Oh no, don't tell me that! We're at 9mos and have been in a 4mo regression for 5mos. We got 2 magical nights where she slept through and its been chaos every other night.
Yep 2.5-3 has been magical. When I look at newborn photos of my son it honestly looks like he feels trapped in his own body, and lord was he not happy about it haha
Iām desperately hoping my 1 year old daughter will be this way lol. She craves independence SO much yet has always refused containers (bouncers, swings, strollers, baby wearing, etc). With age sheās gotten much happier, but Iām excited to see her bloom as sheās able to more and more physically!
I'm sure she will be. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to wait for your body to catch up with your brain. Also really fascinating to watch the really big emotions being expressed, and how the coping mechanisms develop along with them.
Glad I'm not the the only one with a kid who categorically rejects containers of all kinds (wraps, carriers, strollers, etc).
With my near 2 year old what works for me is a tush baby to carry him when he needs to be carried and letting him walk otherwise.Ā
Same for me. The lack of sleep in the newborn and infant days was so hard for me, plus the constant physical stimulation from needing to be held a lot and breastfeeding. Sure, we deal with meltdowns and whatnot, but for me it's so much more manageable than with an infant that can't verbalize anything.
Mine was a nightmare until 1, and she slept horribly till 18months when she suddenly started sleeping through (1-2hrly wakes for 1.5 years was torture). Toddler tantrums are grating at times but nothing will compare to that first 12-18 months.
For me, definitely the first eight weeks. That may be different depending how difficult the birth is physically, whether the baby takes to nursing easily, if you have support, etc. Iād had major surgery, couldnāt sleep, was triple feeding every 2-3 hours to build milk supply, and dealing with PPA. I was not in the mood to explain my parenting choices, hear everyoneās advice, or receive visitors. It was sheer survival.
Everything you just said. yes! And I had to go back to work at 8 weeks. I went from one survival mode, right into another
Thankfully, I work from home.
Iām in such agreement. I think the first two months are so hard and then it just gets better & better. My first is 2.5 now and my second 4 months. Gosh, I just love watching them grow!
I found 3-6 months the first 'hard' bit - they are awake enough to want all kinds of things, but no physical ability to do so. Improves once more 'cognitive' and sitting/eating/touching things.
Then again 8 months-12 months - they are now physically able to do more, but not EVERYTHING making them way more 'work' to keep busy. Improves once walking.
Finally 18 months - 22 months - the toddler tantrums started and no ability to communicate needs. Improves once talking.
This! Mine is 11 months. I feel like Iām the only one who feels like crawling made things easier. Sheās getting good at standing and Iām super excited for her to walk. But she did a good stretch where she could stay sitting up if I got her there, but she couldnāt sit up herself and she constantly wanted me to prop her up.
I found walking and crawling relieved so much pressure from us. Once that happens there's an 'easier' period again until they want the next big development.
same! my baby is 10 months and im so happy she is not frustrated all the time because she can sit up herself and crawl ( if we can call it that lol) its so much easier and thankfully its summer and we dont have to hold her outside she can chill
on a blanket pr crawl around the grass
the only thing that still sucks is that she points now on what she wants since she cant talk with both gey frustrated from time to time because i dont know what she wants like i just know i put on the wrong song i can see it in her faceš
I felt the newborn stage was the hardest (about the first 3 months but especially the first month). The sleep deprivation was horrible (he would only sleep in someone's arms). Learning breastfeeding was extremely hard as well. I also think just the adjustment of going from no children to having the biggest responsibility in the world was significant for me too.
For me it was the first eight months. Very very velcroed child who was glued to me and had reflux. Donāt know how I survived. I barely remember anything from that time except how miserable we were. 2.5 yo now and love every day. Still sleeps like shit but thatās ok.
Same, we turned a corner around 9 months, and another corner around 13 months. Itās gradually getting better. The challenges of toddlerhood are much more manageable than the challenges of newborn/infant stages in my experience.
People who didn't have a reflux baby can't really appreciate the sheer torture of having a reflux baby imo. I had an argument with some goose on Instagram about this, who INSISTED you can always travel with a baby if you even try a little. Yeah, no. Not with a reflux baby you can't (and in our case that was only ONE of the problems we had).
Yeah it was honestly hell living through that on top of typical pp struggles. Having to hold a very unhappy, grumpy, uncomfortable baby upright all day and all night for most of a year is brutal.
Newborn phase was the hardest but also I loved it. I got lucky and didnāt have any complications beyond just having a newborn and thatās tough enough. My toddler is just over 2 now and the tantrums are tough, but heās still way easier than a newborn. I mean I couldnāt tell you the last time I didnāt have time to shower or put on clean clothesā¦ thatās newborn phase stuff for sure.
