The Economics of a Delayed Baby

Most of us want to have kid(s) at some point in our lives. Although, financially, it never quite feels like the right time. There's also the fear of "being ready" along with the worry that you need to get your career situation set up first before a kid comes and wrecks everything. And we keep putting it off.
Is this classic short-term vs. long-term thinking?

Would I have been better off having kids right out of college, struggling to figure out a way to make it happen, but be 5 years ahead of the game by now? Then, when my kids are adults, I'm only 40. And this is actually the time in one's career where you probably have a role with more responsibility that you need to have more time for.

Are we doing this backwards?