anyone had such a "easy" baby that there worried number two can't possibly so easy and your scared ?

[robinredbreast]

well dd is 6 months and apart from finding bf quite difficult, dd has been a total star in that shes a very easy going baby
hardly cries, sleeps great a night , very smiley etc
the only thing i wish dd would do is have the odd nap in the day, but from 6 weeks shs slept a good 12 hours at night,very night so i guess i can't complain

but everyone keeps telling me theres no way i can get this lucky twice
and its scaring me about having another baby
how will i cope i wonder with a much more demanding baby?
has anyone had an experience of this ? or any views or ideas?

do you think theres no way, you can get so lucky twice ?

[Frizbe]

I thought dd1 was an fairly easy going baby, she was good and from 6 weeks, got a good night pattern going, so I remember getting at least 6 hours sleep a night and thinking this was great! Then I had dd2, who was also great! bf much better than dd1 and got the sleep thing too...until now that is, suddenly at 21mths, she's waking up at 4am??? but bar that I think you can get two good ones mine mainly are.

[Lizzylou]

DS1 was a very "good" baby, and so was/is DS2, he is very different, I made the mistake of thinking he would be exactly the same as DS1 and the same "tricks" would work, they don't!
I do think you are more relaxed with the second which is definitely a good thing and can only help both children.

[ChasingSquirrels]

ds1 was very easy, he has always had a laid back personility and still does at 5.
ds2 is TOTALLY different, and the first 18mo were very hard. He is much more strong willed and this is coming through alot more now (23m), but tbh I love him all the more for it.

[phraedd]

i have 3 very easy children that have all been fantastic sleepers.

It isn't luck - it is good parenting!

[sophiewd]

Me, DD was and still is a good baby/toddler, next one due in June.

[fizzbuzz]

I had angelic ds who slept really well. Then very different dd who doesn't sleep well.

Believe it is down to different personality and not parenting at all.

[FlllightAttendant]

I was lucky in that Baby 1 was quite tough work, and I expected Baby 2 to be equally demanding...however he has been a doddle

You just never know.

[fryalot]

Dd1 was a dream baby - never had a moment's trouble with her, so I was a bit concerned when pg with dd2.

When dd2 arrived, I realised that actually, dd1 had been quite hard work when think about it, but dd2 was a really good baby.

Then ds arrived and I realised what a good baby actually is!

Seriously, they were all quite good. You may get a demanding one, you may get a fantastically good one.

[tortoiseSHELL]

Ds1 was an easy baby - the only difficulties we had with him were feeding issues. But he was very good, slept through the night at 6 weeks, although he did take 20 mins to get off to sleep. We thought we could NEVER get this lucky again!

Dd was born and was twice as easy! She was a thumb sucker, so if we put her in her bed, she put her thumb in her mouth and went to sleep. We could TELL her when to sleep. She was always very placid, happy, slept through at 6 weeks...

Ds2 was born and was a nightmare - didn't sleep through till 1 year, was waking at 2, awake till 6.....but now he is 20 months he is gorgeous, placid, jolly, happy to watch what's going on.

They all have their own characters!

[mummytheresa]

Ds1 was a perfect baby - slept through from 4 weeks. Healthy little boy, no problems, would go to other people. My only disapointment was that I stopped breastfeeding at 7 weeks.

DS2 on the other hand - had not slept through the night by the time he was 3ys old, I carried him constantly for the first year, little bugger would not be left with anybody. Standing appointment with the specialists (two of them) every Friday morning. Breastfed exclusivly for 12 months - I was proud of that.

TBH I think we bonded better DS2 and I and I am now TTC DC3 - so it cant have been that bad

[blueshoes]

Robin, my unscientific observation is that you are more likely to have a not difficult baby than an easy one. Not difficult meaning either easy or neither difficult nor easy ie some aspects are easy eg sleep or eating, but others are difficult eg crying.

Also, 6 months is a tiny part of a child's life. An easy baby may become a difficult toddler. Sleep can fall apart at any time - so I would not count my chickens.

If you did end up with a difficult baby (strongwilled, won't be put down, light/non-sleeper, fussy eater - my dd was all of the above, as was ds, except for the eating), I don't think that is a bad thing. For one thing, babyhood, which is the most frustrating part for such a baby because they can't do anything for themselves, is a relatively short period. You will find that things get better and better. And when they start to move around and become toddlers, when other mothers start complaining about their easy babies becoming a handful, you just think how much more settled yours is.

