In your opinion, is 26 "young" to have a first baby?

[Anonymous]

it's young for this area, but definitely not too young. (i wish i had had my first at 26 instead of 39!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pregnant with my first and just starting to announce and people are surprised and saying I'm "really" young to be having a baby. I'm 26 and married, not 17! We both have good jobs and I'll be returning to work after the birth.

No matter when you're pregnant, people will always have some form of commentary about it. Actually, people will always have some sort of commentary about your pregnancy the entire time you're pregnant, and then they were I'll have a running commentary about your parenting. So, I'd say rather tongue in cheek - welcome to being a parent

Signed -40 year old who is apparently so old to be starting a family and should have just stayed DINKs

No matter when. No matter when. It's always the wrong time. Too old. Too young.

Congrats on the baby, OP. Tune out the haters. There will always be haters. Learn not to listen. The judgement train is coming. Wishing you fairy-magic ear plugs!

[Anonymous]

I think it's kind of immature to be affected by other people thinking you are too young, regardless of your age.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to have my first at 26 and be done with kids by the time I turned 30. I'm from the South, and having babies in your late twenties is the norm. Due to infertility it didn't work out the way I had hoped, and I had my first and likely only at 34. I am incredibly grateful to have a child, but I also envy the pregnant 26-year olds like OP! Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

I had my second at 26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DC area, yes, 26 is young. Absolutely nothing wrong with it and not truly "young", but yeah I think some people will make that comment to you. Not our of malice, just that they more often see moms in their mid 30's around here.

I started at 35 - be glad your life lined up for you to do it younger! Trust me! Wishing you happy pregs and happy babe.

Agree with this. Biologically it's far better than having kids in your 30s, which many women do because they got married late and/or needed to establish professional careers. If you don't have the marriage issue and have already established your career (or are not worried about doing so), I think it's great to have kids that early.

Yeah, if I had met my husband when I was younger, I would have had kids younger. I didn't, so I didn't. 26 doesn't seem that young to me. Early 20s would, but mid- to late 20s? Nah.

[Anonymous]

At 26, I was in grad school, dating different guys, had a huge group of friends, went out all the time, and largely did whatever I felt like whenever I wanted - tons of weekend trips and spontaneous travel.

It's certainly possible I was immature, but that's what all my friends were doing too. No regrets. Great time of my life.

So yes, for me, I can't even imagine having a baby at 26. I wouldn't have been ready or happy doing it at that time in my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to have my first at 26 and be done with kids by the time I turned 30. I'm from the South, and having babies in your late twenties is the norm. Due to infertility it didn't work out the way I had hoped, and I had my first and likely only at 34. I am incredibly grateful to have a child, but I also envy the pregnant 26-year olds like OP! Congratulations!

Sorry, meant to say "be done having kids (no more pregnancies) after 30"

[Anonymous]

Yes, if you're having one or two. If you're planning on having three or more, then it's not too young.

But it shouldn't matter to you, if you and dh are happy and ready then that's what matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 26, I was in grad school, dating different guys, had a huge group of friends, went out all the time, and largely did whatever I felt like whenever I wanted - tons of weekend trips and spontaneous travel.

It's certainly possible I was immature, but that's what all my friends were doing too. No regrets. Great time of my life.

So yes, for me, I can't even imagine having a baby at 26. I wouldn't have been ready or happy doing it at that time in my life.

This.

[Anonymous]

I had my first at 27, and felt very young for this area, and didn't have any friends here or from growing up have kids until they were closer to 30-34.

[Anonymous]

Not at all, depending on where you are in your life. If you are married and ready, then it can be perfect. You'll be in a great place when your kids are grown, and have lots of time with grandkids.

[Anonymous]

It's so dependent on geography/social circles. My DH was considered positively geriatric when we had a baby at 38. His mom turned 40 when we were in college. I think of this pretty wistfully as I chase a toddler around at 40. Whatever works, there is no right answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion, yes its young. My sister had her kids young (started at 26) and now she is late 40s with an empty nest. She is highly educated and she and her DH live in a wealthy area (not DC). The major downside, she says, is that they are so out of step with their friends from college in terms of life phases that they lost touch with most of them and she says they are always the youngest parents in any setting, in some cases by 10+ years. So she's found it difficult, at times, to connect with parents of other kids.

Should she have delayed having kids so she can connect better with other parents? That's lunacy.

I don't know. Probably not. I was relaying her experience, which I don't think is so unique and is real. For me, my friends and community are a big part of my life and its made it more enjoyable to go through similar stages of life with good friends. That's it. Just an observation. And I'm not the first person on this board to observe that younger parents sometimes have trouble connecting with older parents and vice versa.

[Anonymous]

This is one of those 'it's all relative' questions.

I lived in NW DC when I had my first at 29. I was 'young' for that area. I have a group of friends from all over the country and amongst that group I am average to old.

So the answer is 'it depends'.