Do you prefer Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall babies?

[Oregonmother]

In planning for child #2 we have been tring to decide if it would be better to have a child in the summer or winter. I know this is a personal choice, but I'm sure you all probably have some good reasons for one or the other and I thought it might help me in my decision. DS was born at the end of summer so I know what it's like to have a winter baby. Any advice would be appreciated.


ETA: Spring and Fall

[mudder17]

My baby was born towards the end of February and I really loved it. I've never been fond of hot and humid summers, and being pregnant would have made it that much worse! I loved how I could just put her in a sleeper and then wrap her in a blanket. It was so easy. The only difficult part was when we gave her sponge baths (before her cord fell off), I often thought she was too cold, although the heat lamp in the bathroom definitely helped. But once her cord fell off, that no longer became a major issue.

The other nice thing is that when she started learning to crawl, roll, etc., when she was older and ready to play more often, it was summer and I could leave her in a onesie and not worry about her getting cold.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amber_9m.gif Breastfed 9 months and counting

[Joshuasmommy]

My son was born at the end of November and if I could choose when my next one would be born it would be in early Spring. Having a newborn in flu season was really nerve racking for me, especially last year when they kept talking about kids dying from the flu. I didn't take him out in public until he was 8 weeks old so I had serious cabin fever. If it had been a little warmer we could have gone for walks at least.

[hwin708]

Honestly, pregnancy and birth-wise, it doesn't make a difference for me. I'm either hot or cold....either way, I'm still huge, uncomfortable, and immobile.
I'd go with a winter baby, though, for the child's sake. I remember from high school and college, those with the birthdays in the summer always had the worst birthdays. Particularly for those who went away to college - you make your whole group of friends, then have to go home and spend your birthday with the two friends from high school you still talk to that are in town. Sucks.
Of course, if you have the baby too close to Christmas, the same problem occurs!

[Marisa6826]

Well, being partial to December babies ;)...

I think it depends on your personality. I happen to really hate the heat, and would have been outright miserable being huge in the summer. I know from friends that have summer babes, it's nice because you can go out and about on walks without worrying about inclement weather.

On the other hand, you're kind of trapped indoors for quite a while with winter babes because of cold and flu season.

-m

[bostonsmama]

My mom said she loved having a Spring baby, so maybe you should add another option to your poll. My siblings and I were all spring babies. It was cool enough to swaddle us and dress us in long sleeves/hats, which also allowed her to take us outside in the nice sunshine. Like PPs mentioned, it kind of allows so that babies can then do their crawling/sprawling in the warm grass in the summer. Statistically, winter babies get sick and die more frequently than summer babies (think RSV, flu, exposure, increased ear infections, etc)...but that might be antiquated advice. Whatever you choose, I'm sure there will be both benefits and risks. Best of luck.

[mharling]

I'm partial to late winter/early spring. ;)

- I love that I'm not in the third trimester in the hot summer months.
- I love that my children won't have summer birthdays (I was jealous of my friends who had birthdays during the school year). Nor will they have birthdays really close to the holidays.
- I love that we won't need to decide whether or not to have them start school when they are 5 vs. holding them back.
- I am thankful to not have a brand new baby in the bleakest days of winter. Me + toddler + newborn + being on house arrest = yuck!

I'm sure there are arguments for any time of the year, but just wanted to throw out some things I like about our particular situation. :)

Mary
Lane - April 2003
Little Miss - Due March 2!!

[urquie]

i liked having my babe in the spring... all the new life, lovely weather :)

[Melanie]

Actually, my answering would be Fall or Spring. Sorry, I guess that doesn't help!

[jubilee]

I have a winter son and a spring son- and I think spring is MUCH better! My January son never gets to have any birthday activities outdoors, it usually rains on his birthday, and being so close to Christmas he only has one special time a year. (I'm a December baby- so I also know how that is). My April baby had a wonderful first birthday with sun, a walk in the park in his new wagon, cute shortsleeved clothes as gifts. If I was going to have another baby I'd pick spring or summer because of that.

