How many months is 16 week old baby / How do u calculate how many months old ur baby is?

[mamtojaz]

I have this running debate with friends and family on how everyone calculates their babies number of months they are. Today jaz ( my first baby ) is 16 weeks old, i assumed that meant she was 4 months old however my friend who has a baby born 3 days after mine ( 27th feb ) goes by the 27th of every month. i couldn't find much online if there was a right or wrong answer so i thot id pop on here for more opinions. Do you go by the same date of each month, or the weeks? ( apologies if that didn't make much sense i'm still suffering from severe baby brain!! )

My LG is 16 weeks but not 4 months until the end of next week, someone asked me how old she was today so I said 4 months next week, it's hard work keeping up with the weeks so I'm doing months now!!

I've seen plenty of threads like this over the years, and heard many people confused in real life.

There is nothing wrong with being confused about this. Way back in school we were taught something about the 'monthly' lunar cycle (which does not equate to a calendar month) and 'monthly' periods coming every 4 weeks.

I guarantee there was a time in every condescending poster's life when they did not automatically know this.

Its not often you need to use weeks to count things in real life - pregnancy is often the first time people would have to count in weeks.

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair 😂😂

That “time in every condescending poster's life when they did not automatically know this” was at primary school when they learnt their times tables and the “30 days has September” rhyme. No?

It’s not condescending to recognise that 28 and 31 aren’t the same!

I'm autistic and it was certainly before I started school, I don't remember ever not knowing that 28 days is four weeks but a month is usually 30 or 31.

Yes of course, you're right. Because I remember when my kids learned that rhyme at age 7 or 8, they immediately sat down and applied their 7 times tables to make the logical connection that there are in fact more than 4 weeks in a month. And I did that too 35 years ago.

Oh wait, no they didn't. And I didn't either.

I have no idea when that logic connection comes, but it's got absolutely nothing to do with learning that rhyme.

Number systems are totally arbitrary (we use base 10 primarily now but there are many different systems, and some remote cultures don't count with numbers at all, even today) and our ways of counting weeks and months are just as arbitrary, and actually make little sense when you stop to think about into them.

This has always confused me to, as health professionals count in weeks. my DC was born oct 20 there was 5 thursday that month so by the time the 1st of November came around when is he would of been 1 month old she was actually 5 weeks. I just go in months it's easier now she's 1 I just tell everyone she's 1 nearly 2

Yes exactly this basically

My only guess is 12 is an easier number to divide into thirds and quarters. Earth takes 365.25 days to go round the sun. Hence the leap years.

4 weeks is a lunar month and how long the moon takes to go round the earth.
Women's textbook cycles are 4 weeks.

Babies I'd count weeks until about 13 weeks / 3 mths. Then revert to months. Once you are on your second child time just disappears in a fuzz along with weeks and months!

I'm playing a cross logic puzzle that's easier than this thread

Yeah just stop worrying about all that stuff is my advice

Let me explain what I mean with an example.

Weeks example

-Child was born on 16th December 2021.
-If 6 months is 24 weeks then by weeks child was 6 months old on 2nd June (2 weeks ago) because some months have more days in them.

Therefore child is now 6 months and 2 weeks old.
*
Months example*

• child was 6 months yesterday.

Technically the child is actually 6 months and 2 weeks and yes this does make a difference in terms of development, even things such as starting weaning and using Bonjela can be done earlier and on time by weeks. Sure the Midwife's and Health Visitors go by weeks in the first few months because it is more accurate. 2 weeks is the difference between and child being able to sit independently or not when comparing. I know you cannot compare children but as a parent you do.

Weeks is accurate until they turn 1 then it evens out obviously.

@GreenIsle No the child is 6 months when they turn 6 months according to the date. Eg 15th December birth date, they are 6 months on the 15th June.
They are 24 weeks when they are 24 weeks. They are two different things. I have a 4 month old and don’t even look at weeks any more, just go by months.

How can you think that two dates exactly six months apart are "less than six months apart"?

Wtf?

Converting weeks to months you have to count 3 months as 13 weeks.

This is how people who get paid monthly, like last Friday of the month end up with a 5 week month in a pattern of getting paid 4weeks 4weeks 5weeks,

So six months is 26 weeks not 6x4= 24weeks.

It occurs to me too that all these people who don't understand this presumably don't work or have weekly paid jobs. If you're on a salary or monthly paid job how have you never realised the difference? (Yes, I know some might be paid every 4 weeks but that's not the norm)

To be fair some people get paid monthly on a set date like the 28th, which is slightly easier to manage than the last Friday of the month. Although if the 28th falls over a weekend or holiday they pull it forward to the Friday.

I've been paid both ways and find the set date much easier to manage than last Friday.

Do you say a child turns 13 months a day (or two) before they turn one then?

How can you think that two dates exactly six months apart are "less than six months apart"?
I don't really! I was just trying to work out what a poster could possibly mean by a baby being six months by weeks before months. But a year is 12 months and is 52 weeks and one (or two) day(s). Depending on which months dates fall across then six months could be 26 weeks exactly, which is just under half the year. So I'd say they were six months of course, but their second six months would be a day (or two) longer.