# Do September Babies Have an Advantage?



## Bucket

Hi girls.

When I asked Hubby why he was so set on trying for a baby in December, he sent me a couple of links, one of which was to this article:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8227268.stm

Very interesting, I thought. September babies basically get a whole extra year at home/nursery before starting school.

I'm interested to know what you all think...

Charlee xx


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## pixydust

i'm a September baby! ...its my birthday on Sunday :p lol
So, yeah, I obviously believe it's a good time for a baby :) plus both star signs in september are quite nice ones to fall into... Virgo or Libra


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## pixydust

oh and i've also read that December has the highest conception rates


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## Bucket

Yeah, I read that too. Here's hoping ;) Happy birthday by the way :)


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## pixydust

thankyou :) and good luck ;) x


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## Serene123

Perhaps, but then all children learn at different rates x


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## morri

I also heard it is the perfect time to be seen in case you want to become a professional footballer xD


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## xLisax

pixydust said:


> i'm a September baby! ...*its my birthday on Sunday  lol*So, yeah, I obviously believe it's a good time for a baby :) plus both star signs in september are quite nice ones to fall into... Virgo or Libra

I have a September baby and his 1st birthday is 27th September, so this Sunday! :happydance:

Sorry, nothing to do with OP just saw you share birthdays!

Not sure what to think about September babies having an advantage, but sure am gunna enjoy having him at home for the extra time :cloud9:

:hugs:


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## Sooz

In the same vein they are also the oldest in their school year and will sit their exams later in life than their counterparts and also be older when they finish school (I was a July baby-very young in my year, my brother an October baby- very old in his).

I actually liked being one of the youngest TBH.

ETA- Sorry if the article mentioned this, no time to read before work!


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## wannabubba#4

Well , I live in Scotland and our cut off date for schooling is Feb 28, so my youngest whos birthday is in March didn't go to school umtil he was 5 years and 5 months. However, a friend of mine really thought her LO was ready the year before and she applied to get her in early, so she was 4 years and 5 months.

IMO, Children devlelop at different stages in life and are all individuals and should therefore be treated as such, my son really needed the xtra year, due to having glue-ear and subsequent recurrent ear infections, ENT and hospital appointments and due to prolonged deafness he had speech problems too. He now is primary 3 and doing really well at school, he no longer has ENT or speech therapy, or ear infections or any deafness so it was very good for him to have another nursery year to catch up.
My friend's LO, now in High School (exams this year) likewise, loved school from the off, and has coped very well with the workload despite being the youngest in the class.

Someone else mentioned too, schools aren't so rigid nowadays with most areas individualising each child's learning, so that they can learn at their own speed and don't either get bored waiting for the rest of the class to catch up; or lag behind and get lost along the way.

xx


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## morri

I think the dtes here are not as strict in the UK though, Like you can have kids that go to school at 5 but also kids that go at 7 because they make an assessment of the child before it gets to be registered for the first year.( I can remember that assessment too)


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## fuffyburra

Lol my ex's birthday is 31st August XD He couldn't drink at the pub with us and all his other friends were 18. Poor thing lol  
I like being a June baby - I get presents every 6 months XD OH's birthday is in November, so he's a lucky one :)


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## Bucket

wannabubba#4 said:


> Someone else mentioned too, schools aren't so rigid nowadays with most areas individualising each child's learning, so that they can learn at their own speed and don't either get bored waiting for the rest of the class to catch up; or lag behind and get lost along the way.

Yeah, this is good news indeed. It's _so_ important for children of all ages to be stimulated at school. Back when I was at school, I spent a lot of time bored because learning was squarely aimed at the "average" child, when clearly such a thing doesn't really exist. I think some schools now are starting to realise that it's not just about how fast different pupils learn, but also what _style_ of learning they have. This attitude is something that will have a huge impact on which schools I choose for my children, when the time comes.


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## Purpular

I think it makes a difference. I was born in September (23 today) and did really well in school. Top set at GCSE was 60% children born between September and December and this was even more pronounced in maths. Of course it could have been coincidence.

It will never be a hard and fast rule though, children do learn at different rates, have different talents and skills and are taught things to different degrees at home.


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## Bucket

fuffyburra said:


> Lol my ex's birthday is 31st August XD He couldn't drink at the pub with us and all his other friends were 18. Poor thing lol
> I like being a June baby - I get presents every 6 months XD OH's birthday is in November, so he's a lucky one :)

I'm a November baby too and even now, I still get my mother to buy my birthday present early in the year, usually during the summer, so I don't have all my gifts at one end of the year ;) It works out well, because she usually buys me a ticket to go to a music festival. \o/


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## fuffyburra

Ahhh good plan! OH doesn't seem to even notice that he has to wait a whole year for celebrations lol. Bless 'im  
xx


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## tinkabells

I heard sept babies are the best, my lo was born in sept, there supposed to have a better learning rate, but then again all kids are different, and yeah dec is the busiest time to concieve as xmas is boring and there is noting on tv, hence why i got pregnant lol xxx


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## morri

I think it would be cool if other countires had this assessment too wouldnt it?
By the way I read a bit just now and in every state of Germany it is different but the common standard is 6 years for the first year. you can send a child earlier and later in but both types would need the assessment (which is also done with a school psychologist and a doctor)

(by the way my state (schleswig Holstein ) has a june 30 point.