For me the hardest stage was first 6 weeks when I was caring for my baby as I was healing and recovering from birth and all the intense hormones. My girl is 2.5 now and the tantrums can be exhausting but she is so fun and hilarious. My favorite stages have been 6-8 months (before being mobile and sleeping better) 18 months (turning into a cute toddler but no big tantrums) and right now at 2.5 (says the cutest things, big imagination, so fun)
For us, the first fee weeks were tough due to c-section birth and just figuring out nursing, etc. Followed by 8-10 months when I was SO sleepy deprived and thought "we should be done with this by now" (ha). A close third would be the 15-19 month time frame when there were lots of tough teeth coming in, she was more verbal but not quite there yet, and sleep was still a struggle. She's 26 months now, and almost everything is so much better overall
My baby is 22 months. Iād say when it came to sleep it was hard up until 18 months. Her worst sleeping was 12-18 months. She was waking an average of 10-12 times/night. Some nights more than 20 times.
Weāre dealing with meltdowns but theyāre mostly mild and only last a few minutes.
There were phases between newborn and 18 months that were harder than others (like that it took us 5 months to nail breastfeeding) but Iād say every month until 18 months was extremely difficult.
I'm not a parent. But I've babysit manyyyy children from all ages 0-10.
My answer would be:
The hardest stage is when they start moving.
Because before that, they're just a creature under my supervision, and without the supervision it could potentially kill itself.
But after they learn to move, it just unlocks a whole new world of possible adventures for them to explore, but for me, a whole new world of possibilities to die.
Sorry, if this sounds exaggerated. I assure you it's not. If you've ever babysit, you know they are ready and clear with what they want to do and need just 0.00000000000001 sec of going unsupervised to execute their curiosity!!
The first six months or so was so so hard with my first. He doesn't like sleep and wouldn't sleep independently. He also hated being a baby and was so unhappy until he started to be able to move independently. The toddler stage was a relief. He can communicate and understand what we're saying and be somewhat reasoned with.
When I had my second I realized how people found the toddler stage harder. They had easier going babies. I can totally see how going from my easy going baby to a tantruming toddler could be difficult
I LOVE four. 3 was also awesome. 0-2 = not so much. My 4 year old is empathetic, articulate, kind and funny. I just love her so much and I love love love this age.
Their brains go through a lot of development at that age with language, communication, decision making. So, in my experience, a lot more boundary pushing. Intentionally doing the opposite. They are more developed with fine and gross motor so much more active. But a lot more outward frustration about not being able to do what they want to do. Getting a little more independence, but not old enough to have all the independence they want. Wanting to do things older siblings are doing but cant because they qrent quite old enough or big enough. And being able to understand that they cant...which makes it more difficult to distract. Like up until that point, it's fairly easy to distract them.
I have to admit that I did have a lot of support postpartum and although my baby was a bit high needs and a lot of people who aren't willing to just lean into that would surely have called her difficult, I honestly found the newborn phase exhausting but not very difficult. And it was a different, more survivable kind of exhausting than I've ever felt at any other stage in my life. I did a lot of babywearing and felt like I was doing most of the things I wanted to do, though to be fair the majority of what I wanted to do was just chill with my baby.
I do love watching her precious, unique personality emerge, but the older she gets, 100% the harder it gets for me. I'm also 39 weeks pregnant with our second at 21 months, so that's certainly a factor (by far the least survivable feeling and most unrelenting exhaustion I've ever experienced to be pregnant while having a toddler).
10 months of pure hell before the difficulty went a LITTLE down. We had a very hard baby, nothing went well or easy, literally not one single thing. Motherhood truly made me feel like the biggest failure in my whole life. About 14 months, the difficulty got lower, but I also learned I'm even more defective than I thought and unable to safely carry any more children, so this is truly the one experience I ever get. That took about 6 months to even begin to process with a pretty hard toddler on top.
At two years, something broke and now we have a good sleeping, well-mannered toddler with tantrums that are only occasionally nerve breaking, and I'm starting to realize and enjoy OAD status.
Other people's comments and remarks, plus the cultural standards, are probably the only remaining things that sometimes hurt me. Otherwise, I would say this is the start of the best season in our life, health permitting.
My son never stopped crying when he was a baby, until he was around 1. Then 1 to 2 was filled with even more crying. Heās 6 now and I suspect heās autistic. So all of it was and has been hard
All of it but mainly from day 1 and gets easier towards 2 then gets easier and easier. Especially when they can communicate but throw in the mix speech delay and walking delay like i had its like the 0-2 stage drawn out until 4 years old.
big time depends on the personality and temperament of your baby. My first was a super high needs infant (never happy or satisfied or still) yet blossomed into communicating like a pro at 18m. Very independent. No super naughty toddler years. My second was the easiest sweetest little happy potato baby, and as a toddler he was and still is a menace to society. thank god hes so damn cute...
