Decision to Induce?

I was induced with #2 at my insistence because I was miserable (one day after my due date), but I don't think I'd do it again if I had the choice. The whole process was uncomfortable and scary and she ended up needing to be pulled out with the vacuum because she was coming out the wrong way. I can't help thinking that if I had let her come out when she wanted to, I might have saved her the stress of being pulled out when she wasn't ready. Just a thought.

I do not agree with selective induction. There is a much higher risk of having a c-section which would make your recovery much longer. I don't see what the harm would be in having your little guy wait to start kindergarten. I agree with Susan about that. Boys do mature slower than girls so I do think that waiting would probably be more beneficial to him in the long run.

Please don't induce labor for convenience! My reasons for saying this are:

A "due date" is only accurate within two weeks either way (a birth 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after 9/8 in your case would be considered normal), so by going a week before 9/8 you run the risk of bringing that baby into the world up to 3 weeks early, and
the incidence of "preemie" related physical problems in babies has escalated because of an increase in induced labors and elective C-sections combined with wrong date "guesses" by doctors.

Every mother that I've heard from who has been induced has had a long, painful, difficult, or complicated delivery (including some unplanned C-sections.)

Birth is a natural process, if we let it be! Babies know when they are ready to be born, they've been doing this by themselves for all of human history.

The school start "issue" is overblown and your child will do fine whether they start school at 5 or 6, younger kids in the class catch up quickly, use your own judgement based on the individual child. And there are great pre-schools if s/he misses the cut-off.

Please just relax and enjoy the birth and arrival of your second child and everything else will work out.

My daughter was born on the third of September. We decided that she was more than ready, so all we had to do was some extra paper work for early enrollment.

If your child had a Sept 1. birthday the child will not likely be ready to start. They would be the youngest in the class and would likely struggle. Better for them to be the oldest then the youngest.

If they had a Sept 2 or later birthday you can still get them in at age 4, you just have to take some tests to evaluate whether they are ready or not.

Since you're asking for advice...I'm not a fan of messing with such a fateful process (birth) just to make it more convenient. Crazy as it sounds, I think there's a connection between a person's birthday and personality (as do many people - hence the popularity of horoscopes, numerology, etc).
As for school, unless you come from a long line of genius minds, it would do the kid more good to be the oldest than the youngest in his class. I'm a junior high school counselor and have been a witness to some of the huge differences (physically, academically, and emotionally) between each year. Girls mature faster than boys (typically), so it would be easier for a girl to be younger than her peers than for a boy (especially when they start "dating", as age is a really big deal for teenagers).
Just my "two cents" worth. :)

Just to let you know, I was induced a week early and I would NOT do it again. There was not really a good reason, except that I was having so many Braxton Hicks that I could not sleep. Anyway, labor is WAY intense when you're on Pitocin. Mine went fine, but I decided I wish I had not played "God." I think for the most part, a baby is meant to stay in there until the mom/baby are ready. Why waste the chance for all systems to fully develop, and why add drugs you do not need? Just think about it. It is way more convenient to plan the birth, but I will never know if my son was fussy because he was going to be, or because we brought him into the world early.

Also, I would not plan the birth for school reasons. Pretty much any teacher will recommend you hold a child back if they are close to the cut off. We have to decide that for my son, since he was born in August. I would rather not have the option. Give your child the benefit of being older in class versus younger. You can always find programs, classes, etc to challenge him/her until school starts.

Hope this helps. If you are set on inducing early, it is considered safe to go a week ahead. If the baby is large, they will sometimes just do this to help you out. I'm not sure they will do it any earlier for a nonmedical reason. Good luck with what you decide.

OMG! You would think you were asking when to schedule a haircut!

Wow.

Good Morning! As a teacher who taught kindergarten for ten years I can let you know that most districts are very strict on the start date because there are so many kids entering school each year and with less and less money the classes get bigger and bigger. Some schools will test your child and put them on a waiting list but most will never get in because the classes are already full with children who turn five on or before Sept 1. Also just a bit of information about most teachers I know. If there own child is born in May or after they will hold them back. Hope this Helps!

I just read that the Anoka-Hennepin district has started allowing you to apply for "early" admission if your child will be 5 before 10/31. If you know you are going to be staying where you live now, maybe call the district to see if this is an option. Then you at least know if you can take this issue off the table in deciding when to induce.

some schools now are letting kids born Sept 1-OCt. 31 start early if they pass a kindergarten readiness test. I know Anoka-Hennepin has started this. I would not create complications and worry about a start date for kindergarten. In my experience as a teacher, Waiting to send a summer birthday child is never a bad thing. You may regret sending them early, but I don't think you'd ever regret holding them one more year. good luck!