I just googled "August Baby"

ReadyForaB

... And I was somewhat shocked to see the results. Website upon website, article upon article claiming August is the worst month to have a baby as they will be the youngest in their class and therefore, do worse socially and academically. I am a late July baby and I have never felt this way. I always did very well in school and in my social life. Has anyone been faced with comments about the timing of our little ones? Thoughts?

MamaC2b2011

lol the internet can be so ridiculous. i have two july girls. we are a homeschooling/unschooling family for the time being so while this doesn't concern me in the slightest, I do think this is an obnoxious conclusion. 

artcheese

Yes. We actually really didn't want an August baby and will most likely hold them back a year before they start kindergarten.

Stephanie7693

My daughter is September... I think that's worse as she is the oldest. Which means she will do everything before her friends and turn 18 the week she starts her senior year. Not ideal if she feels the need to drop out. I think august is better, they may be the youngest but I don't think it will hurt them. I'm June 30th, and I didn't mind being one of the youngest

amandoza23

My husband's birthday is August 2nd and his sister's is August 4th. He started late, being the oldest in the class and she started on time, being the youngest. They both performed about the same academically and socially.

JenniferMasters

My husband and I feel that how our child develops in school depends greatly on the child. We both loved learning and associated most closely with our intellectual peers so being held back would have been frustrating for us. I plan to spend a lot of one on one learning time with my child leading up to school then gauge what the best educational fit would be

Elm1214

DD1 has an end of August birthday and I hate it for school reasons. It meant I was down to the wire to make sure she was fully potty trained right at 3 to start preschool. And here our school cut off is August 1, so I have to decide if she seems ready to try to test in early or have her start kindergarten when she turns 6. I mean, she's worth all the hassle. But I can't lie and say I'm not hoping this one comes a few days early at the end of July so I don't have to worry about school cut offs. But in the grand scheme of things, not really a big deal.

Elm1214

Oh and also, I have an end of October birthday and started school at 4 because the cut off was 10/31, and I never had any problems socially or academically. Things vary so much by individual child so I really wouldn't worry about it now.

kiwico14

As a high school teacher, I see more students struggle with being older for their grade than being young. It does create some awkwardness when you have an older junior/senior in classes of 16/17-year-olds because there's such a big jump in maturity. I was an August 3 baby, and I am so grateful my parents enrolled me in kindergarten when I turned 5. However, there are definitely kids who just aren't ready for school at that point. It depends on the kid and the parents.

ThePax89

Haha. Yes. We were originally aiming for a September baby for this reason. My daughter is an October baby, so her little sibling will be just 1 year apart from her in school despite being 22 mo apart.

StephLouise35

Here in Australia my baby will have to wait a whole extra year to start school just because he/she will be born after June 31st.. I don't think this is fair but I know my baby will be more ready for school. Google is mean..

jmknox

As an August 23rd baby myself And I was always the youngest in everything. I feel like I excelled just as well as my older classmates.

bluesky24

Umm this is the silliest thing I've ever heard. Our cut off was 12/31, I'm a late December baby and always excelled. I wouldn't ever let something like this bother you.

ZedPM3

It really depends on the child. I was born in July, so therefore I was one of the youngest kids in the class. I was ahead of most people physically (I was always the tallest and I hit puberty first), emotionally/mentally, and from a learning perspective. Don't let this trouble you!

Bookhousegirl

Cut offs are different everywhere. Here it's December. And private schools tend to be even earlier than August (at least around here). I'm an October birthday and I was young for my class. I always did really well both academically and socially so I think it really just depends on each kid.

Sabrina000216

I have an August 2000 and July 2002 boys and they do really well in school and always have....I wouldn't worry.

BooksForMe23

I'm a Kindergarten teacher, and I see plenty of summer babies who are ready and plenty of summer babies who are not.  It really just depends on the individual kid.  My least mature student in my class this year is a December baby, so clearly there are other factors at play.  I wasn't exactly ecstatic over an August EDD just because that means I'll miss the beginning of a school year.

ThisAgain

I feel like this is one of those "cross that bridge when you get there" situations. Meaning by the time you are ready to decide to enroll them in school, you will know your child well enough to know if they are ready or not for school. Not to mention preschool. Performance in preschool will also help you decide it they should stay longer or move ahead with the rest of their class. It's just way too early to even start worrying about this yet. I'm here just trying to get through the first trimester successfully.

cait5413

My birthday is Sept 1; I was usually the youngest in my class, and I was high school valedictorian and had great friends. 

