6 reasons September babies are special

School’s in, summer’s out and the PSL is back. This is a great time to come into the world, so if you’ve got a September due date you should count yourself (and your baby) lucky.

Here’s why September babies are so special:

1. They’re likely to succeed in school

A study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research found kids born this month tend to do better in school. It’s got nothing to do with the biology of fall and everything to do with how we as a society structure the school calendar.

Basically, if you’re born this month you’re probably going to be one of the oldest kids in your class, and that bodes well for academic success, because when you’re in kindergarten, 11 months can make a big difference.

2. They’re probably going to be good at sports, too

Scholastic achievement isn’t the only advantage of babies born in September. Research suggests being born this time of year also makes kids more likely to succeed on the playing field.

“With children born in the Northern Hemisphere, those born in autumn tend to have slightly bigger bone and muscle mass,” Dr. Gavin Sandercock, from the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science at Essex University told New York Magazine. “They start off with more muscle, become active earlier [and] then get involved in athletics sooner. It becomes a positive cycle.”

Previous studies on the subject suggests all the Vitamin D fall babies get while they’re still in utero might be a factor in their future sports success.

3. They’re less likely to develop bipolar disorder

According to a 2012 study published in the journal PLOS One, September babies have had lower rates of bipolar disorder in adulthood. Again, prenatal vitamin D is thought to be a factor but researchers don’t know exactly what causes this protective factor, they just know babies born this month have it. Just another interesting bit of scientific info about September’s baby’s personality.

4. They have the most popular birthday month

Your September baby has a lot of company, mama, as this month is the most popular for birthdays in America.

The trend was discovered by data journalist Matt Stiles, who combed through birth stats from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Social Security Administration collected between 1994 and 2014. He found that, statistically, mid-September is the most popular time to give birth—by far.

According to Stiles, the most common American birthdays are September 9, 19 and 12.

5. They’re probably not going to be big (or very small) at birth

Research suggests September babies aren’t going to be the biggest at birth (that’s for the summer borns), but not the smallest either (that’s for the winter babes).

6. They’re less likely to get into trouble

That same study that found September babies are likely to do well in school also found that they’re less likely to get Into trouble with the law than their August-born cousins while being more likely to get into college.

“Being an older age at school entry increases children’s college attainment and reduces the likelihood of being incarcerated for juvenile crime,” note the authors of the study, “School Starting Age and Cognitive Development.”

Sounds like September is a great month to have a birthday. No wonder it’s so popular.

A version of this post was originally published August 31, 2018. It has been updated.