I think the best time of year to have baby is:

[edgarcat]

Message withdrawn

[mum2toby]

Demented - Can you???? My ds was also born in June. It's a wee bit away for my ds at the moment, he's not even 2 yet, but I didn't know you could delay them starting school until then. How come?

[Rhiannon]

End of March definitely, we have always had lovely weather for parties. Half way through the school year.

Not heavily pregnant in the heat.

[monkey]

c'mon someone must have some good things to say about a november birth. .......Please?

[Gem13]

mum2toby - I have it in the back of mind that if you have a baby born after the May half term (a summer baby) you can request a delay to start school.

Of course I can't find this anywhere now, but I know one of the problems is that the school doesn't have to guarantee your child's place and so parents often feel pressurised to let their child start when they've just turned 4.

Also, if you're like me, you're already thinking in terms of school years and my not-yet-one year old (July) is already hanging out with the other September-August babies. By the time he's 4, I think most of his aquaintances will be going to school so letting him start when he's 5 might not be so beneficial socially.

[WideWebWitch]

monkey, I think November will be ok from the point of view of schools. Ds is Oct born and it means he's one of the oldest in his class which is generally thought to be a good thing I think. I'm not ecstatic at the thought of having to have ALL my Christmas shopping done by September/October this year (since I can't see myself wanting to do it in the month after this one's born) but I think I'll have to this year. I'm thinking maybe November will be nice - a month before Christmas, so we'll spend it all cosy and wrapped up with ds getting excited about Christmas and dp gets weeks off spend with us...does that make you feel any better?!

[elliott]

Good things about a November birth:
dh got two lots of time off with us - a week or so around the birth, back to work for 2 or 3 weeks then another 2 weeks off at Christmas. It was great to know when he first went back to work that it was only for a short time...
It means you get super organised for Christmas during maternity leave
The birth announcements can go in with the Christmas cards
You get about 6 weeks of continuous celebration and presents
Its a good birthday to have from the school point of view
You get to be fat and leaky during the winter
Babe is getting to be interesting - crawling and such like - during the summer
Going back to work in spring/summer is better than going back in winter
It will be dark in the mornings so possibly easier to keep older siblings from getting up at the crack of dawn when they hear the baby(?!)
Is that enough

[musica]

The old/young in a year is a curious one - I always understood it was best to be old in one's year, although I've always been the youngest, but someone said to me that it's actually better to be on the young side, then you are stretched more, whereas an older child could get bored.

[SamboM]

Well I want my next one in October/Nov as my dd was due end Aug but came out 4 Sept, it was SOOOO hot, the hosp was disgustingly hot too. Planning to drink heavily over Xmas and NY and then start trying again...s

[SamboM]

Well I want my next one in October/Nov as my dd was due end Aug but came out 4 Sept, it was SOOOO hot, the hosp was disgustingly hot too. Planning to drink heavily over Xmas and NY and then start trying again...s

[Pancake]

I have two ds, the first born in June and the second in September. I did enjoy June as it meant wamer night feeds and it was great to be able to dry the clothes on the line. However, I was a bit paranoid about it being too hot for the baby and so didn't venture out all the time and so my thoughts of a suntan didn't materialise! I actually preferred September as it meant I could wrap me up in loads of layers (to disguise the fact the weight wasn't shifting) and also I could put the baby in snowsuits and walk for miles and miles and miles! I agree with Elliott too that being able to prefer for Christmas with no stress was fabulous too!

[Demented]

Mum2Toby sorry my message wasn't terribly clear. It is my January baby who can go to school at 5 1/2 (you are in Scotland too, if I remember correctly). He could go this August when he will be 4 1/2 but we have decided not to send him until next year.

[mum2toby]

Ah thanks demented - I didn't read your message properly..... to early in the morning I think and I hadn't had my coffee yet! Yes we live quite close to each other I think.

I'm a February baby so I was very young in my year.... one of the youngest in fact.

My ds will be 5 when he starts. If he turns 4 in June can he start in the August or will we have to wait until the next year??

When is the 'cut-off' point?

[Ghosty]

monkey ... come to NZ and then you will see what is good about a November birthday!
My DS was born at the end of November in the UK ... those long dark days ... I felt I was living an eternal night!!!!
Now he has his birthday in the Summer and it is lovely ... party in the garden ... paddling pool etc.
Downside of having a Nov birthday in NZ is that here they start school ON their 5th birthday ... so DS will start school ... have about 2 weeks and then break up for a 6 week holiday ... weird!
Also having a baby so near xmas means such a long gap between xmas and the next birthday ... he has a 4 week gap between birthday and xmas and them 11 whole months to wait for his next lot of presents

[Demented]

Mum2Toby, I was a January baby too and was one of the youngest in the class, hence my decision to keep DS1 back a bit. My understand is that your DS and my DS2 (June babies) will start school in the August after their 5th birthdays. HTH.

