Is anything good about giving birth in January?

[m00ngirl]

Like lots of us here I'll now be TTC this month for a January baby...

Is there anything good about giving birth in January?

I really do want to start a family, been trying for ages and soon to have first fertility clinic appointment as well. But I generally hate January and find it quite depressing.

It's not a winter thing. I'd have loved giving birth in November or December when things are Christmassy and fun and cosy.

But I get terrible January blues for some reason - and I'm finding it hard to get excited about this cycle. I'm not being shallow, I really do want a baby and will be delighted just to have a pregnancy if I ever do manage to and would cherish them at any time of year, I'm just worried about January blues making late pregnancy/birth/those first weeks harder...

Has anyone given birth in January?! Any pros and cons?!

January is a very boring month and inhospitable climate-wise. So probably good use of indoor time?

They might not be born in January. Babies come early and late.
Also giving birth during a heat wave in the summer is very uncomfortable

The best part of your maternity leave will be in spring/summer. Lots of walks, sitting outside and trips to the park etc.

I hate having a January birthday - sorry

After two summer babies and absolutely hating having to find something loose to hide under in the first few weeks after birth, I love the sound of a January baby. You could just hide away with your little one until spring 😅 Wearing pads etc made me so uneasy to wear anything light coloured or want to wear a dress and I found it so hard to find anything to wear. Hoodies and leggings would be so much easier! You could also use it as a positive and book a little birthday trip away each January or something for the little one then it’s something exciting after Christmas

Honestly I never gave a moments thought to a possible birth month. We just wanted to have our babies. That was all that mattered.

As it is one child has a January birthday. They look forward to their birthday and have a lovely party every year. The only difference to my summer born child is that any party plans have to take account of winter weather.

Carrying the weight in winter is better surely.
I gave birth in the first week of January.
Visitors were spread out because of very snowy weather which was a god send actually because it gave us space to get organised.

If I'm honest I would prefer a bigger gap between Christmas and the birthday.

I have a January baby. It’s a bit crap compared to my summer baby (I can have lovely outdoor birthday parties in summer, can’t in January). However people are usually around in January meaning attendance at January parties is usually higher, whereas often people are away in the summer.

There are not many perks but I find that if I over-buy at Christmas I can put those toys by for his birthday, knowing he won’t have grown out of liking them in just 3 weeks. You can’t do that with summer borns as their tastes change so rapidly.

January babies always dominate bc they are older!

I have 2 jan babies. They love that jam flies by after Xmas and that it snowed the days they were born so they love snow and winter.
It is quite expensive just after Xmas though!

Maybe now you will like January since you’ll have a baby :)

I have an August baby...being in third trimester in a heatwave (when it rose to the 40s a few years ago) was AWFUL. So much swelling!

Also January is peak hibernation time - you can do all that nesting knowing you're not missing out on other, more fun things.

My eldest was born late December. I have to admit, I did struggle with the long hours of darkness when I was awake for so many of them, but by the time we wanted to be out and about, the weather was improving, and he was able to sit up on a blanket at the park in summer which was lovely.

my younger son was August-born. I hated the pregnancy as it was hot when I was huge, hot when he was born, and then the weather was awful when we wanted to be out and about enjoying the stage between newborn and mobile!

so basically, I wouldn't worry too much. There are pluses and minuses to whenever they are born.

good luck

I have a January birthday and right up until recently (I'm in my mid thirties) I felt like I was the only one that didn't get January blues as I had my birthday to look forward to! So, could be good for your DC to be.

Pro - You don’t feel as bad having all of the days snuggling your newborn when it’s dreary outside.

cons - I found it harder being early pregnant in a heatwave than being heavily pregnant in one, the morning/ all day sickness was so much worse in the heat 🫠.

I was very lucky to have a year off for mat leave but it made it difficult going back straight after Christmas.

You know that every long terrible night with a newborn will be a little bit shorter than the last one.

Same!

Dd is a January baby, the only thing I don’t like is organising kids parties so soon after Xmas and the shit weather.

I usually do a small get together on her actual birthday with her closest friend’s and then we have a big party in the summer. She likes her half birthday 😂

All three of mine are January babies.

I used to absolutely HATE January before having children but now it whizzes by with loads of treats, cakes, wrapping, balloons and meals out etc.

So it's done me a favour. We used to celebrate their half birthday in July too as a way of compensating for sharing one birthday in a dark cold month.

Massively overthinking it

Winter babies are the best imho. You're a zombie anyway looking after a newborn, so may as well be busy with baby care when the weather is dark & dreary & you wouldn't want to get out much, anyway. By the time baby is more interactive & you can think straight and have some organisation & get out of the house: voilà ! It's Spring or even summer. Win Win.

I was due end of Jan but DD arrived on NYE.
It was nice hibernating inside when she was tiny and the weather was awful. We did BLW and we had lots of outside picnics in the summer which saved my floors some of the time.

Early Jan.

The actual pregnancy and birth bit is only one year and doesn't make a lot of difference although there is the worry about being snowed in when you need to get to hospital (we missed that by a couple of days in the end) and I remember having really bad indigestion over Christmas but at least the days are starting to get longer and you aren't heavily pregnant in summer.

It's a bit shit when it comes to birthday parties as you have to organise them before Christmas, also the birthday shopping, people lose the invitations in the Christmas frenzy etc. But at least it isn't in school holidays when everyone's away (unless v. early Jan).

You get a whole summer on mat leave and go back to work in autumn/winter having had the whole spring/summer off.

There are advantages and drawbacks to every month I'm sure and in the grand scheme none of it really matters.

Ds1 was a January baby, I was just happy with a baby! But perks I guess, cute snowsuits to see out the winter, lots of snuggling up, I didn't worry about him overheating like I did with my summer born, by summer he was alert enough to take to the park and lie on a blanket.

Main con- he came 2 weeks early so we have one pay day to cover Christmas, new years and his birthday!

It's not fun for the child to be born in January as most people will be feeling too poor due to Christmas to buy them a birthday present and so won't bother. Also it's a long long time to wait before you can get any presents again (at Christmas).