Were you a Young mum or an older mum....

[Ihatepompoussoccermums]

I was 19 when I had my son and when people ask you most of them are surprised and ask me how I managed etc. I had a job, a bf and a supportive family so we managed just fine. When my DS (10)was in reception I was one of the youngest mums and now my dd is in reception I think I’m one of the oldest. I had her at 24. My mum was 20 when she had me and I am closer with my mum than some of my friends were with their parents who were considerably older. Now before people start getting riled up, I’m not saying this is the case for everyone just in the community I lived in. I feel like I have a really close relationship with my kids and because I’m so laid back and we have a laugh some people think I’m their sister until one of them say mummy.i feel like I can understand them more because it’s closer to my generation of trends and lifestyles. Many I know believe the same. I just wanna see if others have the same perspective.

I was 21, almost 22 when I had my son xx

I had 4 in my late teens/twenties and it was stressful, I was too young.
I had two in my thirties and have been a much less stressed mum.

I've done it both ways. I was only 16 when I had my first.. ...too young! I had her sister & brother when I was 18 & 20. So a very young mum first time. Then I remarried at 39 & had my youngest at 40....joining the very old mum's brigade. I've found pros & cons to both. I'm close to all my kids. (Still got 9yr old & 29yr old at home....hes been gone 3x but keeps coming back! Currently here while he's studying. I'm a single parent again & he's a big help.)
I'm now nearly 50, my kids are 33, 31, 29 & 9. (And my 9 grandkids range in age from 17 to 3!).

I was 35 and 40 when I had my children so pretty old. Round here though those ages aren’t abnormal and I don’t feel particularly old. Quite glad I don’t live somewhere where you feel old as a parent at 24. I’d be like methuselah!

The area we live in is fairly affluent, and I reckon that most of the parents would have been late 20s at the youngest before having babies, the average probably being early 30s. I was 41.

I think you live with what you have. Some things you can change, but the things you can't you embrace and keep on keeping on.
My mum had me when she was 20, she always said to my dsis and I growing up the we were like friends rather than mum and daughters, she was a cool, glamorous mum, to be honest we found it hard.

I am an older mum, I had my first at 37, my 3rd at 41. I am pretty laid back, we get on really well, but I am their mum not their friend. I think the closeness of generations and lifestyles is a bit moot now a days, it's not like the difference between the generations of my mum (beatnik pot smoking art students) and my grandparents (war time generation regulation trilby worn from the age of 12). Half the kids in our town look like they have been dressed in the 80s, and a lot if music is pretty intergenerational anyway.

I had my dd at 32. I'm a 'young' mum where I live. The mums around here seem to have had their firsts in their late 30s/early 40s and there's a lot of siblings being born very close together.

But, compared to the people I was at school with, I'm very much an 'old' mum. Plenty of people I was at school with have children around 16-20 (I'm 35).

Average age. I definitely didn't want DC when I was young I had too much partying and travelling to get out of my system. Plus me and DH had quite a few years together pre dc where we had a great time on fancy holidays, nights out, and lots of freedom.
Also bought a house, had good jobs, pensions in place etc.
My dmum was an older mum but young looking so never mistaken for GM and our relationship is still close.

And DD (17) and I are very close despite the 41 year age difference.

When I had DS at 36 I went to a first time parents group. I'd say the majority were around my age, certainly over 30. Of the group I've stayed friends with I think I was the second oldest but only by a bit and only one was under 30. I'm now 30+4 at 41.

I had my first at 25 but wish I'd been a bit younger! Lol.

"I had my first at 25 but wish I'd been a bit younger! Lol."

Why? "LOL"?

I had my DD at 36 (DS at 38) - at breakfast in the hospital after DD was born I was sitting next to a 16 yr old. I think we were both a bit worried for each other.

So I was an older mum but that's not uncommon in my area - the younger mums were more noticeable in the playground. But by the time my son was in Year 6 I did feel pretty old compared with the reception parents (trendy young Dads with Edwardian beards). But in secondary school it isn't noticeable as there ain't no hanging around in playgrounds and a huge spread of ages of kids and parents alike.

I was 24 when I had my DS but turning 25 in a couple of weeks. I find I'm usually the youngest mum at playgroups with most mums being in their 30's or early 40's.

I had DS1 at 29, I lived in an area that meant I was one of the oldest mums out of the mums I met. Lots of teenage mums and a lot in their very early 20s.
We now live in Aus in an area with lots of older mums. I'm 38 and oh with DC3 and I'm about average for a first child. The parents in DS1s kindy class were all a minimum of 10 years older than me. Lots of parents in their mid 40s having their first, and a abnormal amount of twins in the school!
The only thing I have noticed in a difference in parenting is that the older mums find it a huge adjustment. I suppose if you have been living your life a certain way for a longer time, then it can be a shock. But otherwise there are different kinds of parents at all ages.

the older mums find it a huge adjustment. I suppose if you have been living your life a certain way for a longer time, then it can be a shock.

I can certainly agree with this ^^
Having my lifestyle curtailed at 41 with a baby was a real culture shock and very isolating for me. I knew no-one with small children, and had no family close by. We then had the double whammy of serious health issues with DD so I had to give up work to be her carer. It wasn't the best time of my life.

I'd always wanted them early. My mum was 20 when she had me and I like the age gap between us. I would have quite liked the same. I realise 5 years isn't a massive amount. I would just have had my first at bit younger if I'd have had the choice.

I would have had all my children by the time I was 30 as I had much older parents, but it just didn't happen due to infertility issues. In the end I only managed one, but we are close. I have a couple of friends who had children late in life as well so DD doesn't feel it is odd having much older parents (like I did).

I'm 27 and expecting my first in April. Will be 28 when he is born 😍

Had a little Google and copied this from Huffington Post UK

The ages of first-time mums from 141 countries in the study range from 18 to 31.2 years, with the oldest ages being more common in Greece, Australia and South Korea.

The youngest first-time mothers were more common in Angola (south Africa), Bangladesh and Niger. The United Kingdom sat near the top of the list, with an average age of 27.8.

The average age for women to become pregnant for the first time in Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom was 27 or older.

In Asian countries, such as South Korea and Hong Kong, women tend to give birth to their first child aged 29 and above.

The top countries with the oldest first-time mums:

1. Greece (31.20)

2. Australia (30.50)

3. South Korea, Japan and Italy (30.30)

4. Switzerland and Luxembourg (30.20)

5. Singapore, Spain, Hong Kong and Ireland (29.80)

6. Netherlands (29.40)

7. Germany and Portugal (29.20)

8. Denmark (29.10)

9. Sweden (28.90)

10. Slovenia (28.80)

The top countries with the youngest first-time mums:

1. Angola (18)

2. Bangladesh and Niger (18.10)

3. Chad (18.20)

4. Mali (18.60)

5. Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique and Malawi (18.90)

6. Liberia, Gaza Strip, Botswana and Sierra Leone (19)

7. Zambia (19.20)

8. Sao Tome and Principe and Burkina Faso (19.40)

9. Cabo Verde, Madagascar and Swaziland (19.50)

10. Tanzania and Ethiopia (19.60)

"The average age for women to become pregnant for the first time in Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom was 27 or older."

This is the latest info from the ONS, and gives the average mother's age for a first live birth as 28.8 years.

It would be interesting to know why the age keeps rising - lack of money, career, infertility, lack of meeting a partner, other?