Best season to have first baby

[coolhead05]

We recently started planning for our first baby and have heard numerous theories about babies born in particular season having particular problems - winter babies are less likely to do well in school, spring babies more likely to suffer with Asthma and such. I believe there is no straight forward formula to this type of a generalization.

However, there might be some practical difficulties to the mother and/or child during a particular season; like winter might not help the new mother with baby blues and lack of Vitamin D for the new born might have some affect.

Would you mind sharing your thoughts and experience as we want to make an informed choice for our first one while making it a memorable experinece.

Thanks

[Mayoo]

I don't know about babies but we plan in a way that it will help my wife with her outdoor activities .. ours is due anytime now and i use to take her to walk in the summer everyday outside, until last week. Now i am taking her to walk in the malls cause its getting cold ..

[pitz]

In elementary and high school, the kids that were born early on in the year always seemed to have various advantages compared to those who were born late in the year. Developmentally, and simply because their birthdays were used as a demarcation line for various activities. For instance, in kindergarden, kids born on Jan 1 could be up to 25% older than those born on Dec. 31 of the same year, which statistically, can make a big difference in educational outcome.

Also, when the kids turn 18 (or 19 in some provinces, or 21 in the USA), if they're born earlier in the year, they will do so earlier, and be eligible to participate in certain kinds of nightlife. Whereas, the people born late in the year will have to suffer isolation from their peers.

So, IMHO, plan your baby so it arrives in February or March at the latest. You really don't want to have a November or December baby, or to put your kid at such a huge disadvantage. Even October is way too late, IMHO. August, if you have to.

[setell]

How does the cut off date work here in ON for starting school? In NS it's Oct 1 to Sept 30 every year. In NS I would plan to have a kid in Aug but not sure what is the best time to "plan" your child's birth.

[CSK'sMom]

The cutoff is Dec 31st in Ont for school but I certainly wouldn't plan around it. I have a 17 yr old in college and his birthdate certainly hasn't altered his education outcome. ;)

Personally I'd say a spring baby from experience. Both Mom and baby can easily get outside in the spring, summer and fall but not so much in the winter. Both my May and June babies were napping in their strollers outside from the day they came home from the hospital and we were walking daily. My Nov. baby didn't have that due to weather. Winter babies tend to spend more time indoors due to weather and generally seem to battle a few more colds, etc as newborns.

[kate23]

I had my baby Jan 2. Unless it was a cold weather advisory, we were outside walking. Just bundle you and them up and get the fresh air. If you are trying to avoid catching colds...stay out of the malls.
And I wish she was born 2 days earlier so we could get her into school sooner. Paying an extra year of daycare stinks...and honestly is JK any different than daycare?

[sixer]

Sorry, but you guys are ridiculous. Just pray that your lucky enough to have a healthy child that doesn`t have any special needs in their entire life.

Period.

[kate23]

I had a high risk pregnancy and 3 miscarriages...trust me, I know I am blessed to have a healthy daughter.

[AnnaBanana]

There are a million factors...

-Tough to be preggers in the summer (serious swelling i had!)
-Bad roads in the winter - (if you deliver in hospital, hope that there isn't a storm / roads are bad on the way to the hospital)
-After your baby is born, you'll have a big swollen baby for a while, it's nice to deliver in the winter so that you can 'hide' it better... i know, silly reason!
-school year - january babies will have lots of more advantages
-summer babies - they never get to celebrate their bdays during the school year (dumb i know, but i always missed celebrating with school friends!)

Basically there are pros and cons to both. do it based on when it's best for you... and odds are you won't have much of a say in it anyway, as it may take you a long time to get pregnant anyay! took us 6 months one time, so even if we had planned a winter baby, we got a summer baby!

[encinc]

and odds are you won't have much of a say in it anyway, as it may take you a long time to get pregnant anyay!

I agree completely. Get used to the fact that you can't control everything in your life anymore. Planning is good, but be prepared for plans to run amok, because with kids, they always do. That was an important lesson we learned when deciding when to have our kids.

I also agree with the poster who says it doesn't really matter - just aim for a healthy kid without special needs. My "spring" baby was born at the end of December and has special needs. He'd be much better off being one of the oldest in school/other activities, but thanks to his birthday, he is the youngest. Nothing we can do about it, but it sure doesn't make us love him any less.

I wish you all the best. Sounds like you and your wife are at an exciting time in your lives!

[longitude]

Early winter, around November/December, for the baby will be Sagittarius.

[mellie_mello]

i enjoy my summer baby (june 26). she will always get to celebrate birthday near the last day of school! plus she can celebrate her bday a few days earlier with her schoolmates.
i enjoyed being pregnant from sept-june. i didn't need to buy a maternity winter jacket, plus i didn't swell for too long since it didn't get too hot just yet.
as for school, she won't be the oldest nor the youngest. i was a january baby and was not happy with my bday falling on the coldest blustery day of the year. plus when i turned 18, i couldn't find anyone to party with legally until later!!

[goldenox]

Sorry, but you guys are ridiculous. Just pray that your lucky enough to have a healthy child that doesn`t have any special needs in their entire life.

Period.

Definitely agree with this!

