We dicussed benefits of December... Drawbacks anyone?

LittleMotherTucker

There's also the fact that since they are born in December, they will start kindergarten a year later than their similar-aged counterparts. But, they will also be the tallest in their class, lol

kath16

richardsj2 said:

LittleMotherTucker said:

There's also the fact that since they are born in December, they will start kindergarten a year later than their similar-aged counterparts. But, they will also be the tallest in their class, lol

I'm a November baby and I really think I did well in school because of this reason. I was almost a year older than most of the kids I went to school with. I just think of it as extra time to mature and develop before starting school. DH and I had considered intentionally waiting to send our kids b/c this was the case for both of us... Guess we just got lucky with December

Ehh ... I was the opposite. We'll never know, but I think I was more mature than most kids my age because I went to school with kids who were a year older. I also played sports with kids a year older because I wanted to play with all my friends, and by the time I got to "competitive" sports where I played with girls my own age, I felt that I had an advantage. 

ANYWAY we'll never agree on this, but just wanted to give another perspective. My H and I went to high school together - I was the youngest in our class and he was the oldest. So I think we're going to "duke it out" if our kid has options.

MAMAxB

My birthday is ON Christmas Day. My parents were always really good about presents. Christmas morning there would be a few presents wrapped in Birthday paper that I got to open before we did stockings. 

I'm not worried about this one. We'll probably still travel for Thanksgiving (not due until 12/19) and if baby is at least 2 weeks old we'll probably be crazy and travel for Christmas too. I love visiting my ILs though (my family is local).

There is a ridiculous amount of December birthdays in my family though. I have 4 nieces/nephews in December, myself, my MIL, my SIL, and two more nieces in November. We just do "month parties" - you have to with big families anyways  

MAMAxB

Oh, I'll also add - when I was the ages to care (5-12?) my parents would do a "half birthday party" in June. It was great because we would just be out of school and have the first pool party of the year to celebrate.

MAMAxB

The only "drawback" I can think of is that we hand make every.single.Christmas.present. So I am going to be have to be SUPER on top of my game this year and start extra early!

AngelSong76

This time of year seems to be big with my family, for some reason.

August - my niece's birthday

September - my son's birthday

October - our anniversary and my nephew's birthday

November - my birthday and my mom's birthday

December - this baby's birthday

January - my sister's birthday

February - my husband's birthday

And then there's a span of a few months with nothing except my dad's birthday and their anniversary in June.  Oh well, good to get it all out of the way, I guess.

Lauradi1010

 Most of my family lives about 2 hrs away.  We usually go there for Christmas eve and then travel back for H's family on Christmas day. I don't want to spend 2 days straight with H's family.  I love them and all, but not sure I could handle 8+ hours on two separate days..  I'd prefer to do my own thing Christmas morning instead of running straight to in-laws like we normally do.  It's a strong possibility I will either A) still be pregnant or have a newborn. 

Additionally, who plays games and gives "prizes" on Christmas?  My SIL does this, but it's a messy disaster.  I don't see the point of prizes if everyone is getting presents already.  It's a bit overkill.  I'm not sure I'll be able to hold my tongue if I get annoyed at the holidays. 

BTW, I'm also afraid of craptastic winter like this past year.  We live near the hospital, but will be moving and it will be a bit farther away. 

ZAP12

The only thing I worry about is that December is a really stressful time for me. I worry that I won't be as present during this baby's birthday as I am in May when it's not as crazy. But maybe since I'm already feeling this way, I'll get it figured out!

pjswife

With the birthday thing, I don't know, I view it more as a benefit.  My birthday is July 23rd and growing up, everyone would ALWAYS be gone on vacations, etc.  With a holiday birthday, friends and family tend to be home.  It is also always brutally hot on my B day and I'm looking forward to not having my kid deal with that.  My mom's b day is also 12-21, my EDD is 12-18, so it could be fun for them to have similar or the same birthday.

erynpdx

My birthday is 12/21, and I always swore I would do my best to NOT have a December baby.  Oh universe, you're hilarious!

In my experience my parents always did a great job of celebrating my birthday, it was more about everyone traveling for the holidays and not being around for parties.  And for some reason there is nothing so irritating as birthday presents in Christmas wrapping paper.

Anyhoo, in the end this is absolutely the best month for me to have a baby workwise, we close from the 20-3rd, and January is the slowest month of the year, so that's nice, and I figure it's just one more thing to celebrate in this super festive month.  But might start celebrating half birthdays from the get-go.