All kids are different. This is bull. 

ashleybaker712

I'm an August baby and I loved being one of the young ones. DH is end of June and always did really well, too. It didn't matter that we were younger. Our age cutoff is 9/30 and I'm concerned that will change before my DS, 9/16, is enrolled. I don't want him being one of the oldest kids. If he's ready, he's going.

runsoncoffee

I am an early August baby and I was held back to start Kindergarten when I was 6 so I was one of the oldest in my class and I loved it, I was the designated chauffeur when I got my license. I also never had any issues in school, academically or socially. Three of my best friends were also August babies and they were some of the youngest in our class and again they all excelled socially and academically, so I don't really see this as an issue at all. You make the decision you think is best for your child when the time comes regarding when to start school.

SheHulk723

That's just silly.  I was skipped from kindergarten to 1st grade part way through the year, so I was always the youngest kid in all my classes.  I was a straight A, advanced student and had tons of friends.  I graduated at 17 and opened my own business before I turned 18, which I've now owned for almost 6 years.  Being young isn't a bad thing.

charmedlifex3

... It also depends on what part of the country you are in. In Texas the cutoff is August 1, so any August babies would be the oldest in their class. In New England the cut off is Jan 1, so August babies would be young, but not the youngest. The officials at the school I went to kindergarten at wanted to red shirt me,  but my mom didn't because she knew we would be moving to CT in a year or so.  

As a late July baby, I never felt younger than any of my class mates until I got to college. My mom explained to me why many of the freshman were 19, when I was 17 - because of exactly what you mentioned.   It still wasn't a big deal. I was not ready for college, and ended up taking some time off,  but it was more my maturity level than my age. I wasn't really ready for college until 23, lol!

Also don't forget - as a parent, you have some control. If your LO is right on the cusp, hold them back. Or send them if they are ready.

lalalorelai

Are these scientific articles, or just blog posts or people's opinions about August babies? There's a huge difference. 

Regardless I'm not going to let this bother me. There are so many factors that affect social and academic well-being that a birth month isn't going to make that much of a difference. 

charmedlifex3

lalalorelai  there have been studies done in Canada about the success of children who are older *relative to their peers* and success, and in general the success they see in life, but it was not specific to August babies. In fact I think the study looked at January as older children, and December as the younger, in comparison to Hockey. I could see that study being translated to August babies with a Sept 1 cutoff.

Here is a summary :

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/beyond-the-pros-and-cons-of-redshirting/401159/ 

1faceinacrowd

Oh that's silly!

I was born on September 9th, back when the "cutoff" was that kids had to be 5 by October 1st, so I was 4 when I started kindergarten and always the youngest in my class. I was always very social, outgoing, and I did really well in school. On the other end of the spectrum, my brother was born in July and my  mom didn't start him in Kindergarten until he was 6 because he wasn't ready at 5. He was very social but didn't do well academically. We both grew up and turned out well. I think it's more about how you're raised than when you're born.

mimihatesyou

lalalorelai said:

There are so many factors that affect social and academic well-being that a birth month isn't going to make that much of a difference. 

totally agreed.  i think there's so much more that goes into a child's social and academic confidence than age alone.

not to be gross or self-laudatory, but i skipped several grades when i first began attending school in america and went off to college at age 15.  i finished my bachelor's at 19 with a head start on both my career and grad school, and i couldn't be more thankful to my parents who made the decision to put me on the academic fast track from an early age.  it's always a bit weird to me when my friends express concerns about having their child be among the youngest in their grade and actively plan to hold them back.

Mrsrundell

My DH and myself are both August born and everything went fine. I liked being on the younger side during school. All of our babies will be super geniuses with a ton of friends so it doesn't really apply to any of us anyway

charmedlifex3

@Mrsrundell - Totally.

Kristin712

As a pediatric speech-language pathologist and someone who has worked in the schools, my general opinion is that all of the concerns you found are incredibly valid. Even if an August baby is ready academically, often their little bodies just physically can't handle the school day (attention span, needing a nap). Yes, their social skills are often not as advanced.

I do think though that it is 100% a decision that needs to be made on an individual basis. Some kids can be ready, while others may need that extra year before starting kindergarten. DH and I know there is a strong possibility we will be waiting that extra year and enrolling when LO turns six in August. That decision will officially be made though when the time comes and will depend on LO's cognitive and physical ability to handle school full-time.