You're a year older than you think

[angryChineseKahanist]

My grandmother and other relatives always calculate my age a year older.
So, if a child's birth certificate says he is 5 years old, my elders would argue that he is 6.
The start calculating at conception.
So, a new-born is already 1.

[mord]

You see qurananimals are worse then rodents, 

[muman613]

My grandmother and other relatives always calculate my age a year older.
So, if a child's birth certificate says he is 5 years old, my elders would argue that he is 6.
The start calculating at conception.
So, a new-born is already 1.

That is odd... The Birth day is calculated from the date of birth, not from the date of conception. Would it not be called the conception date and not the 'birth' date?

[angryChineseKahanist]

Yeah, it would actually be nine months.
They just add a year at birth.
Its obscured and passed down verbally.
But you know, after conception, the fetus IS alive.
Maybe that's why.

[HiWarp]

Yeah, it would actually be nine months.
They just add a year at birth.
Its obscured and passed down verbally.
But you know, after conception, the fetus IS alive.
Maybe that's why.

I used to have this debate with my parents all the time when I was young. The way they explained it is that from the time you're born until you reach the end of your first year you are in your first year of life, therefore you are 1. Between the beginning of your second year and the end of your second year you are in your second year of life, therefore you are 2. And so on. So they would consider someone who is 1 year and 1 month old to be 2 because they are in their second year of life. I know at that young age most people use months to convey the age of their children but as you get older I don't know of anyone who says I'm 33 years and 4 months old. That may be what your relatives are doing.

I suppose if you really wanted to be specific you could split the difference, i.e. at 33 years and 182 days call yourself 33 years old and at 33 years and 183 days call yourself 34 years old. But then you'd have to factor in leap years and at that point you'd probably win the anal-retentive individual of the year award.

[Rubystars]

I've always thought that saying you're one year old after one year of birth, two years old until 2 years after birth, etc. is fine. I do think we need to acknowledge as a society though that it's only counting from birth, it's not counting from when you were first alive.

I've always thought there was a problem in a way with counting from birth for premature children. Their actual age is younger than their birthday would indicate, and so they don't necessarily reach "age milestones" at the same time as other kids. This isn't necessarily because of problems in the womb, but it could just be that they are actually a month or two younger than a child that should have reached a certain milestone at their "age".