C section brought forward and will now mean a different school year!

[Mitzymarvel]

Having an ELCS for a few reasons, which was booked in for 1st September. Everyone told me how great that was as LO would be the oldest in their year rather than the youngest.

However, today the dr requested it get brought forward because the baby’s abdomen growth has tailed off a little. The earliest they could do was one day ahead - so now 31st August.

Seems pointless to me but obviously should assume dr knows best. I’m just worried now everyone convinced me that being September born was much better than August.

Any thoughts on whether it’s a big disadvantage? Obviously baby’s health is the most important thing but it’s one day that makes a big difference!

I am very late August born. I was desperate to go to school, was totally ready. I could read, write and do basic maths. My best friend was September born, so almost a year older. Never noticed the difference.
Given, I was quite advanced for my age and I never struggled. Was always top of the class in tests etc.
My DS is late summer born, he was so ready for school and was only just 4. Smashed SATS and is now an Oxbridge student. The gap narrows to nothing in a few short years.
What I have observed is how some children who are delayed starters seem to struggle to settle into their class.
A safe delivery is the most important thing, if medics recommend a particular date go with that.
Good luck.

It depends on the LA/school policy. Ours would go into reception.

I'm a primary teacher and also the mother of a summer born 4 year old who I absolutely can't imagine doing another year at nursery - she'd be bored stiff. Many, many children are ready for school at 4. And iff not, deferring is now much easier. Enjoy your baby and worry about it later!

It’s not an emergency - she just said she’d be happier if we could move it forward at all. She asked for 3 days but they could only do 1 day.

They made it clear that if I have any more reduced movements or if anything comes up in monitoring over the next week then it will be done as an emergency.

Thanks, that’s reassuring. I’d better hope she’s bright! We live in a small village where ages are mixed at school so also not sure if that might impact either positively or negatively either.

My dtwins were born in Septembers, I remember feeling panic at the thought of them being August born as they would have been born at 28 weeks. I was so relieved when 1st of September rolled around. I would at least ask if you could wait one more day.

I find all this stress about August babies incredibly frustrating. I had a 31st August baby. He has just done really well in his A levels. Even if he hadn't its not the be all and end all in life.

If your baby is born between April - August then you can hold them back one year if you feel they might be flagging behind their peers.

Yeah my birthday is last few days of August and I was always top of the class in High School. Don't fret it.... unless you want them to be a pro footballer... then it matters

focus on your child's health

Having a 1 Sept baby and having friends with dc either side of that I'm not sure August born is such a huge disadvantage. My ds got penalised in his 11 plus for being old in year. Plus the extra year of nursery and extra year of primary dragged a bit as he was past it.

I have known August borns struggle and September borns thrive but it's not uniform and some August babies did OK. They are all about 12 now so not sure how GCSEs etc will be affected.

September babies do have an advantage for sure but nursery costs are a factor too.

@Mitzymarvel can I ask do you have older children if so what are their ages? only asking as I have a September born dc2 and I so wish I'd of had him a couple of weeks earlier in the August. He is due to start year 5 this Sept and his older sibling year 10 in high school. it means dc1 will leave high school and dc2 primary at the same time but unfortunately dc2 is very unlikely to get a place at the excellent high school his elder sibling is at as he will not have a sibling on roll at his commencement date. if he was born in the August his sibling would be starting year 11 and him year 7 at the same time so would have sibling on roll and highly likely to get a place. I know he's got no chance of getting a place now though as school way oversubscribed and we are now out of catchment area and I'm gutted and dreading it. Being born just a few days earlier or later can make all the difference in some cases.
But I'd just focus on having a healthy baby for now op. hope all goes well and congratulations.

Only issue I can find with being the youngest is when they are in upper sixth and all their friends turn 18 and go on nights out and they have just turned 17.

My nephew is an end of August baby, he turns 16 this weekend and expecting excellent GCSEs tomorrow. It’s not made any difference to him whatsoever!

This is my first (and perhaps only) child, so I don’t have anything to compare to. My mum was a primary teacher and she very much thought it was better to be the oldest in the year, but now she is trying to be supportive and saying it won’t matter too much if the child goes to nursery beforehand.

I was August born but don’t really remember whether it held me back or not. It meant I was only a year below my older brother in school, rather than 2, as he was October born.

Sorry to hear you think your youngest will miss out on a place at the better school. I hope that doesn’t happen, and can see why you’re worried.

We’re not in the catchment for any good secondary schools currently so will have to think about that in a few years. Obviously can’t know whether grammar could be an option at this stage.

Good luck to you, and I hope your DC2 gets a good school placement.

Being born in August is not the end of the world! My child has an end of August birthday and is just going into Year 1. In the classroom you would not know he is the youngest. Finding the right school for your child is more important than when they are born.

Just an update - I looked at the local county school information and they don’t generally allow children to be held back for a whole school year without skipping reception - though I think you can start them a bit later than September.

However, schools will consider special cases where it is believed the child would particularly struggle.