0-2 hard in a sleepy way
2-5 better
5-9 bliss
9-12 still good
12-16 hard again
16-20 hard in a difficult to communicate way
20-24 hard in a defiant/testing boundaries way
The hard areas are still rewarding but definitely have there challenges.
Weāre at 19 months currently, and this past month has definitely been the hardest as far as actually having to implement āparentingā skills, lots of big emotions and limited communication
For sleep: 9-14 months.
For attitude/parenting wise: 2 (but actually 3).
For having no freedom as an individual outside motherhood: newborn but I truly love the newborn phase. It's just hard to not be able to be away for more than an hour or so for breastfeeding.
We're 3.5 years in and I found the newborn stage to be the hardest. All the uncertainty and feeding troubles and trying to figure out what they need....no thank you. Give me toddlers any day. Around 6 months was a real turning point for us
Mines only 12 months so I havenāt had the full experience yet but I found 4-10 months the roughest so far. He was an easy newborn but from 4-7 months his sleep was terrible. Only contact napping, waking up every 2 hours at night. Then after that even though his sleep started to improve, he started teething and he also just required a lot of attention and entertaining during the day. Heās still pretty demanding but heās become a lot better at playing independently over the past 1-2 months so I can actually get some things done. Around the time he turned one he started magically sleeping through the night or just waking up once which has been amazing.
10 months. They're so awake and so curious but not walking yet. They're close to 1 so you'd hope they're find on solids but even with milk they're too distracted to drink. Also heavier, can't talk, and need crawling space when out of the house š¤£
I think that this is dependent on your childās temperament. My first was a very hard baby and an even harder one year old She started to calm down after 2, tantrums almost stopped by 2.5, and is now a relatively easy and independent 3 year old. My second is 6 months old and so far she has been incredibly easy compared to her sibling, but they have very different temperaments.
When they have just started walking but you need to help them a bit, so you are constantly bending over to hold their hands, you have to watch them like a hawk and they can't yet talk. So like 13-16 months or so was definitely the hardest for me
My son is 22 months now and the absolute hardest weāre months 3-6 or 7. He was able to sit up and tried to start move around but not well enough that he could be independent. He was frustrated a lot and no matter what toys or activities we did he was frustrated he couldnāt just do it himself. Once he got a little more mobile everything mellowed out as far as frustrations go.
22 months is reallly hard right now, too. He has LOTS of independence in this little vessel of a body š„²
Mines 2.5 but I feel like the beginning was the easiest for us. Once she got around 18 months & started trying to walk and talk it got harder because sheād get so frustrated trying to express herself and thatās make her throw a fit. Unfortunately as a sahm Iām the only one who understands 99% of her babbling even now at 2.5 & even occasionally my husband will have her repeat to me what she wants because he doesnāt understand her.
12-18m was really hard. LO had so much understanding and things she wanted to say but she didnāt have the communication skills yet so the meltdowns/tantrums were so bad. Also starting to walk and all that comes with that.
She was (is) a Velcro baby but I still found the first year easier since her needs were more physical and not as emotional yet.
Sheās almost 3 now and Iām loving every second of it.
Until 10-11 weeks adjusted was just rough. Then they started to play and have belly laughs and such which made it so much better mentally.
First winter as well which lasted kinda from September till June but the real winter was the worst. In general older is easier for our family. Once they were around 1,5 they walked, started talking and were thinking more like humans and less like babies.
We did have 2 preemie reflux babies who were not the best eaters nor (in case of B) sleepers and they did not like the stroller until they could walk lol, so ymmv.
My kid just turned 2. Worst time was between 4 month - about 10 months. Mainly due to the lack of sleep. Waking nearly every hour. A lot of difficult behaviour, which was normal, but just learning to deal with it. He screamed a lot. Screamed every time he woke up. Screamed in the car. Its still noisy but we are much better at relating to each other.
It was different for both my kids.
The first two months with my first were the worst. He was colicky and would scream for hours no matter what we did. Itās part of what made me never want a second. Heās almost 3 now and Iād take all the whining in the world to not go back to that.
Our second is almost one and Iād say the hardest stage (so far) with him has been 9-10 months because his very much a clinger and his separation anxiety consists of screeching and crying.
Love them both but it can be really exhausting trying to keep them both content.
From 0-18m almost killed me. Baba was an awful sleeper, fed CoNsTanT around the clock. I weaned cold turkey (from EBF) at 16m and she was thickkkkkkkk at me for 8 weeks before giving in to acceptance and deciding to sleep. She now regularly goes 12-13h a night. HEAVEN!