I agree with mummytheresa that you bond better with a difficult baby - heck, you have no choice, because they DEMAND it. All the traits that make difficult babies demanding as babies (persistence, activeness, curiousity, cuddliness), makes them fabulous adults. I have never admired a laid back adult (although it is always touted as a good thing for a baby). The adults I have admired have always been go-getters who took initiative to make things better and improve themselves.

That is not to say a laid back baby will be a laid back adult. At 6 months, personality is not quite formed. Just wanted you to see the longer term view.

I am sure it will be fine in the grand scheme of things, whatever dc2 turns out to be!

[KITTYmaspudding]

Robin, it's random. What you have described is not usual, you are lucky, so the chances are you will have a baby that displays a more usual pattern if you have another one.
Perhaps you will have another placid child.
My 3rd and 5th babies were extraordinarily placid. My 4th child was hyper and my 6th baby is the MOST difficult baby I have ever come across, even now at 8 months he is very demanding and sleeps little, unlike number 5 who at just gone 2 still sleeps for England..
My first and second were difficult up to 4 months.
They are as they are, there is no pattern and no probability with children.

[shrinkingsagpuss]

Our DS was very "easy" he slept and fed well, grinned at everyone, was always happy to stay with everyone, and we were able to put him down to sleep day or night with a smile and a kiss.

DD had a slightly more tricky start and has alwys been a bit harder to feed, and had a period of not settling at night, but she is now just as "easy" (except more sicky), smiles, sleeps well, feeds well and is happy with most people.

Our friends used to smile at us "knowingly" and say "you'll pay for it with number 2, no way she can be as good as DS" - now I laugh back.

We follow a gentle routine, which has suited both of them, and they are happy, safe, and relaxxed little people.

[KITTYmaspudding]

shrinking, you are lucky! I used to think it was down to my superior parenting skills. Now I realise that's got sod all to do with it .
You get what you're lucky enough to be blessed with.

[Bluenosesaint]

My dd1 was so easy that you really didn't know that you had her.

My dd2 was even easier (if it was at all possible) and so happy and smily to boot.

My dd3, well ...

lets just say, she's not like her sisters ...

[smartiejake]

dd1 was a star- slept the same 6 hours I wanted to from 3 weeks old and then after a quick feed slept for another 3 hours. Couldn't believe my luck.

DD2 was v good to start with...

then at 6 months her teeth started to come through and she didn't sleep through again until 2 and a half!

Having said that they were both v. contented during the day smiled alot and neither cried very much. It doesn't necessarily follow that number 2 will be a devil but you ever can tell. They all have different personalities.

[shrinkingsagpuss]

KITTYmaspudding - i do appreciate how lucky we are - but its nice to be smug sometimes too!!!

[foxythesnowman]

I have no answers, but I do have 4 lovely children who were/are lovely babies.

And I like to think it has more to do with my excellent parenting skills than luck .

[KITTYmaspudding]

shrinking. I too like to be smug. However, the more children I have the less so I become

[blueshoes]

Kitty is honest, I respect that. It is easier to be smug if you have had one easy child and even easier if you have had a string of them. But you just need to have one difficult child to understand how much of easiness is actually hardwired at birth ...

I think whilst difficult babies are challenging, they make you a better parent, because they force you to think through your issues and be more creative in your parenting - you have no choice because it is not easy to make the little ones do your bidding. If not better, at least more tolerant, because you know so much of it is down to the child.

I always say, difficult babies => super adults.

[expatinscotland]

i was pretty afraid, because dd1 was a classic angel baby - and i mean, to the point where when we were in hospital after her birth even the midwives would croon over her and tell us what a good baby she was.

dd2 was slightly more difficult, it would be hard not to be, but she was still terribly easy.

still is at 2 years of age, although more rambunctious.

[Shitemum]

DD1 was super easy. I think i had 5 broken nights in the first year. I did CC with her when she was 3 mo.
DD2 might have been easier if she wasnt the second one. I didnt do CC with her because i was too exhausted even for that and she still wakes every night at 15 mo. She has got a 'sparkier' personality tho. but then she lives in a different environment from the one DD1 lived in at her age - it's non-stop chaos and noise here.