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.

Babies can just sleep in a pram or sling and you can go out wherever you want as baby doesn't care.

Toddlers don't want to go where you want, so you spend 101 hours pushing a swing, avoiding cafes and going on playdates. Toddlers also pee on the floor as they don't want a nappy or toilet, throw food, sit on the pavement and refuse to move, climb out of pram, refuse to walk, get undressed at unsuitable times. You can't go to the toilet or shower and them be in the same place you left them.

Instead of your eating breakfast with baby on your lap one handed, you are retrieving the child from escaping, a mad rush to toilet as they need a wee right now, picking food off the floor, and then they eat half of your food.

All depends on the child I suppose my DS was an easy baby in the pram and it was easy to get out the door. He’s now 22 months and oh my days I’m exhausted 😴 he will tolerate the pram for a little bit but wants to walk (leg it) but won’t hold my hand, hates his reins, tantrums if I won’t let him go in a certain direction (the road usually) tantrums if I wont let him put mud in his gob etc. I’ve grown to hate the park 😁 toddler groups are my lifesaver right now

Babies are easier. And mine were difficult ones!

They hide shoes and keys.

My DS once threw one of his brand new trainers in the dustbin. I didn’t realise, emptied the bin as normal, bin day came and went then I thought where on Earth is his other trainer? He pointed to the kitchen bin and said ‘gone’.

He also used to post the keys and other important things out of the postbox.

One quarter of the way round the big lake:
"Are you sure you're not tired? I'd quite like to go home; let's go home and you can have some lunch"
"I not tired don't wanta go home don't wanta don't wanta, wanta go that way!"
Exactly half way round the lake:
"I'm TIRED! My legs are SORE! My legs don't work! I can't WALK! Wanta go hoooome!"

"I need the TOOOOILET"
_

Babies are easier.

YAB massively U. Taking toddlers out is so so much harder work. You have to chase them around constantly to make sure they're not snatching toys from other children, wetting themselves, eating mud, taking their pants off, knocking smaller children over or getting in the way of bigger children. There are endless demands for snacks, drinks, icecreams. They will not sit still or be quiet. They stop napping so you get no break from them. They say completely inappropriate things at top volume to strangers. They run away, and they're faster than you think. And that's before you even get to the tantrums.

'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.'

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Sorry OP but YABVVVU and funny

1. you can't ignore toddler tantrums when they're having a screaming fit that will end in them injuring themselves, glares from passers by, attempts to run into ongoing traffic etc.

2. toddlers cry for genuine reasons too, they get tired, hungry, thirsty and wet too, they also cry for reasons more complex than a baby eg if their hands are yukky, their brother sits too close to them, their brother looks at them, their dad enters the room, you go out somewhere to eat that doesn't serve pesto pasta, you got them the orange fruit shoot and they HATE orange fruit shoots despite drinking 2 of them at a birthday party yesterday, their t shirt with their favourite dinosaur 🦖 is suddenly terrifying, you only let them take 2 fire engines out and they wanted to bring 3 etc (there genuinely is no end to the possibilities)

3. they won't go in the buggy, they won't go in the trolley and they won't walk next to you. They race around Tesco like lunatics putting buns, pick and mix etc in their miniature trolleys and you have to chase them while people laugh.

4. they keep inventing new ways to try to seriously injure themselves. My sons favourite is trying to run into moving roundabouts at the park.

toddlers cry for genuine reasons too, they get tired, hungry, thirsty and wet too, they also cry for reasons more complex than a baby eg if their hands are yukky, their brother sits too close to them, their brother looks at them, their dad enters the room, you go out somewhere to eat that doesn't serve pesto pasta, you got them the orange fruit shoot and they HATE orange fruit shoots despite drinking 2 of them at a birthday party yesterday, their t shirt with their favourite dinosaur 🦖 is suddenly terrifying, you only let them take 2 fire engines out and they wanted to bring 3 etc (there genuinely is no end to the possibilities)

😂😂

Creatures of whimsy.

I gotta chuckle and some of the comments about "babies just sleep" because mine bloody won't! Hates his sling now, doesn't wanna be restrained. Also won't nap in the pram unless I have walked non-stop for at least 20 minutes. Wakes up after 30 minutes every. single. nap.

coppers ohhhhhh you've just explained my life right now!

there just is no pleasing toddlers

Definitely depends on the child. I half agree with you OP!

