Does the season in which you are born affect you or are all seasons pretty equal? It turns out that there are many ways in which the your child's birth season could give you an insight into things to come. Whether you are expecting a baby in the next few months or you have a spring kiddie at home, here are some fascinating facts about spring babies.
Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal and spring babies may be sunnier than other babies but they are also at higher risk of certain diseases. There has been a lot of research on babies born during specific months, but each study mentions a similar caveat — sometimes it's hard to account for all the other variables and figure out why something is true, not just that it is. For example, spring babies are at higher risk for some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression, according to the Independent. But is this due to the amount of sun the pregnant woman got in her last trimester? The amount of sun a newborn gets? Too much or too little Vitamin D? The different foods that are available each season? It's hard to know. Similarly, when they talk about achievement in children, some researchers posit that it's because of the child's age relative to the others in their class (so the child who is the youngest in their grade, versus the oldest). The problem with the latter that is there are different school cutoff dates in each state and often in each school district, so birth month data is meaningless.
Regardless of the "why" in all of this, it's interesting to see the trends in birth data and what types of tendencies spring babies have. No need for radical changes in diet or to suddenly make sure your baby is outside 24/7 so they get enough Vitamin D. With all of this info, there are still good chances that your baby's path has nothing to do with any of these.
1They are more optimistic
Spring babies are totally "glass half full" people. Researchers in Hungary found that people who are born in springtime were "more likely to have a “'hyperthymic temperament', a characteristic associated with being overly positive," according to the Huffington Post. Not only are they more upbeat and optimistic, but being that way could even give them stronger immune systems. It's a win-win.
2They could have higher risk of heart disease
Keep an eye on your spring babies, especially those born in March. In a study that analyzed health data from 1.7 million people, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center found, "Babies born in March faced the highest risk for heart problems including atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and mitral valve disorder," the Huffington Post reported. But don't panic just yet —while researchers have identified the group possibly at risk, they don't really know exactly why the heart disease is caused, so it's not necessary to do anything differently.
3They are more likely to be CEOs
Do you envision your baby running a big company one day? A study conducted by researchers in China, Singapore and Canada analyzed birth data of 375 CEOs and found that March and April babies have the highest rates of being the top dog at their company, as reported in Time.
4They are more likely to be anorexic
Seems odd that the season you are born would affect having an eating disorder, but researchers at Oxford University found that spring babies were 15 percent more likely to have anorexia, as reported in the Independent. In searching for a cause, lead researcher Lahiru Handunnetthi of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, told the Independent that, "During the last trimester of pregnancy, neuronal development takes place, so it may be that maternal nutrition has an impact on the development of psychiatric and neurological disorders. We get different seasonal foods – less fresh vegetables in winter, for example – and people eat different types of food."
5They are less likely to develop allergies
No need to stock up on Kleenex and Benadryl for your spring babies. Researchers in the United Kingdom found epigenetic markers (these are the things that help cells read DNA) that indicated an individual was susceptible to seasonal allergies and combined that with how many of the people actually had allergies at several different ages. Spring babies tended to have less markers and less actual allergies, according to LiveScience.
6They are more likely to prefer a later bedtime
Is your spring baby keeping you up late every night? It could be related to when they were born. Researchers in Spain and Italy found a correlation between season of birth and sleep habits, hypothesizing that spring babies (and summer ones, too) had internal clocks with longer days compared to their fall and winter friends.
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