Babies are worse than toddlers when going out.

[Sianlouise432]

A genuine AIBU because I'm coming from a place of 0% experience with toddlers.

I know I've got the terrible twos to look forward to, however I just think taking a baby out and about is SO ANNOYING.

DS can stay awake for max 1.5 hours before he gets cranky. He fusses and cries. Toddlers have tantrums but you can kind of ignore them.. Babies cry for genuine needs which makes it so difficult cause you HAVE to act.

So AIBU? Babies are worse to take out and about.

OP I hope you don’t feel like I or other posters were belittling your experience by saying how much harder we personally find having a toddler. It is still bloody hard, whatever age, my Dd had phases of crying and crying and I didn’t know why and it peaked at 4 months (she had horrible wind) on my first mother’s day of all days! If you are struggling could you see your health visitor they may be able to give you some advice/tips or maybe he has an underlying issue like colic or something that could be remedied. DD ended up on Gaviscon although shortly after hers became reflux and she was breastfed and gaining weight so I stopped medicating her as it was just a pain in the bum and she was no longer uncomfortable with wind and just a sicky baby after that! I also think you so quickly forget each stage because you’re so busy with the next one. Once they sleep through the night you forget how hellish the sleep deprivation is!
I’m pregnant with number 2 now so will have a toddler and a baby...I’m sure the difficult baby days will come screaming back to me come February!

I dont have toddler yet... But I think babies are fairly easy to manage. If theyre getting fussy , put them in the pram & rock it , usually keeps mine quiet x

I would rather do the newborn stage over and over again than the toddler stage 😬 (currently navigating the terrible twos with DC2).

@formerbabe agreed. If I find myself feeling broody when I see a tiny baby, I only need to remind myself they grow into toddlers and it goes away...I just can't go through another toddler stage and we've not even finished this one yet.

I dont have toddler yet... But I think babies are fairly easy to manage. If theyre getting fussy , put them in the pram & rock it , usually keeps mine quiet

Very useful advice this as all babies are exactly the same.

I do have to say as hard as I find having a toddler...it’s so much fun! She makes me laugh every day.

When our son was 2 weeks old we went to Zuma for lunch. It was lovely. He fed, slept in my arms then I swapped him over to my wife and I ate. It was positively civilised.
I don’t think we’d get him over the threshold now. Not without a couple of downloads of Paw Patrol anyway.

Your baby may not be able to stay awake for long without being grumpy, your toddler will possibly just be grumpy most of the time.

It depends where you go. Generally toddlers are worse. You can't take one around a supermarket but a baby is fine. If you're at a kids place like soft play you can sit and drink hot tea and eat a cake while they're running around.

Babies are the biggest shock to your life if they cause you serious sleep deprivation. I got nothing done with my babies and felt terrible while I was doing this nothing as I barely slept. But I can imagine how some parents love babies as if they slept at regular intervals and for a chunk of the night, they would be so easy to manage.

Toddlers are hard work physically. Running off and doing dangerous things and needing everything done for them still (wiping, feeding,carrying etc)

Children cause the most emotional hard work. Dealing with friendships, schools, teaching them about life, death and heartbreak.

I haven't had teenagers or adult children yet but I imagine it will just be an extension of the emotional hard work.

crikey - we had such an awful time in a Harvester when my two were just over 2, we didn't eat in a restaurant for just over a whole year! We had to leave with one under each arm! Babies were a doddle.

This is like the time when I was heavily pregnant with dc1 and I said 'I'll be used to the sleep deprivation because I'm having to get up a couple of times in the night to have a wee'. And my friends with babies just nodded and said quietly to themselves.... you have. No. Idea.

I seriously hope your toddler is easy :)

@Youwanapizzame yep we’ve done that more than once, child under arm! After our last holiday Dh said he is never eating out with her again, he was being serious 😂 of course we have and do but he was traumatised after seeing what I deal with most of the time!

I miss taking out a baby. She learned to walk, then walk off. Eventually she learned to listen to me but then dd2 could run off. Now they both gleefully dash of in different directions. And ask for ice cream, and a toy and to go to the park, and to go on the other swing, and then run off in different directions again... I really miss taking out a tiny baby! But it is entertaining I suppose.

No. Just no
Babies are so easy. They cant run off either. Toddler and teenagers are way way worse

Nope, my babies sound exactly like yours OP. First had terrible reflux and constipation. Second had a load of trouble with breathing. Both wouldn’t nap for more than 10 mins, I could never just go to a coffee shop and sit. Both were Velcro babies that hated slings (and I tried several). Neither slept through the night until about two and a half.

Still easier than a toddler

You carnt ignore a tantrum esp when they do dangerous things during that tantrum like slam doors or try to climb the shelves. They also tantrum about random stuff, one day they like the green cup the next day they have a screaming tantrum because you gave them the green cup. Same goes for favourite food, toy, dress, story etc etc . You dress them 2 seconds later they strip off, repeat 20 while they cry. They lay down in asda and refuse to move because you won't buy them bleach, ever tried to lift a toddler that's gone floppy?

My 3 year old is a doddle but that could just be down to her personality. Almost 2 year old is a nightmare, spends 90% of the time trying to get out of the pram and will rush off everywhere. They were easier to take out as babies.

I've found that both stages has its difficulties... I enjoy taking my toddler out more now than when she was a baby though, I suppose when she was a baby (before she could walk at 8 months) she was very frustrated as wanted to be up and about whereas now she is she's a lot happier and it's easier to communicate... But we need eyes at the back of our heads lol

Don’t feel despondent about the future OP! My DD is 2.5yrs and, whilst a little tyrant in so many ways, she is also really funny and cute and endearing multiple times a day. And very, very cuddly. Each phase has its challenges and joys.

Depends on the child. My son was a difficult baby and hard to take out. Everyone told me it would get harder when he was a toddler but that totally wasn't the case. He was a remarkably placid and easygoing (if clingy) toddler and life became MUCH easier!

Toddlers are SAVAGES! 😂 Mine both slept well though so there is that to look forward to.

Actually OP, my DS was an angel as a baby and devil as a toddler.

But, another friends baby was bloody horrendous when she took him out. He screamed constantly when in the car. I would have taken a nervous breakdown if I was her. As a toddler he is ridiculously well behaved