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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Hypothetical Question - what birth month would you choose for your baby?

68 replies

JoWithABow · 30/07/2017 16:45

Ok so to start with I know we are not all that lucky to conceive a successful pregnancy the very first month of trying, so hope no one takes offence at this thread - BUT - in an ideal world where you can choose the month your baby would be born in, which month would you go for?

Would you like your baby to have a birthday in the summer time to make it nicer for parties in years to come, would you want them born in a different month to your other children to spread out the cost of birthday presents etc, or avoid a particular month?

I love autumn so always wanted an autumn born baby as it's such a lovely time of the year, however if I had another I think summer would be better for planning parties etc

Anyone got any thoughts?

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susurration · 30/07/2017 23:26

September-November or Mid January-April. I wouldn't like to have a child disadvantaged by the school year, as my younger sister was. She is all caught up and excellent academically now, but she struggled hugely at school for a good 10 years due to being born mid august and just less mature than her peers. As for Christmas babies, I have a few friends born around Christmas and have always felt sorry for them that their birthdays were so overshadowed by the christmas stuff. My birthday is very end of November and even then I feel like Christmas is starting to take over my birthday. I wouldn't like to have my birthday any later than it is now.

Someone upthread said about March/April being nice because there is no summer part of pregnancy, but I was pregnant last July/August and due 26th of March and it was during that heatwave and it was just unbearable feeling sick and hot all the time. Admittedly the first 8 weeks of pregnancy are probably easier to deal with than the last 8 but its not always avoidable.

steppemum · 30/07/2017 23:51

as a teacher i would always chose to have a child in the first half of the year (sept-march) rather than summer.

2 of mine are close to Christmas, and it is crap, would never chose that

TriJo · 31/07/2017 15:44

I loved having my son in March. Could easily get him out in the buggy because the weather was starting to pick up, I never had to be heavily pregnant on the tube in the summer, I was still able to fly back to Ireland for Christmas when I was 28 weeks pregnant without too many issues...

This time I'm due in mid-February. Not massively different, another month earlier is probably favourable for school and sports. I'm quite happy though that this summer has turned absolutely garbage weather-wise. I'm 12 weeks today.

owltrousers · 31/07/2017 16:19

Good question!

We decided to start 'trying' from April onwards as we only really wanted to avoid December for obvious reasons. We amazingly conceived first try and now the baby is due Jan 12th which I am quite happy with - DH less so because my birthday is also January so its going to be quite an expensive few months for him :)

Supper16 · 31/07/2017 19:19

I wanted to avoid January because I have Grandma's birthday, 2 cousins birthdays, Mum's birthday, Dad's birthday and my birthday all in January. When is baby due......? January Hoping it may hold out till Feb (tho obvs I really just want it here healthy)

Supper16 · 31/07/2017 19:23

On a more serious note, Jan is good because in the first few months when baby is v little and you are getting to grips with everything, it's dark and grotty outside. But when baby is 3 months or so and you're ready to get out and about and back to a more normal life, the days are getting longer and it's starting to warm up a bit.

At least that's what I'm telling myself!

museumum · 31/07/2017 19:25

I have a late-August born. It's ideal as we're in Scotland so he is back at school before his birthday and he is right in the middle of his cohort (march to Feb).
If we'd been in England it would have been pretty bad for him as he's small too.

redphonebox · 31/07/2017 19:41

See, I'm September and my early memories of school are of being really bored and having to do work which was too easy! Everyone assumes that the class will move at the pace of the most advanced but that wasn't my experience.

I realise that sounds like a stealth boast so I'll counteract it by saying I'm very average now which I think is proof that I didn't really have superior intellect back in year 1 I had just had more time to learn stuff

I think I'd go for early late November, early December or February. I like the idea of a winter baby so I can buy cute snowsuits (DD was a summer baby which was also lovely!)

MikeUniformMike · 31/07/2017 19:47

I would avoid end of Dec and Jan.
December and your child will get a birthday too close to Christmas. January and they'll get shitty regifted/sales presents as everyone skint after Christmas.

Traditionally, August is the best month as they leave school almost a year younger than September-born kids in the same school year.

FaffyDuMaurier · 31/07/2017 20:07

We are ttc dc2, and if I got pregnant in my next cycle the baby would be due in May. Admittedly, like the majority of people here, if I could choose a month I would go for one early in the school year and not too close to Christmas. Perhaps October. I do think it's a real advantage being older at school, and I feel a bit bad that ttc now means we could have a child who struggles to keep up with their much older year group. However, I don't want to postpone ttc until January in case it takes a while and we end up with a big gap between DCs.

Original poster

JoWithABow · 31/07/2017 20:28

So many good reasons! I wonder if certain months are busier on maternity wards in reality, e.g. Autumn? Any midwives out there know?
This thread has definitely surprised me that people would actively want a Christmas Birthday, had never thought that would be the case before

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Supper16 · 31/07/2017 20:35

Jowithabow Sure I read that there are a lot of babies born in September, because parents aim for it deliberately to give DC a leg up at school, and because they get drunk and have sexytimes over Christmas.

Less babies born over the Christmas bank holidays because hospitals try and avoid it.

Dunno if all that is true though.

treaclesoda · 31/07/2017 20:36

My midwife friend says that September and October are always the busiest months where she works.

MikeUniformMike · 31/07/2017 20:38

I thought it was September that was the most popular as it's 9 months after Christmas.

ArgyMargy · 31/07/2017 20:50

May, June or July. I have one of each! Such a lovely time of year to be on maternity leave, and you don't have to worry about the baby getting cold.

PoppyPopcorn · 31/07/2017 20:55

We wanted to avoid December/January - DH is a New Year birthday and hated it. Wanted spring babies as they would be in the older half of the school year (we're in Scotland). Three kids all born between March and the middle of September.

We are very lucky though and always conceived the first month we tried.

PoppyPopcorn · 31/07/2017 20:57

Eh? In the U.K. system July or August = youngest in the school year.

No. In the ENGLISH and WELSH system this may be the case.

Different cut offs in Scotland and Northern Ireland, both of which are part of the UK. Hope that helps.

clarebear1983 · 31/07/2017 21:40

My 1st is December, I love having a Christmas baby. Makes it even more magical. The next one is due in Feb and I'm just happy.

I think I'd only try and avoid July/August because of the school thing. Both mine took nearly a year to conceive though so I didn't even consider trying to time it!

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