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Original poster

Would you wait to ttc to avoid a summer birthday

186 replies

justthinkingxx · 12/07/2023 22:15

We want to try towards the end of this year and if we are lucky straightaway that would mean a summer birthday. I read it on here on other threads that people think it is the worst time to be born in, for the place in school year above all else

I can see some advantages though like maybe being off school for your birthday , always having good birthday weather , and importantly whilst cost of living is so high you would pay nearly a year less of childcare fees when lots of the first year of school is relaxed and play based anyway , so best of both worlds only you’re not paying for it ?

We’re in our mid20s so can wait if summer is truly disadvantageous !

OP posts:
RainbowZebraaaa · 12/07/2023 22:17

You cant control it that much. It might take months or years conceive.

grass321 · 12/07/2023 22:18

Frankly, yes but I only realised after my first one. 75% of my older son's year were born Sep to Dec.

TellerTuesday · 12/07/2023 22:20

DD is turning 10 in the middle of August..... she's only had one birthday (last year actually) when it didn't piss down

Dragonsandcats · 12/07/2023 22:22

Yes, I didn’t think about it at the time but if I were to try for another I’d aim for October (not September in case they arrived early in august!)

Clymene · 12/07/2023 22:24

I would definitely aim for autumn if you're in your 20s. Summer birthdays are a pain

Floralnomad · 12/07/2023 22:24

No , we didn’t give it a thought with our first , got pregnant very quickly and had a January baby . With the second we were aiming for May / June / July and got June .

FoxtrotSkarloey · 12/07/2023 22:24

Yep, I was ttc after two miscarriages so timing was the last thing on my mind, but with hindsight I would have waited.

FoxtrotSkarloey · 12/07/2023 22:25

FWIW, I don't see a huge difference between September - April though, and paying six months less nursery feed is HUGE if that would apply to you.

PauliesWalnuts · 12/07/2023 22:26

I was a June baby. I was held back to a January start but my mum started me off with reading at home. I did well at school, went to Uni and have a decent job. I love having a midsummer birthday - you get presents every six months and it’s never held me back :-)

BiscuitsandPuffin · 12/07/2023 22:26

Absolutely not. I hate this attitude that so many people wish they could wipe out summer borns and think they're lesser than autumn borns. I love my August baby. We waited 7 years for him, we didn't stop TTC just because it got to months where he might have a summer birthday. And I hate my own autumn birthday, it was shit being the oldest in the year.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 12/07/2023 22:27

If you're mid 20th then yes I would

AlyssumandHelianthus · 12/07/2023 22:27

DD has a late August birthday. I think it's fine, we just do family birthday on the day & school friends birthday the first weekend back to school/ end of summer term. Far better than a December birthday.

Jonnycakes · 12/07/2023 22:27

I would try, but obviously it can’t be guaranteed. I’d aim for October. But if you don’t conceive straight away, you might need another gap later in the year. It might get quite on/off. I remember being pregnant with ds2 when I saw someone with a September baby who crawling around, pulling themselves up etc whereas mine was still 2 weeks away from being born! The difference was striking. They’re now in the same class and DS is still little compared to September/October borns.

OoohLaLaLa · 12/07/2023 22:29

My summer born has just finished yr 7 top of the year.

RebelR · 12/07/2023 22:30

Both me and my sister were born in June. I don't know for sure but I think that's the way it was planned. My mum hates her January birthday. She's still bitter about all the joint Christmas/birthday presents as a child and no one ever want to do anything on the day, everyone's on a diet and/or doing dry Jan.

Anyway June is a great time for a birthday.

ColonelRhubarbBikini · 12/07/2023 22:31

My eldest is a late August baby and to be honest they’ve done better than their sibling in school who’s an October baby. They’re year 10 now and they’ve coped brilliantly. The gap closes between the summer born kids and the older ones very quickly is what their nursery teacher told me when I was concerned about them starting reception so young and it’s true.

I was concerned that they’d be a little cross they’d be the last to get their learners permit for driving and the last to be able to get into clubs etc but they’ve got friends in the year above and the years below so it seems less of an issue to them.

You can plan things as well as you like but life doesn’t always stick to your plan.

Jericha · 12/07/2023 22:31

No. I got pregnant with dc1 the first month of TTC. I got pregnant the first month of TTC number 2 when DC1 was 2.5 years old. That was an ectopic with a tube removed. It took a further 3 years to have baby 2. I used to care about that sort of thing, so no judgment from me on that, but I've also realised it's not that big a deal in the scheme of things.

Thethingswedoforlove · 12/07/2023 22:31

I’d say a Christmas/ Jan birthday is so much worse than a summer one. I have two summer babies and both near top if their year….. would have both been so bored to have to wait another year to start school. You just don’t know when you will conceive or what they will be like.

RosesAndHellebores · 12/07/2023 22:31

It isn't always a choice. I had five pregnancies that reached the 2nd trimester, of those three reached the third. I have two children - grown up now.

DD, DH and I are June, August, July respectively. DD and DH: one went to Oxford, one to Cambridge. A summer birthday did me no harm either.

The birthday that was and is challenging although good in many ways is DS's. Christmas Day!

drpet49 · 12/07/2023 22:32

The only months I would avoid are December for obvious reasons

Hellomaisie · 12/07/2023 22:35

I have a summer birthday and really love having a summer birthday! Don’t remember finding school tougher.

My children have mid school year birthdays.

I think your birthday makes a difference in reception/ year 1, but that’s about it.

rhino12345 · 12/07/2023 22:36

Yes, I did. I don't think it makes an enormous difference (I'd say nearly all of the most successful people I know have a summer birthday!) but we tried to avoid a July/august birthday.

GreenMini · 12/07/2023 22:40

I love my August baby. We waited 7 years for him, we didn't stop TTC just because it got to months where he might have a summer birthday. And I hate my own autumn birthday, it was shit being the oldest in the year.

I love my July baby and she's never really struggled educationally or developmentally (maybe it helps having an older sibling to keep up with)... but she is cussing me big time for having her at this time of year and her being the only one of her friends who still isn't 18, can't go to pubs, to clubs, can't go on an independent holiday with her pals.

I totally get her point and see what a pain it is; she's missed out on so much fun this summer, it does seem unfair. And I worry about sending her to university without some time-earned pubbing / clubbing life skills under her belt.

If time is on your side, I would wait until you're fairly sure of a Sept-born baby for this reason alone!

RebelR · 12/07/2023 22:42

RebelR · 12/07/2023 22:30

Both me and my sister were born in June. I don't know for sure but I think that's the way it was planned. My mum hates her January birthday. She's still bitter about all the joint Christmas/birthday presents as a child and no one ever want to do anything on the day, everyone's on a diet and/or doing dry Jan.

Anyway June is a great time for a birthday.

Fwiw I got the top O and A level grades in my school (not a great school but still 😆) and DS sis is now a secondary school headteacher.

We didn't excel at sport but neither of us found school difficult.

thaisweetchill · 12/07/2023 22:52

I'm a june baby and absolutely love it! DC is an August baby and I can't lie it fell well for childcare fees/30 free hours. I'd aim for another summer baby, I find winter birthdays less special

That being said, it could take you months to conceive! Took us a year so we were just thrilled to be pregnant.

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