in her Advanced Highers, (sat one of them a year early!) got a Maths degree from Durham and is now pulling £52K as a risk analyst. So no, not disadvantaged at all. If you’re concerned, OP, simply teach your child the basics of the three Rs yourself, before starting school.

August birth has absolutely no disadvantage under the Scottish system though, does it? Aren’t calendar years used to determine school entry ether than academic years?