The first few weeks, and like 6-8 months were hard for us. The beginning because sleep deprivation and you have to figure so much out. And 6-8 months was just a huge transition into solid foods.Ā
I donāt feel that I have a hard baby per se (LO is 1), but I do feel that I have to be āonā all the timeāI donāt have a lot of down time but I honestly think this is just parenting now lol.
We bedshare and LO nurses throughout the night off and on. All naps are contact naps where LO nurses too.
I am looking forward to when my LO is able to sleep without me having to be there the entire time.
3 and 4 years. The baby years have got nothing on the preschool years. Also if you think you have to wait for teen eye rolls and the idea that they know everything you have never met a preschooler. The terrible twos are a cake walk compared to preschool.
5-10 weeks! The fussiness was so hard. 12ish weeks it got easier for a couple months, got hard again 5-7 months (no sleep. none)and then 8-13 months was a breeeeeze, so happy and interactive but no big feelings yet. Now at 16 months and the last couple months have been a bit of a struggle because of the tantrums and stronger will.
The first year was a lot. The first few months were the worst. I was in such a bad place with my PPD. My girl is 2 now and everything is great. Sure sheās difficult sometimes but nothing compares to the baby stage.
18mos not an easy toddler and still *nothing* has been as hard as the first 5 months when she would only contact sleep (not co sleep, had to be held in arms my husband and I did 6 hour shifts overnight to make it through). And when she was awake we could barely put her down either. Not reflux, just very attached. She still is, but she sleeps in her crib through the night and is so much fun when she me awake I donāt care that sheās also basically deranged, lol.
IMO it gets harder as time goes on. My oldest is 5 in July and things finally started to ease up when he was 4.5 but until then it was just progressively more difficult
At new born, My kid wakes me up every 2:50 hours for feeding, so we work around the clock, I handle night shift, my wife handle day shift
and then when he starts walking, You need an eagle eye and a rabbit legs, so You got to watch out things going into mouth, and his gravity discovery where he knock things down, includes the kid jumping and its like suicide attempts you got to put it down
Hardest for me was new born, because we couldn't get enough sleep time
I think this is going to depend heavily on temperament of both the parents and the kid so you'll probably get wildly diverging answers.Ā
For me 3-5 months was the hardest. After that it has steadily gotten better. There are definitely challenged with later stages (mobility, desire for independence, tantrums various sleep struggles) but on the whole my 23m is definitely easier than he was at 5m
But I want to follow that with the fact that heās also doing SO much more and is so fun to hang out with. The tantrums are just wild though. But on the plus side for me, I get more snuggles from him while helping him through them lol
0-5 months.
I only remember the first 5ish months because I took pictures tbh. If I didnāt have the pictures you might as well have wiped my memory and I wouldnāt know the difference.
He got his first teeth early around 3.5-4 months too, so I had to start brushing his teeth back then. It was horrible. There was probably a whole month where I just hardly brushed his teeth because I was so exhausted with fighting him to do it. Luckily he didnāt get any cavities that I can tell of, but he also hardly even ate food at that point anyways š¤·š»āāļø
Heās now 13 months old.
I had a hard baby who has turned into an easy toddler. Lots and lots of sleep regressions. I would say 0-18 months sucked. 2.5 is great.
holding onto this hope because i feel like my 10 mo is so hard š„²
Sameā¦
9-12 months was the worst
Oh no, don't tell me that! We're at 9mos and have been in a 4mo regression for 5mos. We got 2 magical nights where she slept through and its been chaos every other night.
Same !
Yep 2.5-3 has been magical. When I look at newborn photos of my son it honestly looks like he feels trapped in his own body, and lord was he not happy about it haha
Iām desperately hoping my 1 year old daughter will be this way lol. She craves independence SO much yet has always refused containers (bouncers, swings, strollers, baby wearing, etc). With age sheās gotten much happier, but Iām excited to see her bloom as sheās able to more and more physically!
I'm sure she will be. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to wait for your body to catch up with your brain. Also really fascinating to watch the really big emotions being expressed, and how the coping mechanisms develop along with them.
Glad I'm not the the only one with a kid who categorically rejects containers of all kinds (wraps, carriers, strollers, etc). With my near 2 year old what works for me is a tush baby to carry him when he needs to be carried and letting him walk otherwise.Ā
Same for me. The lack of sleep in the newborn and infant days was so hard for me, plus the constant physical stimulation from needing to be held a lot and breastfeeding. Sure, we deal with meltdowns and whatnot, but for me it's so much more manageable than with an infant that can't verbalize anything.
I needed to hear this tonight š¤§
15.5mo here always been hard! Holding on to hope
Mine was a nightmare until 1, and she slept horribly till 18months when she suddenly started sleeping through (1-2hrly wakes for 1.5 years was torture). Toddler tantrums are grating at times but nothing will compare to that first 12-18 months.