So will just have to wait and see how they turn out. I suppose policy could change over the next few years anyway.

It’s frustrating as I wouldn’t even be thinking about it if it wasn’t this one day change.

I will just have to on getting the baby here safe and sound and if they seem behind their peers as school approaches, I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

My DD turns 6 on 30th August. I didn't defer as her nursery said they thought she was ready for school. Her end of year 1 report she was exceeding expectations in phonics, reading and maths. One of her friends turns 7 mid September and last year had to go to a phonics intervention group. It doesn't always follow that the oldest children are the brightest and the younger ones are left behind so please don't worry. I myself am an august born child and did very well at school, and much better than 2 of my winter born siblings.

I would question how urgent it is if the soonest they can do it is 31 aug.

This. I've known two people who had to have c-sections with babies due around the same time as yours. One was actually due on August 31, the other in early September. Both fought tooth and nail for the ELCS to be September rather than August.

I've had two semi-elective CSs. Neither was an emergency but I 'ran out of time' by going too far past the original due date in the first case. In the second they were also concerned about growth. Both times I was placed on the list for the next day after my final appointment. So nothing at all like pre-eclampsia, because baby and I could have waited another day or so, but when the baby actually needs to be born it needs to be born soon-ish, not one day earlier than originally planned in a week's time!

I would never suggest putting this stuff about school's before your baby's health. But I'm not very convinced that the hospital scheduling is only about health. Are you sure you haven't just been bumped off the September slot by someone shouting louder to keep it? If I were you I would pay for a scan somewhere very good like the Fetal Medicine Centre and get a second opinion.

I'm in education (university level) and at the aggregate level (obviously individual stories going both ways) an Aug 31st birthday is something that if at all possible you should avoid landing your child with. There is tonnes of research on this subject, which goes way past academic success. In the US the academic year begins a month earlier. The Freakonomics book claims that an August-born baby is 50% more likely to become a professional baseball player than a July birthday. That's a big difference.

If you went into labour naturally (which you might anyway!) there would be nothing you could do. But I think you're right to be concerned about this change of date. A lot of parenting seems to be weighing up cost and benefit, and this decision is an early version. There is a real and significant benefit to your child in being born on Sept 1 and not Aug 31. What's the cost? Only your medical team can tell you that, but I would be pretty suspicious of the information you've been given. If they had been really worried about reduced growth, your baby would already be in your arms. People are admitted immediately. Was it a consultant who decided this or just the midwife?

The support you give your child will have a huge impact on how they do at school. Reading with them, talking to them, showing them things and taking them places will help them flourish regardless of whether they were born in August or September.

We've been going the opposite way worrying ours would be late and arrive in September! Granted he's only a week old so my opinion might change but for me the cost of the extra year of nursery and the worry that he'd be the oldest in the year and therefore bored stupid at school (we also have 2 year classes) outweighed the advantages. We can always spend the savings on tutoring later.

My opinion is probably pretty heavily weighted by my own experiences of an August birthday though which is that while it was harder, especially to start, it taught me how to work hard. I think I've had more value from that than I would have from slightly better academics which wouldn't have been guaranteed anyway.

By the time your dc starts school the deferral process should be more common and transparent. On the other hand I'd question how helpful one day is with the consultant.

My baby was due early September, which wasn’t overly planned but was also something I was pleased about for many of the reasons mentioned on the thread so far.

However, about two weeks ago it became apparent that we would not get to September! She arrived yesterday and she’s healthy and I’m well and I now couldn’t care less about her birthday and school age. (I am a teacher). Her arriving safely was ultimately what matters to me.

Ah well for further reassurance I teach in a school with only 2 classes - reception/KS1 and KS2. It's a wonderful place and our littlest receptions are well looked after by the bigger children in the class. There's the added advantage that they can essentially 'repeat' reception year if they need to without it being a big deal. They then generally move up into Y3 with the rest of their original year group when the time comes.

Thanks for your reply. The decision was made by a consultant after a growth scan yesterday. She basically said she wanted it to be as early as possible in the 39th week, but ideally not before that (to avoid steroids). However, they said they will of course do it as emergency same day if I have any more reduced movements or the monitorings and scans present any issues.

She requested it was brought forward to exactly 39 weeks, which would have been 3 days earlier. She made the call in front of me. But then the labour ward later called me up at home and said the best they could do was 1 day earlier (due to bank holiday Monday and the Tuesday patients being all high priority).

I questioned it but was told the dr still wanted it to come forward, even if only by 1 day, and that they had now changed all the schedule at great inconvenience, so this is what would be happening. They said I would never forgive myself if that one day made the difference so I now feel guilty at the idea of pushing back on it. The person organising the schedule said they questioned the need but the consultant insisted.

I’m having a lot of monitoring at the moment and the consultant said it was better to just bring the CS forward rather than keep monitoring baby.

I’m in again this morning so will try to have a discussion about it with someone.

I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place - it seems out of my control.