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Original poster

Anyone with kids with closeish birthdays?

181 replies

Leviii · 29/09/2023 11:01

DS turns 2 at end of Nov, the day after I turn 37 weeks pregnant with his sister.

as he was a bigger baby (3 days early too, ELCS) they do not want to let me go over my due date. So either, sweeps from early as possible, induction or another ELCS.

I am leaning towards trying for a vaginal birth, but if they’re saying they don’t want me to go over my due date Which I get because I’d be scared to give birth to a bigger baby, then DS and DD’s birthdays may be a week / two weeks apart (3 at max but I’m assuming they’d like me to come in earlier and not go right up to Due date)

has anyone got kids with birthdays within a month of eachother? Or few weeks! DD will definitely still be born December, I don’t believe I need to be induced on 37week mark which is day after DS birthday so I’d probably be either 38/39 so will be a week or two from his birthday

i have terrible mum guilt:( even though I. Will do everytning to make their birthdays seperate and special! Always

OP posts:
JollyJellyCat · 29/09/2023 11:05

3 weeks apart here and just before Christmas like you. A lot of stuff comes into the house in a short period of time! I'd be more worried about closeness to Christmas than closeness to siblings as its easy to get birthdays lost in the pre Christmas rush.

Our plan is ds party week 1: family party in the middle; dd party week 3. DD is a bit little for parties just yet.

My sister and I are 3 weeks apart too and this worked well for us!

Original poster
Leviii · 29/09/2023 11:08

It’s funny as because I’ve been so upset that they’re birthdays are close, I’ve forgot how my family have moaned DS’s birthday is a month from Christmas (and lamented at my due date for DD as if she went full term she’d be very near it! Haha)

Thank you for assuring me though that there’s no problems regarding birthdays being close haha!

I forgot about Christmas , but my family are good as my brother is New Year’s Eve birthday so we’ve always made sure we kept all occasions seperate and he’s always had a really special birthday!
it’s more DH’s familt who may fall into the trap of combining celebrations

OP posts:
imnotwhoyouthinkiam · 29/09/2023 11:08

My friends growing up (3 dc) all had birthdays within 5 weeks of eachother. All born only a year after the previous one too.

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jlpth · 29/09/2023 11:10

My kids are less than 2 weeks apart - no issue at all.

Ladyj84 · 29/09/2023 11:11

Well we have a boy born January 1st and then our twins were born December 24th the same year so my family love us haha

TheBirdintheCave · 29/09/2023 11:13

My nieces birthday's are two days apart and I had a coworker who's sisters birthday was the day before hers. They all seem happy with the situation, could change for the younger pair of course!

DanceMumTaxi · 29/09/2023 11:14

12 days here. It’s a bit of an expensive time, but we plan for it and it’s fine.

BertieBotts · 29/09/2023 11:17

I have kids with birthdays 2 days apart.

They absolutely LOVE it. They are currently at an age (2 and 5) where we just combine their birthdays and have a big birthday extravaganza on the day in between, but as they get older and want separate birthdays we'll definitely accommodate that and give them separate parties etc.

Honestly, for me I wouldn't have chosen it because I find it so exhausting, but they think it's really special. The nice thing is that they look quite similar too so we joke that they are twins 3 years apart.

I think you can't really control this, so just breathe and pick the most medically advised option - it will be OK whatever happens, it will be your unique family story, don't worry about trying to optimise it.

(My main headache is the fact that their birthdays are e.g. - numbers changed - 12/03/14 and 15/03/12 so I get them mixed up when I try to write them down!)

RatherBeRiding · 29/09/2023 11:18

My DC are consecutive days! I actually enjoyed it when they were little as we had a birthday weekend with a party on each day. Worked really well, and now they are adults it's not like I can forget their birthdays

bumtrumpet · 29/09/2023 11:19

Mine are two years apart, the day after each other. It was fine when they were young and could have joint parties, but now they want completely different things. It's expensive but I do know it's coming round so plan for it

TimeforaGandT · 29/09/2023 11:19

10 days apart. We did same as JollyJellyCat. 1st weekend - child 1 party; 2nd weekend - combined family event; 3rd weekend - child 2 party.

DonaNobisPacem · 29/09/2023 11:19

Yes and also within a few days of Christmas. Not what I’d have chosen but it’s fine, not something to worry about at all.

One thing I will say is that it’s worth thinking about how you talk about birthday timings in front of your kids. I remember once bemoaning DD’s Christmas birthday to a friend’s mum and she stopped me “Ah, a Christmas birthday is extra special!” And I’ve always remembered it and tried to talk positively about the timings and (in their younger years at least) DC saw their Christmas birthdays as something completely positive.

caitlinn · 29/09/2023 11:25

My son is 9 at the beginning of December, his brother turns 2 on the 21st, it's a hectic month!!

Freezingcoldinseptember · 29/09/2023 11:29

I have 2 in Jan, 2 on the same day in June, 2 in September, 2 in November and dd and dh in December! Never been an issue. All get their day.. And cake....

Strawberryfieldsforeverrr · 29/09/2023 11:30

10 days apart here, it's bloody great! Like a fortnight of fun, or even longer.

BoohooWoohoo · 29/09/2023 11:31

My oldest 2 have birthdays 4 days apart and there have never been any issues.

AnneLovesGilbert · 29/09/2023 11:32

Mine are 5 days apart. Second is still a baby so not sure how well navigate it and grateful for the ideas from others above!

Daisyhoney · 29/09/2023 11:34

My two sons are 3 days apart so they always had a joint party or trip out etc.
They're both young adults now but as they were born 3 years apart, the best thing was the year they turned 18 and 21.
They've always been happy to share their birthday celebrations and still do now 😊

SoupDragon · 29/09/2023 11:35

DSs are 1 week apart and all 3 DC are within a month. It means a lot of birthday cake all at once but then it's done for the year! My birthday is shortly after DS2's as well, just to make it even busier.

HavfrueDenizKisi · 29/09/2023 11:36

My two are two weeks apart. And one of those is 2 days after my birthday (went into labour on my birthday). Spring birthdays. Plus close to Mother's Day usually so busy time but it's never been a problem.

SoupDragon · 29/09/2023 11:37

It was great in the preschool years as DSs had joint birthday parties. Their friends were pretty much all the same at that age.

HydrangeaRose · 29/09/2023 11:37

2 children , 6 days apart , 1 week before Christmas .
birthday cards go up for 6 days each and I never put Christmas cards up until Christmas Eve. We always mark the birthdays well and Christmas rushes in at the last minute .
It’s never been a problem .

Magnolia82 · 29/09/2023 11:56

Mine were both born on 21st Dec (2 years age difference)!

Canyoucheckonme · 29/09/2023 13:20

I was in a similar situation to you OP, and it's one of the reasons I chose an ELCS following an EMCS! First born was almost two weeks late, and second was born by ELCS at 39 weeks, so they have 16 days between their birthdays (both in January...!).

WildFeathers · 29/09/2023 13:24

My birthday and 2 of our kids have birthdays within 4 weeks of each other! It does often get referred to as birthday season in our house. It’s fine. I have chosen to deliberately keep any celebrations separate and never joint. When they were younger, we had the “rule” no talking about other birthdays on someone’s actual birthday (to avoid them counting down to their own birthdays as someone else is blowing their candles out!)