I remember my 1.5 year old doing FIVE hour stretches for a bit. It was heaven
Every stage has been better than the last.
Yup!!! Transition from 0 to 1 baby was the hardest and it gradually gets easier and better
I like this
Great mentality
For me, definitely the first eight weeks. That may be different depending how difficult the birth is physically, whether the baby takes to nursing easily, if you have support, etc. Iād had major surgery, couldnāt sleep, was triple feeding every 2-3 hours to build milk supply, and dealing with PPA. I was not in the mood to explain my parenting choices, hear everyoneās advice, or receive visitors. It was sheer survival.
Everything you just said. yes! And I had to go back to work at 8 weeks. I went from one survival mode, right into another Thankfully, I work from home.
Ooof Iām sorry to hear it was so rough for you. Itās hard enough as it is! Triple feeding is a doozyā¦
Yep, me too. Now have a 14mo who's walking and babbling and unbelievably cute. Still doesn't sleep great but hey, I'll take it!
Iām in such agreement. I think the first two months are so hard and then it just gets better & better. My first is 2.5 now and my second 4 months. Gosh, I just love watching them grow!
I found 3-6 months the first 'hard' bit - they are awake enough to want all kinds of things, but no physical ability to do so. Improves once more 'cognitive' and sitting/eating/touching things. Then again 8 months-12 months - they are now physically able to do more, but not EVERYTHING making them way more 'work' to keep busy. Improves once walking. Finally 18 months - 22 months - the toddler tantrums started and no ability to communicate needs. Improves once talking.
This! Mine is 11 months. I feel like Iām the only one who feels like crawling made things easier. Sheās getting good at standing and Iām super excited for her to walk. But she did a good stretch where she could stay sitting up if I got her there, but she couldnāt sit up herself and she constantly wanted me to prop her up.
I found walking and crawling relieved so much pressure from us. Once that happens there's an 'easier' period again until they want the next big development.
same! my baby is 10 months and im so happy she is not frustrated all the time because she can sit up herself and crawl ( if we can call it that lol) its so much easier and thankfully its summer and we dont have to hold her outside she can chill on a blanket pr crawl around the grass the only thing that still sucks is that she points now on what she wants since she cant talk with both gey frustrated from time to time because i dont know what she wants like i just know i put on the wrong song i can see it in her faceš
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This gives me more hope than you know!! My baby is 11 months and the loss of sleep is killing us
I felt the newborn stage was the hardest (about the first 3 months but especially the first month). The sleep deprivation was horrible (he would only sleep in someone's arms). Learning breastfeeding was extremely hard as well. I also think just the adjustment of going from no children to having the biggest responsibility in the world was significant for me too.
For me it was the first eight months. Very very velcroed child who was glued to me and had reflux. Donāt know how I survived. I barely remember anything from that time except how miserable we were. 2.5 yo now and love every day. Still sleeps like shit but thatās ok.
Same, we turned a corner around 9 months, and another corner around 13 months. Itās gradually getting better. The challenges of toddlerhood are much more manageable than the challenges of newborn/infant stages in my experience.
People who didn't have a reflux baby can't really appreciate the sheer torture of having a reflux baby imo. I had an argument with some goose on Instagram about this, who INSISTED you can always travel with a baby if you even try a little. Yeah, no. Not with a reflux baby you can't (and in our case that was only ONE of the problems we had).
Yeah it was honestly hell living through that on top of typical pp struggles. Having to hold a very unhappy, grumpy, uncomfortable baby upright all day and all night for most of a year is brutal.
Newborn phase was the hardest but also I loved it. I got lucky and didnāt have any complications beyond just having a newborn and thatās tough enough. My toddler is just over 2 now and the tantrums are tough, but heās still way easier than a newborn. I mean I couldnāt tell you the last time I didnāt have time to shower or put on clean clothesā¦ thatās newborn phase stuff for sure.
Fourth trimester for sure - not a fan at all!
All of it is hard. I the newborn stage the absolute worst for me with both my kids. They are 1 and 3 now.
For me the hardest stage was first 6 weeks when I was caring for my baby as I was healing and recovering from birth and all the intense hormones. My girl is 2.5 now and the tantrums can be exhausting but she is so fun and hilarious. My favorite stages have been 6-8 months (before being mobile and sleeping better) 18 months (turning into a cute toddler but no big tantrums) and right now at 2.5 (says the cutest things, big imagination, so fun)
18 months was tantrum galore for us! She still has them at 2, but at 18 months they were pretty much nonstop.
