To think that a newborn is a walk in the park compared to a 5mo?

[Bluemonkeyspots]

Or am I looking back a few months through rosé tinted specs?

Bring back the days where the only problem was worrying about collapsing through sheer exhaustion.

Now it's all sore gums, hair pulling, screaming because she can't roll over, screaming because she has now rolled over and is stuck, crying as she wants more than milk, crying if i try her with solids as she can't hold onto or swallow them, fighting sleep but being too heavy to rock to sleep, being too nosey to sleep when out in the pram, constantly pulling her blankets over her head then crying when she can't get them off again......... Aarrrgghhh!

It's a good thing she is so cute and has the best smile ever!

I found the newborn stage hard with my first because I was clueless. DS2 that stage was a treat - newborns do sleep a lot after all...during the day mind, but still.

I found 1.5yrs-2.5yrs the hardest bit to date. Into everything, not sleeping, not playing on their own at all - cute but exhausting.

YANBU I have a very grumpy 16 week old who is just getting over a cold and finishing cutting his bottom two teeth. He apparently feels the need for lots of nice naps but is a grumpy squirmy bitey monster between said 30 minute naps. I miss the newborn sleep snuggles.

Yanbo....3-12 month= hell, 12-24 months worse hell (the whinging never stops!!) 24+...heaven in comparison! I hear 3 years is worse than so called terrible twos.

YANBU. I loved the newborn bit. Struggle with babies (aside from newborns) - they don't do anything Love toddlers, preschool is hard.

I also find the INTENSE CONSTANT NEEEEED for entertaining difficult. DS didn't even sit up until he was 9 months old so he was constantly irritated that he couldn't sit and play with things. Thankfully he could cruise from 8 months so it wasn't too bad if I let him bang things on the coffee table constantly.

Yeah, 2 is easy. 3? Well, there's a reason most people get pregnant again before their first turns 3

I will swap you for a 10 month old.
I do think newborn stage was lovely. Yes I got very little sleep at night but I had the sense and option to sleep when baby slept.

My DS is 5 months and it is a peice of cake compared to the newborn phase. Having said that I didn't get more than 1 and a half hours sleep in one go for weeks which was the main reason! Also he fed for quite literally hours and hours each day.

To me this phase is pretty easy although I am still dreaming of a full nights sleep ....

2 year old and 3 year old way harder than baby imo, newborn or otherwise! tantrums, refusal to do anything your way, faddy eating, potty training, running away in the park/street!

Obviously it depends on the baby but I remember a particularly tough bit just before he learned to sit up - then came the most joyous few months of my life. Then the learning to crawl started with lots of head bumps - now at 10mo he is mobile and happy again, although it's harder work than the sitting stage which was a real sweet spot. It's probably just round the corner for you OP.

snortwait until they learn to walk and talk... oh, and weaning, thats a wonderful bit. Potty training... snorts some more

Basically they get harder and harder work until they're 21... If you're lucky.

Yes you're right, but 5 month stage is a million times better than the toddler tantrums stage. It gets better when they start talking properly and can tell you exactly what is wrong!

If you have more than 1, once they master the art of speaking they upgrade to bickering. That stage is dreamy :D

My DS keeps me awake all night. Because he's not home - he's nearly 19. Was better when he was in the cot and I knew where he was.

Depends on the baby and the soreness of the boobs, the ease of feeding and growing and how many stitches were incurrred.

If you have older ones you should know better than to generalise.

Wait another 10 years and you'll be saying baby years were a breeze after teenage years

Spent the day screeching blue murder like a fishwife calmly explaining to Dds (5 & 2) why they shouldn't fight and climb/take each others toys/leave carnage in their wake for their brother to swallow/watch any more tv/trail moon dough from one side of the house to the other/play Narnia in their wardrobes .

My 11mo seems an absolute breeze in comparison... Despite having one leg in plaster cast and trying to cruise and tackle the stairs with it. He's seemed a joy since he was born and I swear I think I used to find the baby years the hardest!!

Wine anyone?!

YABU

I have 6 children so you would think that the newborn stage would be a stroll for me, but with each one it was the hardest stage as they are so dependent and the exhaustion is something else. I adore newborns, dont get me wrong, but in terms of "easiness", give me a 6 month old every time!

My DD was the same at 5mo, slept 12 hours at night but super lively during the day and wanted stimulation. I enjoyed it but had to plan lots of 'activties'. Unfortunately I have to say it got much harder a few months later when she was on the move - even more lively, never stayed still.

I could have started this thread about my 10 month old. She's just started crawling and unless you watch her literally every second, she's either
a) eating dead bugs and crap off the floor
b) getting annoyed and crying if she can't have the remote controls, my phone, car keys, necklace etc even though she has tonnes of toys to play with!
c) following me to the toilet and sitting outside the door, so I can't get out
d) smiling at my constant barrage of 'No, don't touch that' and shaking her head in a no motion - but then grabbing said ornament/photo and lobbing it anyway.
BUT - and it's a big one, her beautiful cherubic face, wide toothy smile and lovely singsong chuckle make it all so worth while and fun when I'm not totally knackered

Mine are 18 and 15. Pours more wine. Hoping it will get easier in september when DS goes to uni. Hmmm!

Yanbu newborns are easier than every other age group. Mine are 3 and 2, I miss the fact that newborns don't talk or move

According to many, it only gets harder!

I have a newborn and a toddler. I wish I could go back and have a word with my pfb self. He was actually really easy and extremely portable. My newborn is a terrible feeder, but still pretty easy considering. It's the constant entertaining that becomes exhausting.

I miss naps snuggled with my pfb.