[TahliasMom]

I couldn't imagine being pregnant in summer, it gets in the low 100's in Nothern California at that time. So we had a late Spring baby and of course for the first time in 100+ years there was a heat wave in March and April. So much for staying cool when you're a whale...Anyway, we're planning out next one for March 06 if all goes according to plan. As for winter baby I would be worried about the cold weather and full season. Just my thought.
good luck

[kijip]

We loved having Toby (who was unplanned) as a summer baby and really wanted to have another summer or spring baby. However, I miscarried a pregnancy that would have been born in late April (conceived the first month we tried) and now we have had 3 months without 2 pink lines. So if we are lucky soon, we will have a fall or winter baby. I was in for a rude awakening when I realized that despite being fertile, young and healthy that I really did not get to decide!

[vikivoly]

I voted for Spring, but it probably depends on what part of the country you live. I think having a Winter baby is really hard. We get very cold winters with lots of snow and you're stuck inside, not to mention the flu season. It's much easier to bundle up a 6 month old and put them in a carseat than a newborn. Plus birthday parties are more difficult to plan because they have to be indoors.

[Elilly]

ITA as we have had babies about the same time. It's hard to cram our closest 40 relatives in our house every November for DD's b-day party. DS was a bit better - early Sept. This gave us some outside time before it got too cold. It also helped my cabin fever which was horrible with DD.

[Jeanne]

Well I'm the only vote for Fall so far. Both girls were planned for fall. Here are my reasons: didn't want to be stuck inside all winter, it rains too much in the spring for my liking, and summer is too humid and you can't put sunscreen on a newborn anyway. Fall is always dry and beautiful here on the East Coast. I work part time and didn't mind being in the 3rd trimester during the height of summer simply because I was in a frigid office 3-4 days per week. It certainly kept my utility bills down! And I don't like bulky clothes anyway when I'm that large. It was nice to wear light weight items in the 3rd. Plus I was on maternity leave clear through the holidays so it was lovely!

We're not having a third but if we were, I'd plan on another fall baby for sure!

[babymama]

I didn't specifically plan to have a fall baby, but it worked out nicely. I think the timing maximized my maternity leave from work. There are many more paid holiday days in the fall and winter (columbus day, veterens day, xmas, new years day, MLK day, presidents day) than there are in the spring, summer (memorial day, independence day, labor day). So I got to extend my maternity leave by a week bc of all the fall/winter holiday days. I hadn't thought about that before DS was born, but it was a total BONUS!

Also, I wanted to add that I am a summer baby, and I was always so dissapointed with birthdays growing up. School was out, so we didn't really have a way of tracking down my friends, and most of them were out of town during the summer. So my birthday parties were pretty much my mom's friend's kids (who weren't my age, or didn't go to my school, etc) and my family. I was always secretly jealous of people who had bdays during the school year bc they got balloons or flowers or gifts at school.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[starrynight]

I didn't vote... I have 3 kids, all born in Fall and Winter. I always wanted a spring or summer baby but no matter what it never happened that way!

Ds is the first week of Nov. dd is the last week of Sept (was due mid Oct) and other dd is second week in Feb. It's very hectic this time of year and it's constant toys and present overload because of all the bdays within a few months of christmas and then right after. Also it's much harder to stick to the only presents for bday and christmas rule because then they wouldn't get anything new at all for months on end!

My birthday is in June and it's perfect IMO, right in the middle of the year it's nice enough to have a party without being really icky outside and it's not so close to the holidays that less people come either because they have too much going on. We have run into this problem for ds's bday parties.

My brother's bday is 5 days after xmas and he hates it, he always got less growing up at xmas because of his bday being right after and people tend to combine cards and things. (like a xmas card that just says in pen at the bottom, oh happy bday too). So I suggest skipping Dec. totally if possible (unless you don't celebrate any holidays).

Spring and early fall are the nicest to bring a newborn home, it's not too hot that you have to worry about them in the heat and it's not so cold that you have to bundle them up like crazy or worry about them getting sick right away like you do in winter.

