February born babies!

[Jenijeni1]

Hi,

I’m new to Mumsnet and feel a bit of a fraud since I don’t currently have any children or pregnant however we are wanting to start trying!

This may be a ridiculous question to ask but due to different factors we’ve decided that late May/early June will be the best time for us to start trying. I feel silly for even looking but I started searching things looking into babies born around the end of Feb beginning of March and there were a number of articles that say due to being in late stages of pregnancy throughout the winter months babies are more likely to be born premature and can go on to be more likely to suffer with mental or physical illnesses.

I know Googling things is never good but it got me worrying slightly.

Did anyone on here try and avoid certain months? In the end I’m just hoping I will be lucky enough to have a happy healthy baby but I also want to give it the best start!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Hi @Jenijeni1, `it's exciting planning for pregnancy. I would however be cautious what you read on the internet and how reliable/respectable the sources are of such information or so called 'evidence'. Quite often when you dig a little deeper the difference can be 0. of a %. The thing is, I find that I am able to cherry pick the information that suits me as there will always be contradicting 'evidence' out there. We never tried to avoid certain months as trying for a baby can take a long time. I have had a March baby and a January baby and am now expecting a December baby. Both March and January babies reached 41 weeks gestation and are perfect. You probably have this covered, what I would suggest is start taking your folic acid a couple of months before trying to conceive. All the best.

You can plan however much you want but you may not catch for ages. I think it's a bit silly to be reading such shite tbh and planning your life around that.

I've had one in Jan and one in July. No different 🤷‍♀️. Good luck!

I had my daughter in feb and shes grown into an independent , intelligent caring 29 year old . She was born on time , she had no problems at school and is a joy to have in my life . I also have a son born in September and he's the same, both wonderful people .
I would stay away from late summer though, i was born in late July and feel there is a difference between children at school born at the two extremes of the school year.

February baby over here and I was fine :)

My Feb baby was strong, healthy, 11lb and 2 weeks late!

Honestly there’ll be “something” every month, the school summer born thing if you’re down south/winter born in Scotland.

The only thing I’d remotely plan round is trying not to be 8/9 months pregnant during the absolute height of summer.

Mine was due and of February and arrived 5 weeks early at end of Jan. However, my sister was a February baby a week late and I was a march baby also a week late. So I wouldn't read too much into what the internet says. Later stages of pregnancy are probably easier in winter. My sister in law had her baby in July, was 10 days late and really, really struggled in the heat whereas although I didn't go to term I didn't struggle with the weather.

I think this is nonsense along the same lines of internet pages publishing what a child's personality will be like if they're born in x month. I personally wouldn't give it any thought!

Thanks for the reply’s I know I was probably being really silly looking too much into it but it was just good to know that it was just being silly rather than something people seriously considered! I’m currently on the pill but looking to come off in about 3 months (3 months before trying) this is what I read up to do but if anyone else has any tips would be great! It’s nice to have this forum to ask people rather than speaking to friends and family as then there is the pressure of them knowing your trying and expecting news! It probably is something that should be spoken about more openly!

My second son is a February born and was born healthy at 39+1. My June born was born earlier than this. I have never heard this about February babies and wouldn't pay any mind if I were you. After a loss and quite a while trying I was just extremely happy to be pregnant, birth month wasn't of any relevance to me.

I think there's probably no point worrying about avoiding or aiming for specific months. There will always be something. Google is not your friend when it comes to health issues! I know people who have aimed for September due to the school year advantage (UK) and baby has come early so they have ended up with - horrors - an August baby! All is usually fine in the end one way or another. Good luck!

February baby 4 days late. September baby 5 days early. Both happy and healthy

It’s nice having a baby in February. The winter is coming to an end, and the days are starting to lengthen, so you can watch spring springing as you feed them in the early mornings. No comment on unsubstantiated internet anecdata.

I've had two in the summer and one in February.
The one born in February is now 5 years old and has always caught every illness going!

I think it's nonsense really although I was born in Feb 30+ years ago and I was a tiny 6lb and early. I also live with MH issues but am sure it has zero to do with my birth date.
I wouldn't/didn't care when my babies were due but if I had to choose a month to avoid it would be August due to the school youngest in year potential issues.

Very exciting time for you to be ready to try, I hope it happens healthily for you 🤗

I'm due in February with my first and haven't read anything about dates being detrimental. I think there will always be something on the Internet!

Re. trying, I came off the pill, had my withdrawal bleed and then tracked my cycle using Ovia from there. I waited until I'd had a 'normal' period before we started trying but just be mindful the cycles don't always behave straight afterwards!
Start taking folic acid a few months before to get it into your system and make sure your relationship is in a comfortable place where you can talk freely and openly together.
Doing the deed every other day then increasing to every day in the 'fertile window' was what we did but try not to get too hung up on overanalysing and scheduling it around set times otherwise you'll be knackered and sick of each other haha!
All the best 🤞

Thanks for the advice I've just downloaded the Ovia app so will see how it goes! Great having these forums to chat on!

My birthday is in Feb. No mental or physical problems. I was also late 😊. Now you are entering the world of motherhood stay away from Google. Google is bad.

Yes google is the worst! I feel silly for even looking at it now