Ah I know every kid is so different! Ours was so happy and silly at 18 months. The tantrums hit for us at 2
For us, the first fee weeks were tough due to c-section birth and just figuring out nursing, etc. Followed by 8-10 months when I was SO sleepy deprived and thought "we should be done with this by now" (ha). A close third would be the 15-19 month time frame when there were lots of tough teeth coming in, she was more verbal but not quite there yet, and sleep was still a struggle. She's 26 months now, and almost everything is so much better overall
My baby is 22 months. Iād say when it came to sleep it was hard up until 18 months. Her worst sleeping was 12-18 months. She was waking an average of 10-12 times/night. Some nights more than 20 times. Weāre dealing with meltdowns but theyāre mostly mild and only last a few minutes. There were phases between newborn and 18 months that were harder than others (like that it took us 5 months to nail breastfeeding) but Iād say every month until 18 months was extremely difficult.
Newborn, hands down. If youād included age 3, though, Iām not sure what my answer would beā¦ š«
I'm not a parent. But I've babysit manyyyy children from all ages 0-10. My answer would be: The hardest stage is when they start moving. Because before that, they're just a creature under my supervision, and without the supervision it could potentially kill itself. But after they learn to move, it just unlocks a whole new world of possible adventures for them to explore, but for me, a whole new world of possibilities to die. Sorry, if this sounds exaggerated. I assure you it's not. If you've ever babysit, you know they are ready and clear with what they want to do and need just 0.00000000000001 sec of going unsupervised to execute their curiosity!!
By a long mile the firsts 3/4 months I would say. They call that time the fourth trimester!
The first six months or so was so so hard with my first. He doesn't like sleep and wouldn't sleep independently. He also hated being a baby and was so unhappy until he started to be able to move independently. The toddler stage was a relief. He can communicate and understand what we're saying and be somewhat reasoned with. When I had my second I realized how people found the toddler stage harder. They had easier going babies. I can totally see how going from my easy going baby to a tantruming toddler could be difficult
Hands down, age 4 is the worst. Age birth to 2 years is a breeze comparatively.
What makes 4 so hard?
I LOVE four. 3 was also awesome. 0-2 = not so much. My 4 year old is empathetic, articulate, kind and funny. I just love her so much and I love love love this age.
Their brains go through a lot of development at that age with language, communication, decision making. So, in my experience, a lot more boundary pushing. Intentionally doing the opposite. They are more developed with fine and gross motor so much more active. But a lot more outward frustration about not being able to do what they want to do. Getting a little more independence, but not old enough to have all the independence they want. Wanting to do things older siblings are doing but cant because they qrent quite old enough or big enough. And being able to understand that they cant...which makes it more difficult to distract. Like up until that point, it's fairly easy to distract them.
Ummm can I say 3 years old? Lol lol 0-2 was a breeze in the park compared to 3 and itās looking like maybe 4 too.
By far the fourth trimester was the worst. Traumatic birth combined with the first three months has made me not want a second kid.
I have to admit that I did have a lot of support postpartum and although my baby was a bit high needs and a lot of people who aren't willing to just lean into that would surely have called her difficult, I honestly found the newborn phase exhausting but not very difficult. And it was a different, more survivable kind of exhausting than I've ever felt at any other stage in my life. I did a lot of babywearing and felt like I was doing most of the things I wanted to do, though to be fair the majority of what I wanted to do was just chill with my baby. I do love watching her precious, unique personality emerge, but the older she gets, 100% the harder it gets for me. I'm also 39 weeks pregnant with our second at 21 months, so that's certainly a factor (by far the least survivable feeling and most unrelenting exhaustion I've ever experienced to be pregnant while having a toddler).
10 months of pure hell before the difficulty went a LITTLE down. We had a very hard baby, nothing went well or easy, literally not one single thing. Motherhood truly made me feel like the biggest failure in my whole life. About 14 months, the difficulty got lower, but I also learned I'm even more defective than I thought and unable to safely carry any more children, so this is truly the one experience I ever get. That took about 6 months to even begin to process with a pretty hard toddler on top. At two years, something broke and now we have a good sleeping, well-mannered toddler with tantrums that are only occasionally nerve breaking, and I'm starting to realize and enjoy OAD status. Other people's comments and remarks, plus the cultural standards, are probably the only remaining things that sometimes hurt me. Otherwise, I would say this is the start of the best season in our life, health permitting.
Gosh this all sounds so tough, Iām sorry. So glad that youāre in a better season now!
Thank you very much for your kind words.
My son never stopped crying when he was a baby, until he was around 1. Then 1 to 2 was filled with even more crying. Heās 6 now and I suspect heās autistic. So all of it was and has been hard
All of it but mainly from day 1 and gets easier towards 2 then gets easier and easier. Especially when they can communicate but throw in the mix speech delay and walking delay like i had its like the 0-2 stage drawn out until 4 years old.
