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.

Yeah, babies are way easier.
However, I agree that five months is a bitch age. And yes, if you're breastfeeding you have to do all the work yourself - at least a two year old you can hand to your partner. And once they get to about three, something magical happens and they trot off happily to play with your host's children and you get to sit and enjoy yourself.
But two years old is a nightmare. Not old enough to want to let you out of their sight in a strange place (or to trust not to wreck the joint) but old enough to demand you talk to them and play with them. Old enough to want to be running about all the time and not old enough to be distracted by paper and crayons.
And no, you can't ignore a tantrum - it is a genuine need - even if it manifests as "my biscuit is broken!" What it means is "I'm tired/hungry/overwhelmed", just as much as it does when they're babies.

Omg I miss the days of going out with a baby as opposed to a toddler!!!
Both of mine were sling babies, so I could pop them in there and as long as they were fed/watered/warm enough etc I could crack on with my day with very little fuss.
Toddlers are fucking savages Well mine are anyway.
I found it much easier to deal with a crying, cranky baby in public than a screaming, tantrumming toddler

My DD is 14 months old and getting more difficult lately as she suddenly seems to want to get out of the pram all the time, but she can't walk yet! She used to be an absolute doddle. From 0-6 months she would nap for hours when we were out! And I breastfeed her so it's always been easy to feed her out and about. I imagine a fussy 2 year old will be even more difficult.

How old is your DS?

babies are so much easier! DD only ever woke for a feed and change when she was a baby. Now we have to alternate between being in the pram and walking so double the time to get anywhere triple if she starts tantruming. And the added paraphernalia with a toddler 🙄

No way. Babies are way easier to take out than a toddler.

I thought this... then my baby became the 18 month old toddler she is now. It's so much harder. I also now have a 4 month old and I can't believe I moaned about it before, he's SO much easier. Toddlers are relentless energy filled monsters that demand attention and could find danger in a padded room

Also, people see a crying baby and understand. Some people commiserate with you, or offer to help.

Crying, tantrumming toddler? Nothing but judgement!

I get what you are saying Op.

I found the first six months a rush. Feeding every 2 hours, napping in between (for 40 mins). So if I wanted to go out it was wait for baby to wake up, feed (took 45 minutes), get in pushchair and go out hoping that baby would sleep or cope until we got back.

Your life feels dominated by the nap and eat routine (and it is).

Good news is my baby is 14 months now and naps twice a day so it's easier to get out but the times she is not napping she is on the go constantly and trying to buy stuff in shops!

Yeah I get you OP. Unfortunately you have been “blessed” with a tricky baby rather than those ones that just lie in their pram while mummy drinks coffee. I had one too. All the people saying babies are easy - well it depends on what sort of baby you have. And what kind of person you are too.

The only bonus is that every stage from here on is going to seem good by comparison. 6-10 months will be so much better, I promise. And even the dreaded toddler stage may well seem better than the small baby stage. Give me a 2 year old over a 0-5 month old any day. Yes they tantrum but at least they are fun! And they can talk!!

Depends on your child but for me the baby days were a dream. Now my life is park or playgroup or home as he's such hard work!

Oh for the baby days! When I could put DD down somewhere and she'd stay there! She was such an easy baby, she slept, she ate, never ill, no reflux or anything like that. I allowed myself to get lulled into a false sense of security because she hit about 1 and a half/2 and it all went out the window.

She's 2 and a half now and a whirling dervish of mayhem. She won't do anything she doesn't expressly want to do, screams like a banshee and won't eat anything even vaguely healthy, I offer it, she throws it, I try to hide it she sniffs it out like a damn bloodhound and then throws it. There is no reasoning with her she goes from happy to hysterical in less than 2 seconds flat.

Sorry OP, toddlers are much harder than babies!

Oh sweet summer child your in for awakening

YABU babies are delightful compared to demon toddlers

HTH

Ha ha ha I was just saying yesterday to a friend about how much I harder parenting is to a 3 year old than a baby!

I have a six month old and a 2 year old.

I would take the baby anywhere she is easy the toddler is a devil child. Screams runs wont sit in a trolley, wont sit in a pram, hates sun cream, hates hats hates everything

Unlike most I found heading out with a toddler so much easier. It did help that DS was a demon baby who cried non stop but then turned into an angelic toddler. He grasped speech early too so we could sit in a cafe and chat and eat cake together. So much more civilised!

Oh and he is now 3.5 and parenting is a doddle most of the time :)

I am still mentally scarred by the 6m-2 3/4 years with 18m being HELL
She was (is) bonkers, like a rabid drunk
Age 4.5 is proving really annoying as well
I still can’t do a supermarket shop with her. We went thru a quiet period when we could (maybe age 3-4??) do that but not any more

Toddlers are very difficult beasts - wilful, loud, fast and unpredictable. But, in many ways life now, with a nearly 2 year old, is easier than the first few months with a tiny baby because; a). I've got more confident, I no longer feel like a bomb has gone off in my life - I've adjusted to the new normal. And b). I've stopped trying to go anywhere other than the park, soft play and a few other toddler friendly locations.
So, although toddlers are more difficult than babies, they're somehow easier at the same time.

Thing is with a toddler is that you have to take them out. Regardless of the weather. The little darlings need exercising to get rid of all that energy so off you trudge to the park, playground, playgroup or the worst option, softplay. It's that or let them absolutely destroy the house. Babies don't do that.

I found 10 months to 3.5 yrs hard. As soon as ds could move, he didn't want to be in a pushchair or shopping trolley and would protest so I couldn't really go out with him by myself as he wanted to be carried. He was and still is quite a big boy and I just couldn't carry him and he just wouldn't walk far. Dh works most weekends so just me and ds. I just stopped going anyway with him for a couple of years. As baby he was easy to take out

'And b). I've stopped trying to go anywhere other than the park, soft play and a few other toddler friendly locations.'

Same! I refuse to go into a shop with DS (2) unless it's an emergency (no nappies or wine) I even find softplay quite stressful. 2 year olds are feral.

Oh and OP 4 months is hellish. They're going through a big developmental leap (see wonder weeks) and the 4 month sleep regression. It gets easier than this.

OMG yes to the people saying that the general public seem a bit more accepting of a crying baby in public as opposed to a tantrumming toddler
Probably around 75% of the time, if mine were crying as babies, I could figure out what the problem was, act accordingly and the crying would stop.
Toddlers don’t do that DD had an epic meltdown in HMV once because Shrek & Donkey were the wrong way around on a DVD case compared to the picture on the Shrek DVD she has at home There’s no negotiating with that kind of lunacy.

My first baby cried all day every day and even he was easier than either of my toddlers!!

I found DS as a baby so easy compared to how he is now as a toddler