Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Is waiting to TTC an autumn baby actually a thing people do?

46 replies

togethersinging · 12/10/2023 20:16

It’s my view that it doesn’t make much of a difference but I’ve seen it said on here quite a lot that September/October born babies are more ready for school than those born in the summer.

TTC and told a friend and she asked why we wouldn’t wait for the sake of a couple of months.

On the other hand I’ve heard that September is the busiest time for births and with the NHS already stretched, is that really the month to aim to have a baby in?

OP posts:

GingerIsBest · 13/10/2023 10:18

Yes, lots of people do this. According to my fertility specialist, most healthy couples, having sufficient sex, will conceive within 3 months of trying. For people who have conception difficulties, she says it tends to be a minimum of 18 months until conception, often significantly longer. The problem is that when you average out these you get the classic, "average conception time is 6 months". It's her pet soapbox and she rants about it a lot!

But based on that, a healthy couple who aims for this could well achieve a September/October/November baby or possibly December/January.

I am still angry about the patronising man who spent most of a dinner party explaining to me the importance of doing this exact thing, even though I told him that we had fertility issues and that therefore, "planning" wasn't exactly something we could do. YOu've never seen someone find an excuse to help clear the table so fast as me after the main course....!

MyMitMoo · 13/10/2023 10:26

I have one September baby and one August baby.
The September one has already started school, and actually would have been ready a year earlier. He got a bit bored waiting in nursery for that extra year while his friends moved up to reception.

The august one isn't school age yet but time will tell wether we will defer them starting for a year or not. I would prefer not to (financially especially) but we will make the decision closer.

PinkRoses1245 · 13/10/2023 10:28

If I knew I could get pregnant on demand, I'd avoid August and December. Unfortunately that is not the case and having had a recent loss, I now only want a baby. Any month.

Tooearlytothink · 13/10/2023 10:29

Not sure about autumn specifically but my husband & I both have birthdays around Christmas which we hated as kids so we did time our TTC to avoid this. And having been heavily pregnant over June/July/August and hating it in the heat, any future babies we'll be aiming for spring/early summer.

MariaVT65 · 13/10/2023 10:36

Honestly just go for it whenever you want as there are advantages and disadvantages to most parts of the year.

Some summer babies might not be ready for school by the time reception starts. On the other side, i’ve heard of September-November babies getting incredibly bored at nursery towards the end as they are ready for more stimulation and school.

I had my first baby in October, and I had major issues with care partly because so many staff were off sick from all the general viruses that go round at that time of year.

Lollipopsandcandycanes · 13/10/2023 10:49

I planned my DC birth month. I wanted end of July or beginning of August…I was due early August and gave birth end of July.

Rose38 · 13/10/2023 11:35

My son is turning 4 this week but is still in nursery & cannot start reception until next year September.

Currently ttc #3 and am hoping that I can have a summer baby. But for no other reason than that it would be easier to have baby in summer holidays as I wouldn't have to worry about my other two kids nursery & school. Also my parents who live London (we live an hour outside of there) could look after my kids when I would have the baby.

I know you can't plan the due date. It happens when it happens. So I'm just hoping it pans out but if it doesn't, I am still fine with that.

BlueIgIoo · 13/10/2023 11:42

Statistically, there are more births in the UK in September and October so probably. I'm a teacher with a summer born and am so, so pleased she didn't have to wait another year to go to school. I accept she's well suited to school, but if I were having more I'd actually plan NOT to have a September born as those left behind at nursery had a very long year. If I did want an autumn born, I'd also go for October not September. If you want them to be old in the year, aiming for the first week of September is an incredibly risky game.

Mushroo · 13/10/2023 11:44

We did (ish). Started TTC end of Jan and I’m due end of December. However, it also worked perfectly with some work projects and general life plans.

If we were still trying after a year I would 100% have carried on and wouldn’t have cared about a summer baby.

moosey89 · 13/10/2023 12:47

I always thought about timing before I started TTC, now I'm 7 years down the line, 2 miscarriages and no kids and I'll take a baby born any day of the year 😂i think similar to the idea of wanting a particular gender, if you could choose everything then yeah of course you would, but in reality that doesn't happen.