I'd say it didn't get hard until 3 and 4 is a nightmare.
I agree. I loved the 0-2. I now have a 4yo and a 3yo and it's... Something.
The first 3 months for us. The colic just drove me nuts. Sleep deprivation of torture-like proportions.
big time depends on the personality and temperament of your baby. My first was a super high needs infant (never happy or satisfied or still) yet blossomed into communicating like a pro at 18m. Very independent. No super naughty toddler years. My second was the easiest sweetest little happy potato baby, and as a toddler he was and still is a menace to society. thank god hes so damn cute...
0-2 hard in a sleepy way 2-5 better 5-9 bliss 9-12 still good 12-16 hard again 16-20 hard in a difficult to communicate way 20-24 hard in a defiant/testing boundaries way The hard areas are still rewarding but definitely have there challenges.
Is this months or years š
Months but tbh years sounds right too
Weāre at 19 months currently, and this past month has definitely been the hardest as far as actually having to implement āparentingā skills, lots of big emotions and limited communication
I seem to always be the minority with this. I think newborns are easy! 2-3 years is hard!
For me itās from brith ātill two years š„“
Yesš¤£š¤£ I started enjoying my life more when the kid turned 2.5 years.
For sleep: 9-14 months. For attitude/parenting wise: 2 (but actually 3). For having no freedom as an individual outside motherhood: newborn but I truly love the newborn phase. It's just hard to not be able to be away for more than an hour or so for breastfeeding.
We're 3.5 years in and I found the newborn stage to be the hardest. All the uncertainty and feeding troubles and trying to figure out what they need....no thank you. Give me toddlers any day. Around 6 months was a real turning point for us
Mines only 12 months so I havenāt had the full experience yet but I found 4-10 months the roughest so far. He was an easy newborn but from 4-7 months his sleep was terrible. Only contact napping, waking up every 2 hours at night. Then after that even though his sleep started to improve, he started teething and he also just required a lot of attention and entertaining during the day. Heās still pretty demanding but heās become a lot better at playing independently over the past 1-2 months so I can actually get some things done. Around the time he turned one he started magically sleeping through the night or just waking up once which has been amazing.
For me it was the transition from baby to toddler. I was having a hard time learning to parent a toddler especially during bedtime
10 months. They're so awake and so curious but not walking yet. They're close to 1 so you'd hope they're find on solids but even with milk they're too distracted to drink. Also heavier, can't talk, and need crawling space when out of the house š¤£
I think that this is dependent on your childās temperament. My first was a very hard baby and an even harder one year old She started to calm down after 2, tantrums almost stopped by 2.5, and is now a relatively easy and independent 3 year old. My second is 6 months old and so far she has been incredibly easy compared to her sibling, but they have very different temperaments.
All of them š It's just hard in different ways.
Yes. All of the above. š But for real probably the first 6 months?
When they have just started walking but you need to help them a bit, so you are constantly bending over to hold their hands, you have to watch them like a hawk and they can't yet talk. So like 13-16 months or so was definitely the hardest for me
My son is 22 months now and the absolute hardest weāre months 3-6 or 7. He was able to sit up and tried to start move around but not well enough that he could be independent. He was frustrated a lot and no matter what toys or activities we did he was frustrated he couldnāt just do it himself. Once he got a little more mobile everything mellowed out as far as frustrations go. 22 months is reallly hard right now, too. He has LOTS of independence in this little vessel of a body š„²
Mines 2.5 but I feel like the beginning was the easiest for us. Once she got around 18 months & started trying to walk and talk it got harder because sheād get so frustrated trying to express herself and thatās make her throw a fit. Unfortunately as a sahm Iām the only one who understands 99% of her babbling even now at 2.5 & even occasionally my husband will have her repeat to me what she wants because he doesnāt understand her.
12-18m was really hard. LO had so much understanding and things she wanted to say but she didnāt have the communication skills yet so the meltdowns/tantrums were so bad. Also starting to walk and all that comes with that. She was (is) a Velcro baby but I still found the first year easier since her needs were more physical and not as emotional yet. Sheās almost 3 now and Iām loving every second of it.
Until 10-11 weeks adjusted was just rough. Then they started to play and have belly laughs and such which made it so much better mentally. First winter as well which lasted kinda from September till June but the real winter was the worst. In general older is easier for our family. Once they were around 1,5 they walked, started talking and were thinking more like humans and less like babies. We did have 2 preemie reflux babies who were not the best eaters nor (in case of B) sleepers and they did not like the stroller until they could walk lol, so ymmv.
My kid just turned 2. Worst time was between 4 month - about 10 months. Mainly due to the lack of sleep. Waking nearly every hour. A lot of difficult behaviour, which was normal, but just learning to deal with it. He screamed a lot. Screamed every time he woke up. Screamed in the car. Its still noisy but we are much better at relating to each other.