Something new is now that one or two states now want to introduce a collective school starters grade which consist of the year 1 and 2 curriculum but can be finished in either 1 year or 2 or 3 years.


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## Beltane

pixydust said:


> i'm a September baby! ...its my birthday on Sunday :p lol
> So, yeah, I obviously believe it's a good time for a baby :) plus both star signs in september are quite nice ones to fall into... Virgo or Libra

I'm a Sept baby and my birthday is Sunday as well!! Yay libras!


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## PeanutBean

Wannabub, my birthday is Feb 28, would've been so different then if I'd been in Scotland!

It's interesting. Byron was born in November and his baby friend born in October. Me and his Mum were chatting about the school cut off (which is rigid here) as we essentially have an extra year with the babies at home without our free nursery places etc. The flipside is that they will be older in school but we'll be struggling financially for longer with childcare etc.

When I went to infants school I could swear that they did two intakes, one in September and one in March for the younger kids. I wonder if any still do that?


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## lozzy21

Im a september baby and i hate it.I had longer in school that my friends. I started nursary with the people in the year above me but had to stay there for an extra year. I was nearly 17 when i left secondary school yet some of my friends had just turned 16. I was 18 first so i had to wait months to be able to go out.

And TBH im not any smarter than my friends, we were in the same set's at school and there birthdays range from febuary to june. But i am more mature and have more common sence.


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## fuffyburra

PeanutBean said:


> When I went to infants school I could swear that they did two intakes, one in September and one in March for the younger kids. I wonder if any still do that?


I swear they did that at my age too, I remember my mum saying we were starting school after Easter. Then I remember some more kids being added to our class, and they ended up in the year below us (I remember because I made friends with one of them and then he was put in the year below and I cried lol).


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## PeanutBean

lozzy21 said:


> And TBH im not any smarter than my friends, we were in the same set's at school and there birthdays range from febuary to june. But i am more mature and have more common sence.

I'm February and my friends in school were all a few months older than me and I was smarter and more sensible than all of them! :rofl:

I suppose at an early age a few months can make a difference - of course as babies we see a few weeks makes a difference - but I doubt that by 16 and exam age those months will really matter. They'll still have had the same length of time in school even if it took a little to settle in initially.


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## amylk87

I'm a september baby, my bday was saturday just gone :)


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## fairygirl

I remember my mum fought to get me in the earlier intake coz I was a January baby. Most schools have one intake now. As a teacher of the smaller ones I can definitely say that we make every effort to give each child a chance to learn at their own speed, and have 'interventions' to help push them on. I am however hoping for a Autumn/Winter baby. Some children find it really hard if they are Summer babies.


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## Bucket

amylk87 said:


> I'm a september baby, my bday was saturday just gone :)

Happy birthday! I hope you did something fun...? :)


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## cdejdemommy

Don't know. In Alabama the cut off date is Oct. 1st and in some schools they even go by 6 month increments to determine which class the child would be better suited for.


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## Sarah88

I'm a jan baby and loved it. I definately didn't feel disadvantaged by it. My daughter is a sep baby :)


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## Serene123

I'm an August baby, so one of the youngest, I did well in school :)


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## kate.m.

As an (ex) teacher i agree that the level of higher achievement is skewed towards those born september to december, with the lower ability children generally being the younger ones. Of course this isnt 100% true for every child: in my final class, the brightest child was also the youngest! But, as a general rule, i have found it to be true!

I think it probably evens out as the years go on, but it is still evidenced in high school. By this point tho, i wonder if they achieve less because they have lower expectations of themselves, from having lower ability at the beginning, and not actually because of any age related statistics??

I would prefer a September baby, but im not going to avoid ttc around the "wrong" dates!


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## Bucket

kate.m. said:


> As an (ex) teacher i agree that the level of higher achievement is skewed towards those born september to december, with the lower ability children generally being the younger ones. Of course this isnt 100% true for every child: in my final class, the brightest child was also the youngest! But, as a general rule, i have found it to be true!
> 
> I think it probably evens out as the years go on, but it is still evidenced in high school. By this point tho, i wonder if they achieve less because they have lower expectations of themselves, from having lower ability at the beginning, and not actually because of any age related statistics??
> 
> I would prefer a September baby, but im not going to avoid ttc around the "wrong" dates!

This is exactly how I feel about it. I'd like to have a September baby, but it's not going to stop me TTC later this month. It may take a while, so it might work out that way anyway, who knows...


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## tasha41

Here the youngest in the class would be born Dec 31 and the oldest would be born Jan 1...

I was always a high acheiver in school and born October 31.. so 10 months younger than the potential "oldest" of the class. I actually had the highest average of my grade for awhile! I was really shy when I started school (I was 3 FFS going to school everyday!).. but my then BFF was also shy and born March 4. That's the only difference I can personally see with myself :) Personally I think going to school at THREE is awful, sure I turned four 2 months into the school year but I was still just a baby iykwim!

But then my sister is born Dec 30 and has a lower maturity level than most of her classmates and is just a big selfish idiot without a care in the world :shrug:


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