To not think 26 is young for a first baby

[Wildtimes78889]

Dd is pregnant and 26 and people keep saying how young she is. Aibu to think it’s perfectly average age to have a baby.

Personally 26 is young to me. I was 32 and one of the youngest in NCT and average in my friend group. DH and I met in our early twenties it was just a personal choice to wait

@RubyFowler

It depends on where you live. I was 26 and I live on the outskirts of a very posh town, but the other side is a more working class area. Depending which side I went for baby group I was either really old or really young compared to the other mothers! Looking back i think I could have waited a bit longer, it definitely impacted my career.

Yes, this. I was 39 when I had DS and at one ( London) surgery I saw my midwife at, all the other pregnant women were 19 or 20 and I was the age of the grandmothers-to-be waiting for them, while at the other, in a much more prosperous area, I was pretty much average. My NCT course was in the second area and out of eight women, three were older than I was.

I was 19 and it felt a bit to young tbh. I think I should have waited until I was a minimum of 28. However, I’m now not even 40 and he’s 18 so there’s bonuses. I just hope he waits until I’m at least 50 before I get to be a grandma 😂🤦‍♀️

*too young

It’s on the young side (especially for someone who’s been to uni) but not too young.

I'm 29 with an 8 year old, and remember having the same comments...it's not anybody else's business but I don't see 26 as too young in the slightest!

I was 22 and no one said I was young, probably depends on your social circle.

In a medical sense it's not young, pretty sure my ex was classed as an older woman at 28 when she had my youngest

If she has a stable partner, home and job that’s what matters more than age.

I was 28 with my first. I look back and think that was young and at times I definitely wondered if I should have waited. My others were at 32 and 36 and I definitely felt that was the norm.

@ChequerBoard

I wouldn't have said 26 was a young age for a first baby, sounds about perfect to me.

But then when I had my first at 32 they wrote 'elderly prima gravida' in my notes. 😂

Mine was due the week after my 30th birthday and I was an Elderly Primagravida too.

Cheeky sods!

They had to change the definition when the average age of a first time mother was 29, because nearly half would be ‘elderly’ in that definition. I think it changed to 35 in my local NHS trust around 15 years ago, give or take?

OP, congratulations! I hope your DD has a lovely easy pregnancy.

It depends on the individual surely? I was 20, 21 when he arrived and I was definitely too young. I just wasn't ready for it, emotionally or financially ( no house, no job. In the middle of degree. Relatively new relationship so lots of issues).
I have friends who have had children in their 30s and they're still immature !
Of course, I wouldn't change a thing now, but it was tough. I tell my neices to get everything in order before they have children and am pleased they've listened so far.

I was 26. Perfect age. Enough life experience, set up with a job, not too old to be tired with young children.

I think depends on her maturity - my sister is the same age and she is incredibly immature still. I had mine at 29 and 31. If your daughter is ready - then it’s no one else’s business, good luck to her.

I'm a bit older than that and seems too young to me

Perfect age in my opinion.

Lol 26 Young? I gave birth to my son when I was still 24 (mind my birthday was a couple weeks later).
I think it depends where you are in life, we own a house and are quite comfortable, also it's good for having siblings in the future (we would have our last around 30).

I think 30 is quite late to have your first child when you consider fertility goes down and chance of birth defects such as down syndrome etc goes up.
We also wanted to be younger when our child is growing and not too old to enjoy holidays and things when they are still living with us.
The way it is going now though most people can't afford to have children later which is a shame.

I am also 26 and a few people my age have had children but it’s not very common and most people haven’t settled down yet. It is much more common among the ones that didn’t go to uni (I can think of 4 friends that went to uni with babies, 3 of them being accidental pregnancies, the other one super religious, compared to 15+ that didn’t go to uni) but that makes sense because they’ve been working for longer so entered the adult world younger as it were.
It is several years younger than the average age of mother at birth of first baby though so young by that standard.

It's younger than average but I wouldn't make a comment on her age. I think it's probably a good age. I had my first at 31 and I would have liked my first about 27/28 but was working/studying to get qualified in my field of work.

I was 26 and so was my mum. She was older than my friends mums. I'm somewhere in the middle,

Meant to add, I’m planning to start ttc next year not because I want my first baby at 27 but because I already know I have fertility issues so I’m anticipating it taking ages and I need to get a head start!

PP has said the average age is 29 so if that's right 26 is young but I think you are overthinking.

I had my first at 26.
By 26 I was well educated and had established my career.
Perhaps it takes some middle class folks longer to get to that point pissing up their trust fund on gap years.

Quite young in my friendship group.

It's ideal to have children in your twenties. Too many women nowadays think they can establish their career first and have a baby in their late thirties and forties. As we age, we don't have the energy or stamina of younger people, and many older mothers will struggle.
It's a sign of our times, that women need so many years of study, that they put off having a family. Often, one degree isn't enough and more years are needed to complete masters degrees and PhD degrees.