I was surprised how easy I found the first year, and was just counting my blessings, but now we are about to hit 2 and Iām starting to struggle
It was different for both my kids. The first two months with my first were the worst. He was colicky and would scream for hours no matter what we did. Itās part of what made me never want a second. Heās almost 3 now and Iād take all the whining in the world to not go back to that. Our second is almost one and Iād say the hardest stage (so far) with him has been 9-10 months because his very much a clinger and his separation anxiety consists of screeching and crying. Love them both but it can be really exhausting trying to keep them both content.
From 0-18m almost killed me. Baba was an awful sleeper, fed CoNsTanT around the clock. I weaned cold turkey (from EBF) at 16m and she was thickkkkkkkk at me for 8 weeks before giving in to acceptance and deciding to sleep. She now regularly goes 12-13h a night. HEAVEN!
The first few weeks, and like 6-8 months were hard for us. The beginning because sleep deprivation and you have to figure so much out. And 6-8 months was just a huge transition into solid foods.Ā
0-6m for sure. After that it got way more fun.
I donāt feel that I have a hard baby per se (LO is 1), but I do feel that I have to be āonā all the timeāI donāt have a lot of down time but I honestly think this is just parenting now lol. We bedshare and LO nurses throughout the night off and on. All naps are contact naps where LO nurses too. I am looking forward to when my LO is able to sleep without me having to be there the entire time.
First 8 months, give or take. When we felt ready to travel with her at 9 months, I knew we'd finally gotten over the hump.
3 and 4 years. The baby years have got nothing on the preschool years. Also if you think you have to wait for teen eye rolls and the idea that they know everything you have never met a preschooler. The terrible twos are a cake walk compared to preschool.
5-10 weeks! The fussiness was so hard. 12ish weeks it got easier for a couple months, got hard again 5-7 months (no sleep. none)and then 8-13 months was a breeeeeze, so happy and interactive but no big feelings yet. Now at 16 months and the last couple months have been a bit of a struggle because of the tantrums and stronger will.
Infancy lasts 3 years so mostly 16 months- 3 years ššš Hugs!
The first 3 or 4 months. It gets more complicated as they grow older, but nothing is ever as bad as the intense sleep deprivation.
The first year was a lot. The first few months were the worst. I was in such a bad place with my PPD. My girl is 2 now and everything is great. Sure sheās difficult sometimes but nothing compares to the baby stage.
18mos not an easy toddler and still *nothing* has been as hard as the first 5 months when she would only contact sleep (not co sleep, had to be held in arms my husband and I did 6 hour shifts overnight to make it through). And when she was awake we could barely put her down either. Not reflux, just very attached. She still is, but she sleeps in her crib through the night and is so much fun when she me awake I donāt care that sheās also basically deranged, lol.
I felt like I could breathe again at 15 months. Something about being on one nap. Makes it feel like the whole day doesnāt revolve around sleep.
IMO it gets harder as time goes on. My oldest is 5 in July and things finally started to ease up when he was 4.5 but until then it was just progressively more difficult
At new born, My kid wakes me up every 2:50 hours for feeding, so we work around the clock, I handle night shift, my wife handle day shift and then when he starts walking, You need an eagle eye and a rabbit legs, so You got to watch out things going into mouth, and his gravity discovery where he knock things down, includes the kid jumping and its like suicide attempts you got to put it down Hardest for me was new born, because we couldn't get enough sleep time
Totally depends on the kid. Mine was an easy baby but now he is 3.5 years old and the tantrums are something else!
I think this is going to depend heavily on temperament of both the parents and the kid so you'll probably get wildly diverging answers.Ā For me 3-5 months was the hardest. After that it has steadily gotten better. There are definitely challenged with later stages (mobility, desire for independence, tantrums various sleep struggles) but on the whole my 23m is definitely easier than he was at 5m
Mines only 18 months, but the last month or so has been the toughest. The tantrums have started earlier than I was prepared for š
But I want to follow that with the fact that heās also doing SO much more and is so fun to hang out with. The tantrums are just wild though. But on the plus side for me, I get more snuggles from him while helping him through them lol
Great perspective!
0-5 months. I only remember the first 5ish months because I took pictures tbh. If I didnāt have the pictures you might as well have wiped my memory and I wouldnāt know the difference. He got his first teeth early around 3.5-4 months too, so I had to start brushing his teeth back then. It was horrible. There was probably a whole month where I just hardly brushed his teeth because I was so exhausted with fighting him to do it. Luckily he didnāt get any cavities that I can tell of, but he also hardly even ate food at that point anyways š¤·š»āāļø Heās now 13 months old.