Nov-Jan, then they’re one of the older kids in their class. I’d def avoid after feb if possible. There’s a noticeable difference in their abilities throughout elem, and it impacts how they’re treated, who their friends are, confidence levels etc

+1 for April/May In addition to everything mentioned above you can also do birthday parties outdoors (backyard, park, etc), which will save on alot of costs in the early years.

August-December. The vitamin D is important for them and for you, particularly if you tend to run low on D.

It is also helpful if your family gets fall and winter holidays leave included with work so you have extended leave/extra help during that time period and can go out and about for more activities during the late spring and summer.

Everyone in my family has a birthday on or very near a holiday. It really isn't that big of a deal. Get two gifts and don't bundle them.

I have a November baby and February baby and liked both!
November baby pros:
-you have a newborn during the holidays which for me was nice bc it gave us an excuse to stay home and have family come visit us instead of traveling like we normally would
-it was also nice having the first 4 months of baby’s life be in winter when you’re mostly cozy inside staying home more anyway. I loved snuggling and nursing my baby under a blanket/by the fire, wearing cozy clothes. I think I recovered well postpartum bc I had so much rest time during my maternity leave and if it had been during a different season I might have tried to be more active which might have led to slower recovery/less rest
-didn’t feel rushed to lose the baby weight/had plenty of time to lose it prior to bathing suit season
-wasn’t too huge and uncomfortable or so pregnant that I couldn’t travel during the summer before baby was born
-my kid will be one of the oldest in school which I like and it was nice to not even have that be a question since he wasn’t anywhere near the cut off dates

November baby cons:
-having a baby born right at beginning of flu season was a bit worrisome
-I didn’t feel this way personally but I do think some people feel very isolated during maternity leave and it is harder to get out and do things w a newborn during the winter months.
-not the best time of year for birthday parties as it’s too cold to do an outdoor party

February baby pros:
-still winter so some time to have guilt free hunkering down during newborn days but spring is coming soon so you have that to look forward to. I felt like I was finally ready to start getting out of the house w both kids right when the weather started getting nice (mid-March)
-baby born toward end of flu season so I didn’t worry as much about that once we did start getting out
-baby still will be on the older side of age for grade in school (5.5 when starting kindergarten) and again no decision making needs to be done about redshirting

February baby cons:
-could be born during a snowstorm as mine was!
-not great time of year for bday parties as it’s usually so gray and cold

I think a late September baby would be ideal. You can still have outdoor birthday parties. Depending on cut off dates, Your kid will be the oldest in their class which I personally think is ideal. Your kid will get to celebrate their birthday during the school year, which I think is nice for kids. Your kid will not share a birth month with any major holiday, so that’s great for attendance at birthday party’s and making sure your kid gets A real birthday celebration instead of some thing that gets rolled up in a Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. also nice because holidays and little kids are typically kind of time consuming, so you won’t be multitasking with planning a birthday party and celebrating a holiday. For weather considerations, it won’t be too hot or too cold, and for time and considerations, you can carry your maternity leave into the winter break. I’ve never actually had a September baby, but these are my thoughts on the issue.

I have an August, a December, and am expecting a November. I think ideal would be February but that never worked out for me.

Took 8 months to get pregnant with the August baby, a miscarriage for my planned May baby lead to a December baby, and now I know better than to plan.

March/April. You are very pregnant in the dead of winter, so you can wear cozy sweaters and leggings then when baby comes the weather is perfect for walks.

My first is a March baby. My second is September. Being pregnants in August was the worst.

I'm pregnant with my third late August baby and it's hell. I'm just a hot sweaty mess. My older kids want to sit by the pool, but it's so hard for me to run after them in the heat. I also get bad melasma while pregnant so I generally try to avoid sun exposure. I really just feel like a blob. Their summer birthday parties are hard too because it's SO hot outside, but after about 3, it's hard to host a pack of kids inside for birthdays.

I will say though that maternity leave in late September, October and November is lovely. It's hard putting a kid in daycare in late November though- they get sick nonstop until about March. And I also had zero leave for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's hard working the friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve when you have kids.

I've had end of April, beginning of October, and soon early September. Girl/girl/boy. I liked that my kids were not the oldest in their grades, but also not the youngest. My son will be one of the oldest, but since so many kids with summer birthdays are redshirted he won't be the oldest. I was a summer birthday and one of the oldest. My parents made the right decision from an academic/social standpoint, but I had to play up a year in travel soccer, which was tough, and I just always hated being the oldest.

I liked end of April best from a mat leave/personal standpoint, because I wasn't pregnant during the summer and I like to workout outside, but running in this summer heat in the third trimester is had. That said, it's nice to be able to get in shape in the fall/winter without judgement (I've had so many people yell things like "run faster" when I was trying to get back into shape a month or so after giving birth and it really sucks to hear stuff like that, especially when you are in a t-shirt and shorts and super self-conscious). Also, it's just nice to have the summer off for mat leave.

I wanted April —> June for weather/work reasons. Pulled the goalie both times so that the earliest we could have had a baby w 40 week pregnancies would be March, ended up with a May baby and a June baby. Both months are great. I appreciated not being pregnant in the middle of summer.