Would you rather have a summer or autumn baby?

[Babydust00]

We will hopefully be trying end of this year. I understand entirely that it’s not possible for the majority of people to plan when they have their babies, if only life worked in that way

In a world where you could plan- would you try in October/November for a summer baby, or December/January for autumn? Thinking of all factors involved, academic, childcare fees, how it must be to give birth in the hottest temperatures, birthday parties growing up…

I have a winter baby and like it, it was nice to be at home all cosy with a newborn, plus they're in the middle of the school year age wise, not the oldest or youngest which is quite nice.

I had both, the summer pregnancies were worse because I was incredibly nauseous over Christmas and then really uncomfortable in the heatwaves!

Autumn was fine.

But don't try to control too much. In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter, and if you do aim for Autumn then it might take longer and you'll end up with a winter due date anyway.

You should always think of TTC as being a 6-8 month window rather than thinking you can plan for a specific 2-3 months. It can be longer than 6-8 months, but for most people it happens within that time period.

I would avoid summer just due to school years, I like winter / spring

Winter - though avoid January if possible.

Mine are all summer - they do okay in school and are actually some of the most sensible teens in their groups but I do wonder if extra time to develop would have meant less support needed in early years.

Very late August has been worse - for birthday parties, and official stuff - bus passes student loan/student bank account opening/ job hunting.

3 DC Jan, Aug and Jul
Now all older teens
Things that matter now
Summer can't learn to drive in year 12.
Summer can't drink when everyone else is out at the pub from year 13 onwards
No one is ever around for their birthdays. And friends become more important than family here quite quickly!
Summer borns are disadvantaged in sport. The vast vast majority of prof athletes/ sports people are born Sept to Dec because our sports system works on academic year mainly. My July DC is an elite sportsperson and she is vv much in the minority.
In all other ways I preferred Summer when they were in utero, new born and small kids!
But I'd go for Sept to Dec if such a thing were possible.

Autumn or Winter would be my choice as long as it’s not too close to Christmas would be my preference. As it is, I got two summer babies.

Pros and cons to each. And honestly, why even think about controlling the utterly uncontrollable.

There’s always going to be pros and cons for any month if you look hard enough. I choose to think of the pros.

Baby no1 is a September baby, so although I was at my biggest over summer, it also meant I went on mat leave in August. I had a good few weeks to enjoy the sunshine in the garden, walks in the park etc. The weather is still nice in Sept but not too hot for baby. I like that dd will be one of the oldest when she starts school. Plus I get to have her at home with me abit longer before she does eventually start school😭

I also have an end Jan baby. I’m not really a fan of winter but we now have his birthday to look forward to! I also loved that the weather was cold and grey when he was a newborn so it gave me an excuse to be cosy and stay at home in my bubble with baby, dd and dh. I didn’t feel pressure to do anything or go anywhere, where as I might have if the weather had been glorious.
I’m also loving how just as ds is starting to be more aware and curious, it’s spring time, so lots of new things for him to see, hear, smell & explore outdoors.

Ive got a winter one and a spring one.

I would say autumn or spring are probably the most preferable, but I don't know anybody who actually tried to be tactical about it in practice!

I'd avoid summer. DH is a summer baby and says none of his friends were ever around for parties. We have older teens and friends with summer-borns moan that it means they are later than their peers being able to get jobs, learn to drive, drink alcohol, it is very frustrating for them. Being youngest in the school year tends to have disadvantages too.

Mine are early spring babies and while it wasn't perfect (no outdoor birthday parties etc, nauseous first trimester in a heatwave) it meant maternity leaves were happening as the days got longer and warmer, I'd have hated being off work and stuck at home all winter, and they are among the earlier for all the teen stuff etc, it's all pretty good.

Mine were due October but arrived in August; we were in hospital for 3 weeks in the heat of mid summer; then, once we were home, it was hard keeping them cool but not letting them get cold as they weren’t great at thermoregulating due to being prem, and hydrated so had to feed every 2 hours.

Now they’re almost 4 and should be starting school in September a whole year earlier than if they had been born just 9 days later!! Because of this, we’re delaying their start at school till next year so have another year of limited childcare hours unless we pay and no wrap around hours.

If I did it over again, I’d aim for spring nor early autumn

I have August and January born DC. Both seen as undesirable months to be born in. It's been fine though - both are secondary age.

August born DD was always bright. Her struggles are due to dyslexia rather than birthday.

