Easy baby stories pleaseeeeee!!!

[Iret]

Feeling so anxious. Just want some positivity rather than the ‘you’ll never sleep again’ very helpful remarks.

Babies wake in the night and need a lot of attention. That’s just part and parcel of having a baby. Not sure what you’re after in terms of ‘easiness’ but just because having a baby is hard work doesn’t mean it’s not a positive experience.

Even if you have a challenging baby it doesn’t last long. You will sleep again, you will go out to nice restaurants again, you will have time for hobbies and friends etc again.

My second baby was a dream. Breastfed easily but also took bottle. Woke max twice briefly as a newborn for a feed, down to once a night at 6 weeks and then slept through from 5 months. Since birth has had a 2 hour sleep at lunch.
sadly was born at the start of lockdown so was stuck in with severe PND and a stir crazy 2.5 year old so never got to enjoy her as such. Very sad but also so grateful as the time would have been infinitely harder if she’d been a challenging baby.

My newborns have both been super easy, great sleepers. Never been sleep deprived with either really!

DS was an emcs (undiagnosed footling breach) and had a tricky first week (would n't feed), but once we were home and he was bottle fed, he was a dream. He slept a lot, fed regularly, slept 11pm - 7am at 9 weeks and was generally pretty content. I had no family support nearby (dm lived 7 hrs away) and went to lots of baby groups and met other women and new babies. DS was also excellent at long journey to DM's. He didn't grizzle about teeth and potty trained in a fortnight..... then his sister was born! She is a very different kettle of fish!

My eldest went through a stage between 4 and 6 months where she decided sleep is for wimps and we didn't need it (we very much did!) other than that she's been a 7-7 sleeper with a 2 hour nap since 8 weeks old. Youngest is 4 months and has slept 8-6 since about 6 weeks. They are an absolute joy when they are awake even if the eldest is starting to act a bit feral and thinks throwing shoes at her brother is an appropriate way of showing affection. They make me laugh every day

When your baby smiles for the first time it will melt your heart and make everything you’ve been through/going through seem insignificant. Then they start babbling and you realise you’re looking after a real human being and not just a baby. My DS is now 8 and is the amazing person I’ve ever known. You’ll be fine OP.

Honestly it is really hard. But apparently worth it as I am having another! And we don't have any outside help or family support at all. You just have to get through each stage. In saying ti myself when I feel anxious that I can do the first six months then I can cope with anything else.

Reading these good sleeping stories is nice, hope I get one of those second time round! Ds didn't sleep through the night until 18 months and even now at three it's hit and miss 🤣

See I used to think that until I had my second (admittedly they're still very new but already far easier than my first). Some babies are just "easy". And we definitely don't have lots of help either.

My first was a dream. Slept through the night from about 4 months. Very easy baby. Hardly cried. I was so smug. Then 2 years later my DD came along,as this is positive only l won't mention her🤣

My youngest slept for 5 hours at night from birth, cried to be put down and left alone, self soothed, and slept 7/8 hours at night from 5 weeks. When older he was quite happy playing on his own. He was a very easy baby

I took the easy parenting route!

I Co slept, breastfed on demand and generally "broke" the parenting rules.

My kids went with me everywhere (lived overseas, no money for a sitter) but that didn't stop me having fun ... they travelled, they went parties, they went to gigs/festivals.

I used cloth nappies, a baby carrier and they wore a lot of hand me downs, certainly no night nurses or even child care, h loved them but to be honest he worked 10+'s plus a day so was out for over 11 hours a day, returned to work when dd2 was 2 days old leaving me alone with 2 kids. Dd1 is autistic.

It really was fine!!! Go with the flow, reduce your expectations for housework and enjoy your kids

Would love to hear more about your parenting style.

My DD was a "textbook baby". As a newborn she fed every four hours (almost to the clock), but every feed lasted an hour (very normal for a newborn) so in effect she was feeding every three hours. But in between feeds she slept the entire time and she was easy to put down, so whilst the sleep was certainly interrupted, we were still getting about 7 or so hours a night.

Mine never slept more than a couple of hours at a time but it's so easy to breastfeed in bed lying down, you quickly go back to sleep.

I had anxiety and depression in pregnancy and all the bad stories got me down. I had insomnia, but in a roundabout way, a baby and breast cured it. Breastfeeding and co-sleeping was really great for my sleep, until she got too big. I sleep well after feeding. And did not clock watch. On my own with the baby in the daytime I listened to a good few audio books while doing the monotonous changing, feeding, peakaboo I was dreading. This time round I'm feeling much more positive, really excited to breastfeed again and have a slower pace of life. And just cuddle and see a mini human develop.

*breastfeeding cured it

My DD wasn’t easy at all but I was so in love and obsessed with her it didn’t matter. She’s now three and a half and pretty easy - smiley and super cute. It goes by like a flash, enjoy it.

With hindsight, my eldest was a super easy baby and toddler. Slept well right from the off (mostly BF, some formula) and was 7-7 by 6 months. Weaned easily, lovely calm temperament and rarely tantrummed.

Now at secondary school and still a calm, easy going child although we haven't quite hit the teenage years yet.

Of course with the first, you think it's superior parenting. We then had his two younger siblings and realised it's the child!! They have more than made up for an easy eldest

Oh and I had very little outside help.

OP, the very best thing about babies is that they turn into toddlers, who are the most brilliant inventions ever.

Lots of babies are 'easy'. Lots aren't. It's the luck of the draw, and there's no reason why yours should be difficult. One of mine was an absolute dream baby - never a single sleepless moment with her - until she turned 14 and turned into a very difficult teenager. There's no rhyme or reason to any of this.

The only thing I'd say is that some of the 'hard work' comes from people making it more difficult than it needs to be. For me, abandoning breastfeeding was a game-changer.

Oh and as a PP says - swaddling and a routine. These made my life loads easier. I did a very slightly less rigid version of Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby with my DC.

My baby boy is 7 months and he’s easy!
I’ll say this bit quietly but he slept through from midnight to 7am from 3 weeks old and now sleeps 9pm to 7am at 7 months. I reckon he’s woken up 15 times in the night in his entire little life!!! Bloody wonderful. He only cries if he’s hungry or sore teeth etc. He is easier than I was anticipating!! Good luck to you Xox

My son started to sleep through when he was 12 weeks old. Once we introduced naps he slept from 7pm to 7am and still does at 21 months. He's never had a sleep regression. They're not always bad sleepers! :)