IAmHeartless · 13/10/2023 12:51

Your September baby could be a month premature and be august. I’d just start TTC as soon as you know, life’s too short.

rainbowtea23 · 13/10/2023 13:10

I always wanted a September or October baby then 9 years of infertility I got to the stage where it really didn’t matter to me. Ironically I ended up having my DS in October and baby two is due in November.

Ttcafterlosses · 13/10/2023 13:43

As someone who struggles with recurrent miscarriages, and after losing 4 babies, trying to time the birth wouldn’t even cross my mind, getting a baby any day of the year would be a miracle

Mumoftwo2022 · 13/10/2023 13:58

Yes my first baby was an august baby so I knew we weren’t going to be trying til after Xmas so we would have an after September baby. Luckily got pregnant first month and had an October baby. Reason being is although my little gir is fine as she just started school I did worry about it thinking was she’s going to be ready so wanted an autumn winter baby so I didn’t worry again this time

Bells3032 · 13/10/2023 14:01

I'm sure that there are people that may stop TTC to prevent August babies but most people don't care in the long term. My friend wanted to aim for a September baby. She got her maths wrong and forgot the account for the 1st two weeks and she ended up with a baby born in the last week of August. She really doesn't care.

I am an August baby and my husband is late summer too. both did well at school so wouldn't care personally. my DD is Christmas though and it's annoying but i wouldn't purposely avoid it

BravelyThroughTheDragonsEye · 13/10/2023 14:05

If both parents are clever, the child is likely to be clever and thus not at an academic disadvantage (summer-born DD is doing fine in year 2 with her year 5 maths work and reading age of 12). But it probably does make a difference for less able children.

Alltheyearround · 13/10/2023 14:14

Ours was a Christmas baby (zero planning there). It was a magical time to have a baby, and I could see snow falling outside as I was in the pool.

However, not ideal for parties as everyone is doing family stuff so we used to do party in mid Dec. Also: Presentageddon...and then nothing for a whole year.
Also midwife supposed to be on duty had broken her wrist/and our car was snowed in.

Both my sister and I were autumn babies. I do love an autumn birthday. With term starting it has always felt like the start of a new year more than Jan 1 which is a frankly often a dark and nasty day to begin a new year.

So yeah - pros and cons. I'd just go for it and let nature decide : ) Good luck OP.

Alltheyearround · 13/10/2023 14:18

If I was going to pick again, I'd go May/June, then you can go out and about in the sunshine with a bit of luck - good for mental health.

I didn't mind being indoors during winter months at all, it was cozy - but DS did have crazy colic so I was out in the rain pushing the pram many a wet day.

Then, he was able to enjoy being in a sling at 4 months and out and about in the park and sun.

So many variables.

Amidlifecrisis · 13/10/2023 19:35

We absolutely did for DC2. If we’d conceived the month we realised we were ready to ttc dc2, the baby would have been born in June, so we skipped the next 3 cycles (avoided September in case baby was premature.) Conceived 2nd month so dc2 was born early November. DC1 is spring born as this stuff wasn’t really on our radar then, and DC2 is massively advantaged in comparison by being that bit older in the cohort, plus likely also by having an older sibling.

MariaVT65 · 13/10/2023 20:06

Alltheyearround · 13/10/2023 14:18

If I was going to pick again, I'd go May/June, then you can go out and about in the sunshine with a bit of luck - good for mental health.

I didn't mind being indoors during winter months at all, it was cozy - but DS did have crazy colic so I was out in the rain pushing the pram many a wet day.

Then, he was able to enjoy being in a sling at 4 months and out and about in the park and sun.

So many variables.

This is interesting, i’ll reiterate my point earlier as there advantages and disadvantages to all birthdays.

My brother was born in June and commented he constantly had exams on his birthday.

Alltheyearround · 13/10/2023 20:23

@MariaVT65 never thought of that aspect! Yes of course.

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread