How old were you when you had your first child?

Quick poll (yea I stole that from the BK thread)

How old were you when you had your first child? Or for men, how old was your wife/girlfriend when she had her first child.

Thanks for your cooperation! :-D

I'm 22 yrs old and I have no kids YET.

Theres no rush!

In fact....one study on flys show that if you wait to have children, it can slowly increase the lifespan of the population.

I was 27 when my first was born.

A little extra history..... I was 24 when I got married the first time.  It was a disaster and fortunately only lasted a year with no children. 

Current hubby, father of the first, and I have a second child who was born 2 days before my 31st birthday.

I was 17 when I had my first & 23 when I had my second. I am 32 now and For the longest time I had wished I had my kids when I was older. Now that they are getting older I am sooooooo glad I had them young (not that I promote anyone having kids at 17). I will still be young when they are grown and on their own and then I can have a life that revolves around me and my hubby & not just the kids! I mean that in a nice way...I am just looking forward to the future. I had my son 1 month after high school graduation so I never had me time ya know. it went school, baby, college, baby, more school and now finally everything is in place! On the other hand I did miss out on alot of things when I was younger so for some people they like having their fun and then settling down with the kids and stuff. For me I am glad things worked out the way they have!

I was 24 with my first, 27 with my second and 30 with my third. I'm glad I had mine when I did. Not too young, a college graduate when I got pregnant, etc. I didn't want to start having kids in my thirtys though, I want to be young enough later on to enjoy myself a little bit at least, and to be a great Grandmother to my future grandkids one day. Hmm with three girls I wonder if I'm going to be a grandmother one day.......

29 1/2

So far the average (including 2 of my co-workers) seems to me about 23.5. Lets get some more responses.

i know i don't really count since i've never been pregnant, but i'm 27 and planning to have my first child when i'm 32-35.  we'll see how things go though!

I had my first daughter on my 21st birthday, my second daughter just four and a half months ago, I am 26

I was 18 when I had my first, 20 when I had my second, 23 when I had my 3rd and 24 when I had my 4th (4 in 6 years).  It is not what I would recommend for most people, but I had such a burning desire to be a mommy that just would not go away.

Had I not my kids early, I would never had any except by adoption as I started early menopause @ age 26.  I would never have attempted having kids during menopause.

My oldest daughter had her first @ 20 and her second @ 23.  Her third was her X's "boo-boo" and she got him to raise @ age 3.  It also is a good thing she had her kids early as she had cancer @ age 34. 

My youngest daughter was almost 30 when she had her 1st.

You really can't go by what someone or and average of people have done.  It is totally individual-by-individual.  The main thing is that it is the burning desire of your heart and you have done all the running, etc. that you want to do 'cause a baby changes your life forever.

Actually I've never wanted kids because I saw what my sister went (and is going) through at such a young age, she had her first at age 20 and she really struggled with "losing her youth". Not to mention her girls are, for lack of a better term, umm difficult. So, I used her as an example to NOT have kids at an early age, but now all of a sudden I have this burning desire to get pregnant and have a baby that will not go away!! I know I really shouldn't being as I'm so young and not financially stable to raise a child but... I just can't help this feeling! I wish it would go away!!!!!

26? 27? something like that... I'll be 42 in a month, and my oldest will be 15 this fall... YIKES!

I have many friends my age who have preschoolers or just had babies.  I can't even begin to imagine going through it all again at this age. I'd probably have a lot more patience and wisdom, but no energy and I don't think my body could handle it! Plus, I really VALUE my sleep... LOL!

But when the time comes, I'm going to make an excellent grandma. :-)

May I add that you should also be in a good, stable, loving marriage (or partnership), and if not, it's really good to choose a father who's going to be involved too. Just IMHO.

My marriage failed 7 years into it, but I thank my lucky stars my ex continues to be a very involved and caring father and didn't choose to just become a paycheck or disney-land dad. Kids need fathers, and it takes more than one adult to raise a kid.

25 with my first. 26 with my second. They're awesome!

I'm waiting until I am 28 before I even start trying. It's what all the cool kids are doing now a days.  But my brother is 25 and his girlfriend is expecting in January (she is 24 and this will be her 4th).

I opted to get a puppy instead.  He's a little handful too!

Planning on having babies any time soon Kuamami?

Oh, can I just add a cute anecdote? :-)

I live in a duplex. The neighbors upstairs are a young 20-something couple and they just had their first baby. The other day, we were chatting as they were on their way out. The baby was in the car seat, which was on the ground for the moment,  and screaming her head off. The parents said that she hated her car seat and always seemed to do that, and they couldn't get her to stop. They were all frazzled.

I reached over, gave the car seat a little gentle rock... back and forth... and like magic the baby quieted down and started cooing.

Mom and dad looked at me in AMAZEMENT!! How did I do that? How did I know???

Giggle...

No matter when you first have kids - younger or later - it's normal to be all thumbs and clueless and not have these little tricks. :-)

I don't have any children yet but my boyfriend and I both want to have one, like yesterday.  We're trying to be smart about it and wait until either 1) he makes enough money where I can stay home with the kid and go to school or 2) I finish school.  I figure it will be impossible to work, care for a child and finish school.  So our goal is to start by the time I'm 30 at the latest or if we're lucky and he gets this huge promotion...a lot sooner.  I'm turning 26 next month.  It's strange....none of my friends that I grew up with have kids.  I blame it on how expensive California is, in TN it seemed that couples married way younger and had kids a lot younger as well.

Well, how bout this.....I was 15! Now, I'm 26, never been married (no other children either!), I have a degree in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry and I'm currently in graduate school. She is a straight-A honor roll student that plays basketball, soccer, volleyball and is an altar server. I wouldn't reccomend being *quite* as young as I was (Ahem), but I AM glad that I am able to participate in her life like I am (plus, I'm still young enough that I know what she's up to and what she's thinking!! LOL).

I was 23 when my daughter was born, but I would have waited longer if it was planned. ;-p

To me, 22 seems sooo young now! Weird, huh?

PS. Nani, you new avatar pic is so pretty.

Oh yeah, kudos to Michael who "logged one for the guys"!

Oy...liborykuamami. We went through this in your other thread.  See my post there.  I was just 24 when my daughter was born.

Having kids w/o money is no fun.  Although the kid'll smile at you (after being around for a month or so), you'll still have finances hanging over your head.  Not for the faint of heart or those that don't realize what a kid requires from its parents (I suppose that's everyone).

Because you seem to be going back and forth on this, I'd wait to have a kid if I were you.

There, I said it.  I'll probably regret it later.