[setell]

Well it may seem ridiculous but I like to potentially give my kid an earlier start in life. If you're one of the youngest you can graduate high school at 17 vs 18 and graduate university at 21 vs 22. That extra year to me is pretty important as even if you can't land a job or anything for a while you're not 23 but just 22! I consider the whole being able to drink with your friends legally etc. stupid as if they want to drink they would have done it way before they are 18! Birthday parties? Well if they are your friends they will come if it’s in Jan or Aug. If they don’t come then you got bigger issues then when your child’s birthday is. As to the whole swelling during the summer months, got no clue what it’s like to be pregnant but I’ll take their word for it for now. I guess in our family birthdays are the day you celebrate it with your family and not a day to get drunk with your friends no matter how old you turn if you’re still home.

[Kranberry]

If you believe in this article, summer.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125356566517528879.html?mod=yhoofront

[Mother of Three]

Jan-Feb. You'll need a few months to get used to being a new parent and when you're ready, the weather will be nice enough to go for walks outside etc.

[LiL L]

According to Outliers (author's name escapes me) if you want your kid to be in the NHL, make sure they are born in Jan, Feb or March!

Anyhow, my son was born late november, i'm due again late november as well(same due date as the first actually!). It was hard going out with the little one in cold snowy weather, but in the first two months i stayed home mostly anyways (i had a c-section so couldn't drive for the first 6 weeks anyhow). I hate the winter and usually hiberate, so it was good for me. And the weather just started getting better when i felt comfortable taking him out (and his breastfreeding cycles were finally more than 2 hours apart!). We will also be saving lots of money for daycare vs. a baby born earlier in the year (another bonus is having baby #2 around the same time saves on maternity clothes since I was the same size at all seasons!).
But of course really you can't plan, all seasons have their pros and cons!

[Si98]

I just hope my future babies are free from mental and physical defects. Which month they will be born worries me the least.

[Menace]

We have planned to have our babies to be born in the Spring/Summer season. Why? They can have their birthday parties with their school friends OUTDOORS :D:D

[tempperm]

IMHO, If this is ur greatest concern then "as soon as possible" is the best season.

[coolhead05]

We agree that having a healthy baby is the most important thing and it is true that we cannot control everything in life. However, if we try and are successful, it’s good to know we made an informed choice to begin with.

We don’t necessarily believe in any of those theories, but the practical aspects of having a baby in a particular season is something worth giving a thought to.

It’s great to hear from all of you about your experiences though. Please keep them coming in :)

[chico1516]

Sorry, but you guys are ridiculous. Just pray that your lucky enough to have a healthy child that doesn`t have any special needs in their entire life.

Period.

I AgrEE!!

[CenturySam]

Sorry, but you guys are ridiculous. Just pray that your lucky enough to have a healthy child that doesn`t have any special needs in their entire life.

Period.

+ 1!!! Just be blessed that you can have children,
I've had one miscarriage prior to my now beautiful 2 month old and can careless which month she was born in. I was pregnant throughout this past summer and it was fine with me, theres something called A/C and I continued to walk daily outside during the summer time.

[ultichic]

I agree with those who say just be thankful for healthy children and stop worrying.

If you start parenthood worrying about such small things you will drive yourself crazy later on. Also, you will miss watching your child grow up because you are concerned about things that don't matter. What will that teach your child?

Just be happy and enjoy the crazy ride. Be okay with things if they don't go the way you want. You will have to learn that lesson sooner or later anyways.

[i6s1]

In elementary and high school, the kids that were born early on in the year always seemed to have various advantages compared to those who were born late in the year. Developmentally, and simply because their birthdays were used as a demarcation line for various activities. For instance, in kindergarden, kids born on Jan 1 could be up to 25% older than those born on Dec. 31 of the same year, which statistically, can make a big difference in educational outcome.


I thought the opposite was true, the younger a child starts learning, the more they will retain because younger brains are more trainable. Any scientific studies out there? My sister was born in December and just got 95 percentile on LSATs, although this is clearly anecdotal.

Are there any scientific studies out there?

[nalababe]

I thought the opposite was true, the younger a child starts learning, the more they will retain because younger brains are more trainable. Any scientific studies out there? My sister was born in December and just got 95 percentile on LSATs, although this is clearly anecdotal.

Are there any scientific studies out there?

The challenge is simply age during elementary school. My wife volunteered this past year at my son's SK and Grade 1 class for the reading program. As a teacher she found it quite incredible that there was a huge difference in the capability...and for the most part it went along with age. at 5 and 6 one year age difference is huge.

Now, there are other factors. Our son was probably the second best reader in his class (August baby), but it is because he reads constantly at home....no TV.

One other observation is that even more than learning, it is the maturity level of the kids...that's where the biggest difference over the one year age difference....and that the difference was not as great with the girls. Interesting.

[volan]

For practical reasons I think that spring is the best season to have a baby. Here are my thoughts:
1) A spring baby means that the mother doesn't have to suffer through a hot summer while being really pregnant. She will be hot when she needs it most, in the winter time (of course this is balanced with the fact that she has to be very careful not to slip and fall).
2) If you live in an area where thre is a high probability of bad weather in the winter then by spring the snow should have melted and getting to the hospital will be (a little) less stressful.
3) A spring baby means that mom and baby will be able to go out for walks through the spring and summer and the baby will be more than 6 months old when winter sets in. A 6 month old is more resiliant to cold than a newborn and can be bundled up to take out.
4) A spring baby will be able to celebrate birthdays during the school year whereas a summer baby either has to have an early or late bday party.

Of course having said the above, I think that planning for a season is very difficult. Planning to have a baby doesn't always work the way you want it to.

Good Luck!