January birthday gives us all something to celebrate in an otherwise bleak month.

In terms of when is desirable to give birth, August was fine.
Having a tiny baby who didn't need lots of clothes on was easier. But January means tiny snowsuits with bear ears which are very cute. Plus blink and it's spring.

Depends what country you are in. I believe Scotland the oldest are March/April, England as pp have said above, not sure about rest of UK

Spring

Just chipping in (along with everyone else it seems!) that I’d pick neither summer nor autumn because of being heavily pregnant in the heat. I did it once. It was truly hell!! I mean if I hadn’t been so desperate for a second, it would have been enough to put me off having anymore babies!! My second baby was a winter/spring…. Well March, never sure if that’s technically classed as spring, it was snowing the day she was born! It was so lovely in comparison- snuggled up by the fire, Christmas to pass the time, no weddings to go to etc etc. DC1 hasn’t suffered academically being one of the youngest in his class but I’d say he has socially and also with sports. He says when he has children, he’d like their birthdays to be in September… DC2 is older than most of her friends and loves it.

I had a very early August baby. I don't mind the heat so that didn't bother me.

I quickly found that mum & baby groups weren't for me, and to keep myself cheerful I wanted to be outside.

So when ds was two weeks old, and we'd got bf sorted, I popped him in a sling and walked the ridgeway. It was lovely weather, no rushing, he was happy and the scenery was fab. A brilliant autumn. He spent his first months watching combine harvesters and gliders. I couldn't have done that in November.
Also because he was August born, I had only 3 years childcare to cover, rather than 4.
He copes fine with being youngest in class. That doesn't seem to have made any difference.

One (short term) advantage to being pregnant in summer is maternity clothing, I'm huge but I've barely needed to buy anything as all my dresses from previous years fit fine!

3 pregnancies.

1- due November (mmc)
2- dd born September
3 - ds born December.

By complete coincidence, all three pregnancies took 8 months to conceive each.

It was a git being 35 weeks pregnant in an August heat wave.
Snow on the ground when my ds was born.

Very happy to have autumn birthdays though as they'll be the older ones (especially dd) when they start school and just turning 5. Having taught early years, some/ lots of summer birthday babies can struggle emotionally and physically in comparison to older peers.

All of my English teacher friends tried for September babies.

I didn’t really think about it but on balance the spring baby was the best time of year of my 3. I loved that I had a newborn at the same time as the animals and that by the time it got hot out he was happy to lie down on a blanket under a tree and just watch the leaves rather than be feeding/on me all the time. Plus we’re in Scotland so he is one of the oldest in the year which statistically is advantageous (and I absolutely see that play out anecdotally as well).

I would go with spring or autumn.
DD1 was born at the end of August. She's one of the very youngest in her year at school much to her dislike.
I was also heavily pregnant at the height of the summer. My feet were so swollen at the end I could only wear crocs.
DD2 is born October- much better.

All of mine are early autumn, and I do think it’s an advantage in school for both maturity and confidence. They’ll be able to drive when they leave school and will be good and ready to leave for university when they graduate.

There are also downsides to being the biggest and oldest in your year group. Their school friends are all younger, some by almost a whole year, and the gap in terms of physical development and mental/emotional maturity is awkward at times. Early autumn is a really busy time of year, and the last thing we want to be doing is thinking about birthdays and parties. We also had to pay for an entire extra year of nursery compared to their summer born friends!

If I could do it all again, I’d go for birthdays that were bang in the middle of the school year, maybe around April.

Early March is the best time to have a baby. Kind of half way through the school year, not pregnant when it is boiling hot. Out of newborn phase in the summer and can enjoy the summer before they move around too much. Also good for potty training at 2 years 4-6 months kind of thing.

Turn 18 before A levels etc etc

Mine are spring which usually means good weather for birthdays. Beware that May is exam month but that doesn't last for ever. I used to bring them into bed for night feeds and wonder how much harder this would have been with heavier bedding etc in winter. How much more I would have worried.

My summer baby is cussing me right now for being the only one of her friends who has yet to turn 18 and so can't go to the pub. With that in mind, I'd aim to have my babies in the first half of the academic year.

Ours is a September baby and I would have another baby at that time if I didn't want to avoid clashing birthdays.

The only downside is that at the moment (20 months), he wants to play with the slightly older kids so who won't be in his class at nursery or school. The ones who would be in his year aren't walking or talking enough to be interesting to him yet. Hopefully that evens out a bit in future.