My DS1 was a nightmare baby any time we went out. Wouldn't sleep in the pram or sling, wanted holding the whole time, wanted fed then didn't want fed then decided actually yeah he did want fed, cried if we weren't moving around. He was a dream toddler and still is a dream now he's 4. Stays by my side, holds my hand, sits quietly playing with toys or colouring, eats well, doesn't interrupt.
DS2 however was a nightmare baby (a multitude of allergies and a lung condition partly to blame but still) and he's even worse now he's toddling! Need eyes in the back of my head. He doesn't sit nice, he wont hold anyones hand, he plays with something for 5 milliseconds before tossing it and screaming at the top of his lungs, he doesn't like eating out and about because he wants everyone elses food but he generally can't have a bit because of his allergies which results in a massive screaming session. He's not even 1 yet!

I’m going to disagree with most people and say I think you’re right in some ways.

Mine took against his buggy for a few months and would scream as if he was being tortured while we were out. I had a sling but he would scream in the same way in that too. He wanted to be fed nearly every hour, so that meant finding a park bench/cafe if we were inbetween home/where we were going.

So many more poos with a baby, so again you have to find places where you can change them. Inevitably there will be a queue or you’ll find you’ve run out of nappies.

Some things are harder about toddlers but at least there is less poo, slightly less screaming and they can give you a bit of a clue what they’re grumbling about.

Please update us all in a year OP because I'd you think now is difficult you are in for a bumpy ride 😂

Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh at the naivety! Yes there are some pretty placid toddlers (never mine but hey ho) but you still have to constantly watch them for running/climbing/taking nappy off in a cafe/screaming the place down because grass is green and they want it to be purple/screaming because you helped them/screaming because you didn’t help them/screaming because you looked at them with a smile/blocking the toilet with toys/etc etc etc. It’s nit actually very easy to ignore tantrums once a child is mobile. Try and enjoy the here and now because in all probability you will find it was an easy stage in comparison. 4 onwards is ok.

The major, major difference is...toddlers discover free will. And want to exercise it in the most annoying and inappropriate ways possible!!!!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I expected mostly 'YABU' to be honest
😂

Please update us all in a year OP because I'd you think now is difficult you are in for a bumpy ride

Look I know you mean this as a light hearted jibe but it’s really not the case for everyone. I would read stuff like this when I had a young baby and feel completely panicked and think “but my life literally cannot he worse”.

I found the first year appallingly hard and leaving the house almost impossible. I have found every stage since my DS turned one a joy.

My 2 year old is far easier to take out than when he was a baby

Toddlers are a pain in the arse.

The waking up after every 30 mins thing will hopefully stop at some point.. my DD (DC1) was the same - though that time was such a blur I can't exactly remember when I think it might have been when she dropped from three naps to two (quite early at six months) - she suddenly started doing having two quite predictable naps of 90 mins each (which at the time I thought was the dream - DS thankfully never went through that phase and his two naps were more like 3 hours and 2 hours! (That might also be partly why I found DC2 easier )

'This is why people are so much more chilled with second babies - it’s not because second babies are easier, but because parents are saving themselves for the toddler onslaught.'

I thought it was because you were in the zone, like a marine or a ninja. Trained for combat on 3 hours sleep, tough as nails. Bulletproof!

Babies are so much easier, sorry!!
When DD was little I could pop her in the pram and go for a leisurely lunch with friends, a walk round the shops, etc. Yes there was feeding and changing to do and shed often need held but we could pass her back and forth and have a nice chat and a glass of wine.
Now she’s a toddler and she needs to be entertained, she’s into everything, she can run and climb and she has very strong feelings that change every few minutes. One minute she’s happily colouring, the next BAM, crayons all over the floor and she’s wailing. She wants to touch the light bulb and doesn’t know why she can’t. She doesn’t want to eat pizza, even though it’s her favourite food. Oh wait, now she does want to eat pizza, but only off my fork, which she’s waving around and might stab herself in the eye with at any moment. It’s EXHAUSTING. Going anywhere other than soft play/the park is barely worth it.

Toddlers are more fun though. Thankfully.

😂. Babies are definitely not harder than toddlers! I have 2, 14m apart and I smile when people say that it must've been hard work when my youngest was born.

It was...because it was me learning a whole new way, but man that was easy compared to having 2 small people on the move. And my youngest is a bugger for running off! 🙈🤦🏼‍♀️

Hugs tho. Parenting is tough and every stage is a new challenge. X

The stories about what people's toddlers do are hilarious although I bet I wouldn't be saying that if it was my own 😂 you poor things