[jk3]

I'm of the "anytime is a good time" line of thought. That said, I liked having a spring baby. We were out and about from the get go. I like that my DS will not be the youngest or the oldest in his class but this was not a deciding factor.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[marinkitty]

Mia was a March baby and I think it was a wonderful time. Still cold here for those first couple of months when you aren't getting out anyway, but not really cold/flu season anymore. Then, when the baby is getting ready to be out and about the nice weather arrives and you have the entire summer and fall to enjoy before contending with the cold again. Plus, she didn't get her first real cold until she was 10 months old, the following January (which was just very lucky but I can't help but think it would have come sooner had she been a fall baby).

Our next baby will also be a March baby, more because we planned to have kids two years apart than the seasons, but I'm pretty glad it has worked out this way again.

Holly
Mom to Mia (3.17.03)
Another March baby EDD (3.22.05)

http://lilypie.com/days/050322/0/0/1/-6/.png

[steph2003]

all the things Mary said!!! I'm partial because Griffin was a February baby ~ we didn't plan it, just worked out that way!

The only downside is that even in NC it will still be too cold to do anything outside for birthday parties.

[DDowning]

I didn't vote because I didn't have a choice in the matter so I guess I'm in the "Anytime is a good time" camp. We had to go through fertility treatments to conceive both C and the new baby. It just happened the way things worked out that the first was born in June and this one will be born in February if all things continue to go well. Being in Southern California, I'm not worried about seasons too much but I do notice that I'm not as bloated this time around.

[crayonblue]

I have a December baby but DH and I think that we would like to try for a Spring baby next. We had a really harsh winter last year and I just about went crazy being house-bound for months with a newborn.

But, I will say, that it was very nice temperature wise being pregnant in the fall/winter. I walked around in short sleeves and was quite comfortable while everyone else wore coats and sweaters!

[shishamo]

I had winter, spring, and fall baby, and hands down spring baby is the way to go...it's sooo easy to get out of the house! Also, being pregnant in the fall/winter was perfect for me, I was always nice and warm!

[Tondi G]

Well Mason was a July Baby.... we were trying for a June baby but that didn't work out! July worked out great. yeah it was hot at the end of my pregnancy but his birthday parties have been outdoor BBQ's and always a lot of fun for the kids. He was 5.5 months when Christmas came around... was just sitting up on his own a bit and able to play... ended up working out great!

All the moms I know who have had 2nd (or more) babies in the winter told me NEVER again would they have another baby in the winter during cold season. One persons twins got RSV, anothers daughter got the flu along with the whole family, another's 1 or 2 week old got a cold congestion. All of them sware if they have more babies they will have a later spring through early fall baby!

Our 2nd is now due in Early May and I am thrilled..... if we have another we would definetly try for a spring/summer baby again!

Good Luck
~Tondi
Mommy to Mason 7/8/01
and lil man #2 edd 5/5/05

[amp]

Well, I've only got one baby to base this on, but I loved having a baby in May. It was perfect.

Weather was perfect...I wasn't so huge in the winter that I worried about tumbling on ice with a huge belly and I wasn't huge in the hottest part of summer either.

I loved that I didn't have to worry about cold/flu season w/ a brand newborn.

I loved that by the time he was crawling, he had his little knees covered for winter, and that by the time he was pulling up/learning to walk, he got to do a lot of it outside on the grass. He loved exploring in the spring.

I also loved that I didn't have to get out of bed a thousand times per night in the freezing cold with a newborn!

I loved having a baby whose bday would be in the spring/summer. Presents and celebrations spread out rather than all bunched together.

[kransden]

I had a fall baby on purpose. Her birthday now opens the holiday season for us. Bday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. She has had great weather for outside birthday parties.

It maximized my maternity leave.

I didn't have to go out in bad weather or visit people, or heck even buy Xmas presents. We stayed snug at home.

In the summer she wore tons of sweet baby dresses when she was sitting up. She was a late crawler so she had pants covering her knees when she needed it.

She will be one of the oldest in her class instead of the youngest.

Being pregnant in the summer didn't bother me because I was in the frozen tundra called my office. It was the ONLY time my husband ever was cold in the summer in our house. Normally he complains it is too hot.

Since I am a Dec. baby, I always tell people to avoid late Nov. thru mid Jan. if you have that luxury.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02