First time granny age rising?

[Justkeepingplatesspinning]

The thread about what we perceive as elderly got me thinking. I wouldn't have described my gran as elderly, whereas my mother definitely was when she became a granny.
I worked out that my granny was 48 when I was born. My mother was 65 when she became a granny, so almost 20 years older than her mother had been.
To my horror, I then realised that I'm now older by some way than my granny was when I was born.
Is there a big difference in how old your mother and granny were when they became grandparents? If you're a grandparent, were you older or younger than your mother was?

They’re both still subjective, though. A PP said she became a grandmother at 40 - you can hardly call that old.

Granny had Mum at 33.
Mum had me at 35.
I had DD at 38.

I hope, if she has children, DD might reverse this familial trend a bit!

My Mum was 31 when I was born. Her Mum had her at 39 so my grandmother was 70 when I was born. She lived to 98 years old so I knew her well. I was a month off 38 when I had my first so my Mum was nearly 69 when she became a grandmother. My MIL started having children at 22 years old and her eldest grandchild is now 30 so she was a young grandmother initially but was 78 when our eldest was born. I don’t think it’s particularly getting younger.

My nan was about 46 when she became a grandmother, my mum was 43. I'm in between those 2 ages and not sure if any of my 3 DC will have children, they all say not, my youngest is only 11 though. 😅, eldest in mid 20s and still says not.

My grandma first became a granny aged 63
My mum was 63 as well
I'm 50 and I expect I'll be around that age too

Average first time mum age has risen so obviously first time grandparents ages have also risen however my grandparents were elderly when I was small, my mum needed to do low level care like changing sheets and fetching heavy tins but doing the maths they were barely 60, already stopped working on ill health grounds. My mum is still fit and well at 74 helping me out! My dc now in their 20’s get help off her and my dad as they have time I do not

I’m not even 40 and some of the people I went to schooL with are grandparents several times over!! I’ve just had my second child.

My granny was born 1897 and was a granny in 1946. My mother was a granny at 60. I'm 67 and will never be one.

My granny was 32 when she had my mum in 1941, my mum was 28 when she had me so my gran was 60 when she became a granny, and I had my first at 28 so my mum was 56 when she became a granny - that’s the age I am now, and I’m nowhere ready to become a grandmother. Very few of my friends are grandparents - for most of us, that’s still a good few years off. I have to say I’m quite glad, my DC are very busy with work, travelling and socialising, I’m v envious of them - wish I’d done that at their age.

Two of my grandparents had died by the time I was born. Both died in their 60s. (The other two died when I was 13 and 19).

My mother was 56 when I had my first at the relatively young age of 25.

My grandmother became a grandmother at 49yrs my mum at 48yrs. I am 41yr now my oldest is 21yrs and think i’ve got a few years ahead before will become a grandmother (thank goodness as my youngest is 4yrs). My mums been hands on help and is now retiring to do school runs for my youngest so has hugely helped she has been fit and healthy to be hands on help.

DM was 55 when she became a grandma, DMIL was 79 and the same age as my paternal grandma!

It was much more usual to have children young decades ago... therefore many were grandparents in their late thirties/early forties.

Nowadays, being a very young grandparent is overwhelmingly linked to being of a lower social class.

Awaits a flaming

My mother had me at 40 and I had my first child at 16. So she became a grandmother at 56 which feels pretty average considering everything else

DM became a gran at 54 and a mum at 22. I'm now 51 with a 19 and 17 year old. Who knows what will happen, but I think I'll be in my 60s before I'm a gran..

It was definitely something that occurred to me when I wanted my first child. I realised if I left it later then my mum would be older and less active and less involved. She was 62 as a ft granny.
But my own grandma was much much earlier I think she was 50 as a first time granny (to my cousins first then me and my brother). I personally prefer everyone younger and more able to be part of the village together but I know it doesn’t work out that way.

i don’t think my brother will have a baby until 40 and he has no idea that our parents will both be too old to get on the floor and play with his kids etc

I was born in the 1970’s to parents 38 and 48 - positively geriatric for those days! One grandparent left alive who died before i was 5ish.
I think that active, positive roll model grandparents are going to be the biggest loss to society now the first time birth age is getting higher and higher. Now I see friends who had babies late 30’s/early 40’s with young kids/teenagers who are also navigating older parents becoming frail and needing help, its hard to be caring for everyone!

My Nan was 42 when I was born and my mum was 49 when DS was born. I expect to be in my 50s when I become a grandparent. So it is creeping up slowly.

Although if DS has a DC before he turns 23 then I will still be in my 40s.

Yes, the age of grandparents is rising, as women are now more likely to be tertiary educated and get started on a career before having a family. That’s common sense.

I’m not young, my grandmothers were born turn of last century (1902 and 1906). Neither grandmother was allowed to go to school past our equivalent of Yr6. That’s when our ‘public’ schools cut our back then, if women wanted to go on it was in some private college. They then had to help out at home in an age where there was no washing machines, vacuums, ovens/cooktops as we now them today (their eyes would pop out with air fryers). Many working class families couldn't afford to keep young women at home forever so it was their duty to accept a marriage proposal, even if not suited. No contraception until 1960’s so people tended to have children young.

Then that generation wanted better for their children, and part of ‘better’ was to be more educated, have more choice in who you married and to delay having children. Then the next generation wants to progress further on that, which is where we find ourselves now. So, yes, grandparents are older now.

My maternal grandmother died before I was born, but became a grandmother to my oldest cousin at 55, I think? I was my paternal grandmother's first grandchild when she was 60.

My mum was 36 when I was born, which was considered elderly for a first timer in the early 80s! I was 32 when I had DS1, so she became a grandmother at 68. All of us were university educated and worked professionally before marrying/having kids, though I'm the only one who's kept working (PT initially, now FT since kids in school) afterwards.

My grandparents were/would have been 79 (but had died), 69, 67, 65 when I was born, first grandchild for all.

My children’s grandparents were 64, 63, 61, 59 when my first child, their first grandchild, was born.

I had children slightly younger than my mum and both grandmothers - 29 for first baby versus 34 (mum), 31 and 36 (grandmothers).

My mum had me at 36 and I had DD1 at 29, so she became a granny at 65. Sounds about right to me.

A friend of mine has just become a grandma for the first time at the age of 80!

My Nan was late 40’s when she became a Nan but she didn’t have her last baby until she was 45! So it never seemed strange that I had cousins only a year or two younger than my aunt.

My Mum was 42 when she became a Nan and my sister was 38! My Mum was a Great Nan at 60 and my sister, when she was 56!

I became a Nan at 53 and I, probably, won’t be alive to see my DC’s grandchildren.