DivaMom19

It sucks. I have a December baby already. Christmas Eve to be exact and thinking of parties is a disaster. Lol. We usually try and do 2 weeks before. Now another December baby. I can't even think straight

emucoleman

I couldn't really think of any drawbacks until I read this thread and now I'm worried about ice. I walk a lot as part of my everyday life and I would be really worried about falling. We had a lot of snow and ice this past December in my area...hopefully we have a late winter this year. 

I know a lot of people who have December birthdays don't like them, but if my kid didn't like it then I don't see why we couldn't celebrate on his/her half-birthday instead. 

For the most part, I love the idea of having a December baby. My anniversary and my parents' anniversary are both in December, and it's my favorite time of year. Also, my due date based on my LMP (which is probably wrong, but still cool for now) is the same day as my DH's mother's birthday. She also passed away in December so I like to have lots of things to celebrate during that month so it can be a happier month for DH. I feel like having a December baby was just meant to be for us. 

murphy420

I can't think of one draw back. I will make the most of every situation, even though I will be exhausted. I think I am more fearful of summer, slightly larger with the heat, swelling, sweaty....blech. My precious pregnancy was perfect, conceived in June..born in March. Missed summer and get to wear giant comfy sweaters through the winter. Think I'll buy a little pool to sit in all summer.

MaggieN2028

I'm thinking I might get into doing the half birthday party thing. We'll celebrate in December too but as they get older half birthday parties in June with their friends. We have no holiday birthdays in our family right now so it'll be interesting!

MrsT1108

This post kills me. I wish you could go back and read Dec '12 old posts about people listing "pro's and con's" of "holiday babies". Seriously folks there are no drawbacks. Every single one of you needs to get over it. I already feel bad for your children.

BrittanyDoesDerby

TBH the worst part of having a baby in December wasn't about the Christmas/Birthday bs that everyone was so worried about that someone complained about it every other week on our BMB. It was having a tiny baby in the beginning of a long fucking winter and being stuck inside with raging hormones. Also, if you breastfeed, getting hard nips from the cold hurts like hell when they're all sore from nursing a newborn. Definitely wasn't worried about missing a Christmas feast or whatever.. though being five hours away from family was not that great, I'm pretty sure that sucks all the same no matter what month you birth a kid in.

LeviJeans

MrsT1108 said:

This post kills me. I wish you could go back and read Dec '12 old posts about people listing "pro's and con's" of "holiday babies".
Seriously folks there are no drawbacks. Every single one of you needs to get over it. I already feel bad for your children.

Really? "I already feel bad for your children?" That's rude

ETA: isn't that a bingo square, ladies?

MrsT1108

Hooray to you for catching on! And soon posts like these can be added to your bingo cards too! No not rude. What's rude are all the bitches on this post being all concerned about having their baby sharing their birthday with baby Jesus and getting the shaft.

beachy6

LupeVallejo said:

MrsT1108 said:

Posting from Dec '12 Seriously, stop thinking about your child's birthday and the holidays. My son was born 5 days before Christmas. If you put your brain into it, it's not hard to make sure your child doesn't feel "shafted". Also as far as combining Christmas and birthday gifts is just messed up. Here's a first clue, don't use Christmas wrapping paper for his/her birthday wrapping paper! Also, once the child gets old enough, give them the option to possibly celebrate their birthday say on their half birthday, this gives them the chance to do something out doors. First and foremost just be thankful you are pregnant. If there are any of you truly thinking "oh my gosh my kid is going to compete with baby Jesus", you should have planned getting KU a little better.

THIS… exactly.

Quit your bitching!  I'm hoping and praying so hard for a December baby I can bring home and hold in my arms.  Period.

This might be a hormone related rant, but first, I have planned getting "KU" (I despise that description because I am pregnant, not "knocked up"/KU) I have planned it like no other. For a decade. However, we are all still allowed to have trepidations as to when the actual date of birth might be. I live in an area where we get a ton of snow, so travel is difficult. Would this make me plan my IVF differently. Hell no. I'm so happy to be where I am now, nor did I hear anyone bitching, just listing pros vs. cons.  Not one person said they were ungrateful or sad they were sharing a birthday with "baby Jesus" as stated in a pp. This is just asinine.

Also, my son has a Summer birthday. We worry about that also. Does this make me ungrateful and a horrible mother/person. Absolutely not! His friends can't come to his parties because they are on vacation. Explain that to a 10 year old and tell me again to not take the timing of birthdays as something to ponder how to deal with.

Everyone take a deep breath and calm the hell down! It's merely conversation. No need to attack because your opinions differ from others. Yikes.

JunkieBrewster

*shrug*

I am not too worried about it. I will junk punch anyone who brings my kid Birthday presents wrapped in Christmas paper and honestly, I think we'd probably just do half birthdays, anyway.