[JanZ]

Ds was September which I liked because:

1. I didn't miss any skiing - ski-ed in the first trimester (February) and then again in January when ds was 4 months old (just before going back to work)
   
   
2. I'm cold blooded anyway, so that to me, the heat of summer was actually very pleasant,
   
   3)I had time off in the summer just to myself (although not that long, as I worked up to 20th August and ds was born on 10 September)
   
   
3. It meant that for once I could be organised and relaxed for Christmas and New Year
   
   
4. The shorter days meant I didn't feel guilty about not being organised enough to get out and about with ds when he was very little and I was still learning to cope.
   
   If I were to get pregnant in the near future it would mean that
   
   a) the baby would be born too close to Christmas (my Dad's birthday is on Christmas Day and we never hear - incorrectly - the end of how he is hard done by - and my brother's is on New Year's Day, and he DOES get hard done by, as you always think you can get the pressie after Christmas and then you've run out of money!)
   
   b) I wouldn't be able to go skiing next year, and
   
   c) I would be heavily pregnant over Christmas - disaster!
   
   However, always assuming dh and I ever get around to agreeing to go for another one (he doesn't have any sense of urgency), my age (42) means that I don't have the luxury of planning WHEN - it'll be a case of IF!

[mum2toby]

Thanks Demented.

[Demented]

Mum2Toby, you asked about a cut-off point, I think it is something like 15th March although many of my friends whose children have birthdays between January and March (who would be at school at 4 1/2) are choosing to keep them back until 5 1/2. Hope that makes sense.

[Angel78]

My dd was born in March and it is a lovely time to have a baby. The weathers changing for the better and lighter mornings.
My ds was born in January and I think that's the worst time to have a baby. We are always stuck for what to get him as he got so much for christmas. Normally abit on the skint side too and his birthdays are always on wet,windy,dark days.

[monkey]

Oh my word - actually www - you've just totally freaked me out! Shit - Christmas shopping! And my ds is a January baby - truly the worst possible dob for the poor sod, (I bet he will NEVER forgive me), so I'll have all his birthday stuff to get too, plus all the 'gifts for siblings from baby', I might as well start shopping now!. Mind you, thanks for the warning - I'd probably go into labour and then think about it.

I don't benefit from the school thing though.

Some good ideas, elliott, ta.

[Linnet]

We're in Scotland and my dd started school in August 2002 when she was 5. We had to register her in the January of 2002 and the cut off point was any child who was 5 before the end of February 2003 had to start school in August of 2002. Not sure if this is the same for every area of scotland but those are the rules where we stay. Some of the children in my daughters class turned 5 in the April of 2002(they had missed the cut off the previous year) and started primary 1 in august and some of them just turned 5 in February of this year. So there is quite a large age range as a few of them are now turning 6 while others are just turning 5 but they are all doing fine and no-one is trailing behind.

[suedonim]

There is no legal requirement for a child to go to school before they are 5 (or even go to school at all, but that's another subject!) Linnet, so it sounds as if your Education Authority is spinning you a yarn. If your child's birthday is after the August start of term you can delay their entry by a year. Lots of people in my area did this, especially with boys with Dec/Jan/Feb birthdays, as they seem less ready for school at 4.5yrs. My children are all Spring babies so it was a decision we didn't have to make, fortunately.

[zebra]

Winter births are good because who can manage to get out of the house with a newborn, anyway? Better to be cozied up inside with a cuppa, not feeling sorry for yourself that it's nice outside but baby requires you to stay in and miss the sunshine.

Summer births are best for garden parties & even (throughout the year) gift distribution, though.

[bells2]

I agree Zebra. I wasn't looking forward to DD's November birth but it was actually really nice being all warm and cosy inside. By the time summer was around, she was old enough to enjoy the sunshine etc.

[elliott]

on the other hand, monkey, you also have the perfect excuse for being completely disorganised and refusing to do any Christmas shopping!!

[Linnet]

Suedonim, I know of a girl in my daughters year at her school who's birthday is December and her parents delayed her until the next year of starting school. so she was nearer to six when she started primary 1. I also know of a couple of people with boys born in December who did the same thing.
What I typed was the information that we got from the school at the time. I should have typed "could start school" and not "had to start school" since you can home school etc. since our dd has an August birthday it didn't make any difference to us anyway. Some children are ready for school at 4 and a half and some are not I guess it depends on the child and when they will be turning 5. I started school at 4 and a half as I have a January birthday, my mum felt I would have been bored if I'd waited another year to go to school. this was in the days before doing a pre-school year was the norm though.