Would you call 22 years old

[Vivana]

Very young to have a baby. Was talking to a friend who said I was to young back then to have a baby at 22 years old. Now early 40s and did not have any more children.

I was 20, 22 and 25 when I had my children, I however completed my apprenticeship at 17 a year earlier than planned, had a good job and bought my own home at 18. So no I don’t think I was too young, I live in a good area, well off commuter village, and still not the youngest mum at the school gates

It would have been for me, yes.

I had 3 children by in my early thirties, I'm now in my early fifties. It was totally normal for the time.

In Australia the average age of a first time mum is 29 so yes I would consider 22 to be young. But I wouldn't say it's too young.

I wouldn't say 22 is too young. It depends on where you are in life. A lot of 22 year olds are still at home. A lot have also moved out at that age! At 22 people should have steady jobs.
All these other people saying 26 and 27 are young I'm finding bizarre as I was married at 25, had been in a steady job for 4 years and a mortgage. It took us a while to conceive so that's the only reason I had my baby at 30! X

I got pregnant with ds at 21 and had him days after my 22nd, dd was born just after my 28th. I wouldnt say i did a terrible job at 22 but im definitely older and wiser with somethings.

It's young by today's general standards and norms. But I actually think it's a naturally good time to do it for some people. I was 19 and now I'm expecting another at 40. It's much harder this time as my body is older and creaky.

I had DS1 two weeks after my 23rd birthday. I felt fairly young, but fortunately as I worked with babies (nursery nurse) I knew all baby care so it wasn't as terrifying as it was for a couple of friends who had their first at the same time.

The upside is that DS is now almost 17 and as I'm not yet 40 I still feel like I have plenty of my life yet to enjoy.

I then went on to have DS2 at 28, that seemed to be a much more common age

I'm 22 with an 11 month old, own my house; stable relationship and with a degree from a top 10 university. It depends on the person

I thinks it’s young, I had my first at 28 in 1994, that felt about right. 22 was considered young then in my circles.

I would be disappointed if either of my DDs had a child at 22.

It's younger than average. That's a fact. It doesn't have to be taken as a criticism or a compliment. It's just younger than average.

Depends on how it was said though tbf.

I don’t think it is about being too young, it is about not having any kind of life prior to settling down. I had my kids young and had not established a career. I had finished university and travelled and dicked around loads though so I felt ready. It was hard living on only one income while I established my career though, and that definitely took longer although I am exactly where I want to be now. I would not want my kids to be old parents, but I do want them to live before settling down.

I had DS at 22. It is young to have a baby, I do wish I'd been in a better financial position but even though I'm not with his dad any more we parent together well and DS wants for nothing. I'm 29 and have just bought my first house so we are more stable now.

Although I wish my circumstances had been different I am glad I had DS young.

I think it was too young for me. It would have meant I would have had to conceive and be pregnant in my final year of university and put my career totally on hold. I was very mature for my age and was a carer for dependant adult family members but I wouldn’t have been as good a mother at 22 as at 32. I also wouldn’t have known enough about relationships to have chosen the right man to marry and have children with (I wouldn’t have children outside of marriage).

In my demographic only one person I knew had a baby at this age, conceived during a one night stand. She had to put her degree on hold and move home with her mother as she had no money, only student debt. In fact she’s still living there with her 12 year old and only recently went back to study.
Most of the people I know and went to school with didn’t marry and start families until they were in their 30s.

For me, 28-35 were the ideal child bearing age. I definitely say, for this generation, 22 is young.

Personal choice - no way wouldn't have been a good mum at that age, by my mid 30's, l had much more life experience and patience. If l could choose a perfect age,l would say 30 but again that is personal.

Physiiologically it's a great time. Societally it's very young in the UK.

There are a lot of threads here where women have issues that they variously picked the wrong man to have children with, can't afford time off work / nursery / nanny as desired, don't have a career because they took time out for babies, don't and can't earn as much as their partner because of the time out, don't have enough living space for their kids, don't have enough money for bills generally, want to go out but can't because of young children, etc etc etc. Those issues are frequently caused by jumping in to have children before the woman gets the rest of her life organised. The upsides are an easier pregnancy, more overall time in children's lives, often help from grandparents etc. The age and stage of life has a natural impact on what happens next. No choice is without downsides nor upsides, but it's better to pick knowingly and then try not to grumble too much when the expected downsides occur.

I think early 20s is perfectly acceptable to have a baby, if you are in the right circumstances the same as any age.

I had DS at 23, I had been married 5 years, had bought our house, had been to university, was in my second year of teaching (a job that I walked straight back into after 8 yrs as a SAHM).

I think I was in a very good position to have a baby, I think it is circumstances not age that determine whether it is a good time to become a mother.

I went on to have DD at 26, I am 37 now have been back at work 5 years and am applying for leadership roles. I think I made the right choices for me, and have had the best of both worlds - work life and family life.

Not young at all.
My son is 23. Although he has no plans for children a lot of his friends have kids. Many of his friends , like him , have been working for 7 years and have good relatively secure jobs with a career progression plan ,are buying their own homes and are in stable long term relationships and feel ready to have a family.

I wouldn’t put a value judgment on it, it’s definitely not ‘too’ young. It’s about average age for my cousins, who were all mums by then. But then they didn’t go to uni so had been working for 4 - 6 years by that point, settled, nice lifestyles as live in affordable parts of the country, they had lives which at 22 I didn’t (Newly graduated, bottom rung of the ladder, utterly skint, houseshare in London with 4 mates, out every night).

That said I would call it young, just because in my world it would be really, really unusual. The only people in my peer group who had babies at 22 were those who married straight out of uni and they were generally v devout Christians so the priorities were different.

I’m currently pregnant and about to have my first at 31. I’m only the second in our friendship group of about 20 women to get pregnant. The other day one of them mentioned about me being a ‘young mum’ which I found both flattering and hilarious! We’re definitely products of our own bubbles at times.

Wouldn’t say it’s too young or very young. Just young. I had my first just before I turned 19.

It depends, if you are a SAHM then no, but if you've just left uni and are trying to establish your career then yes. Without knowing more it's impossible to say.

it depends, how old are you now op?

I just don't see how it's enough time to get educated, live in other places, have some freedom, work and build a life for yourself these days. It's not ideal to have kids before doing these things.

I feel its too young yes I would prefer my 22-year-old to wait some time. Having said that if one of mine did end up with a baby that age I would 100% support them.

My best friend from childhood was 21 when she had her first she feels its the ideal age and that me at 28 was way to old. When we discuss grandchildren I said Id like to wait 10 years before I became a grandmother (so mine would be late 20s = early 30s) she was horrified

I guess all it means is for me 28 was the right age for her 21 was we have both got well adjusted children.