Which part of raising your child or children have you found hardest?

[bargainsgalore18]

Starting from birth, which stage was hardest for you and why?

Birth to 18 months - twins very little help, first floor flat, felt isolated, out of my depth, felt like a crap Mum. They started walking at 18 months and everything improved after that. Every stage since then is my favourite....every year just keeps getting better, even now they are in Year 11 - I love teenagers, they are funny, good company, independent, helpful and developing very strong views about the world and yes they are sometimes a wee bit rude and a wee bit moody but aren't we all.

0-3. Hard slog. Lack of sleep. Incredibly early mornings. After that everything was much easier. Didn't have much trouble during teenage years

It's not an age for me, but a feeling. The fear that arrived the second she was born that if I lost her I would not be able to live.

Sleep deprivation for the first year or so. Then everything improved massively.

After that, young adult dc, not always being there when they want you. Knowing that one was in A&E hundreds of miles away was harder than any baby or toddler stage.

Now. She has been amazing up till now. Now she's nearly 13 and FML. Did not see this coming!!

Teenagers !

Exams , partying , learning to drive , independence, hormones ( theirs and mine clashing)

What's a FML?

He's left, gone to uni. He has his passport - could bugger off anywhere he chooses. I don't know his friends or his flatmates or what he is doing or eating. I know he's ok because he answers my messages but I haven't heard his voice in a week and it hurts like fuck.

Sure toddlers drive you to sleep deprived distraction and teenagers can be utter bastards and also you don't sleep and the bit in the middle where you take them to 11 million different sports and also get no sleep because you are driving them to swimming galas at 6am. But then, just like that, it's done and it wasn't long enough after all.

Teen years.

Letting them out at night and worrying if they are ok.

@MrSlant your post made me tearful as I lie here next to my 7mo.

I expect it will get harder yet, but age 4 & 2 DD's the fighting has me beat. I just don't know how to cope with it, it's driving us all potty.

The first year, I found it so lonely & the lack of sleep made everything 100 times worse. Everything Dd did made me anxious ( is she Ill, why wont she sleep, why is she crying...) I spent a year convinced I was doing it wrong and hating myself for being so useless.
We are in the teenage years now & it’s a doddle compared to that first year

1st week of pregnancy till about 8 months was living hell for me and amazing all at the same time!

I’m scared of the late teenage years though when they become more independent and you can’t control who they see and where they are. And when they start getting driven around in cars by themselves and other teenagers!

I would go back to the sleepless baby nights over these teen days any day.

Erm. All of it? 😂

Every time I think I'm out of the woods, nothing can be harder than this stage I find some new, fresh hell another challenge! Emotionally, physically, spiritually ffs! It's all hard. Worth it, but hard.

I have a pre teen, a primary school age and a toddler.

Everything after 11 months with my SN DD has been really difficult, now she is more delayed, more complex, bigger, screams all the time, is very rigid with her routines and I do miss her happy baby days even though they were still full of worry.

28. He needs to develop a sense of self-preservation.

0 to 6 months.
I haven’t got to the teenage years yet though. Wonder if people who say the earlier years have already experienced teenagers or whether we are all in for a rude awakening

hatəd the new born stage. I was so anxious. I've never really been one for babies. To be fair to her she was not a bad sleeper but I just used to sit up watching her sleeping all night to make sure she was breathing.
If I had my way my dd would have came out at about age 2. they're adorable at that age, aren't they. They can tell you what they want and Have a little convo ect with you

When their problems are bigger than you. That is scary medical stuff, things you can’t make better with a cuddle like exam results.

12-16 - hell on earth, absolute hell.

That's what I worry about too, April.
No matter how old they are You don't want any nastiness on them at all, do you.
Sadly though as you say the older they get the harder it is to protect them.

I've a long way to get to teenagers but surely young toddlers are the hardest as you cannot get a break? A teenager can be left whilst you shower. A toddler can have the oven on, the dog by it's tail and have covered itself in jam whilst you have a wee.

I guess it's changes from physically needing to be there for them to emotionally?!

@sittingonacornflake I know babies are hard too but do your best to enjoy all the seconds you can because I remember how lovely it was having him sleeping next to me in a babygrow, all snuffly and perfect and completely confusing and yet he's 6'2" still my baby but also a man and independent. I've done my job well, I hope, but I wish I could lift him onto my shoulder for a perfect milk smelling, soft baby hair cuddle just one more time.

To disperse the lovely rose tinted moment I could have done without the two teens who still live here spending 30 minutes trying to cause each other serious harm this afternoon whilst shouting "I wish I had a brother who liked me" at each other. I held back from pointing out they each did, he just doesn't live here right now.

I found the baby stage hardest with my three, the sheer relentlessness of it all. Having three under four nearly broke me.

In contrast I found the teenage years mostly OK, and now they are all in their early 20s I'm loving the relationship I have with them. I still worry though, a lot. All the time, in fact. I suspect that will never go away.