Was age 1-2 or 2-3 harder for you??!

[Buttonsilbet]

Just that, really. I’m struggling a teeeny bit!

I found 2-3 and 3-4 very hard work! 4 onwards has been much better!

I am exhausted and they’re only 15 months!

For my first two kids 2-3 was the best age for both. I found 1-2 really hard

For me the newborn stage was the hardest. It started getting easier after age 1. I want more children, but I can't imagine going through the first year again so am putting it off! Never getting into a deep, unbroken sleep. Every feed being an hour of screaming, struggling and latching on and off. Never being able to put her down to do chores, wash or eat as she'd scream her head off. Completely unable to entertain herself. Hating lying on her back so she'd have to constantly be propped up. Not napping for more than 20 minutes.
Shudder. Give me a toddler over a newborn any day!
Now she's 18 months and will amuse herself for ages while I potter around doing chores. She sleeps from 7pm to 7am, with a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. She can tell me what she needs - "water!" "potty!" "banana!" "outside!". It's easy peasy.

2-3 was easier for both my dc. More verbal and independent and able to do much more on their own. 1-2 was lovely but more tiring and I had to be switched on all the time.

I found it all got a bit better after the first 12 months. Then from just after 2 until 4 was tough going. Things largely settled down for both DCs until they went to secondary school.

From 14 onwards with DD was hard, she started settling down again at 17 (she's 19 now and much more settled). DS is 14 almost 15 and is now heading into that phase. I'm gritting my teeth!

1-2 was harder with DD due to not being able to communicate as well as she can now, her being into everything so I had to be really switched on all the time, and she went through a phase 12-18 months of needing rocking to sleep every single evening. She also picked up SO many bugs between those ages from nursery.

After turning 2 she went through a thankfully very brief phase of "terrible 2s" tantrums but it was short lived. Now, months away from turning 3, she an absolute delight. So funny and quirky, and her language has come on in leaps and bounds, so she's better able to communicate her needs to me. She's also more independent with bedtimes (no longer needs rocking to sleep etc). She's also recently mastered potty training so that's made things easier too in some ways.

So overall, although there have been enjoyable things at all ages for me, 2-3 is by far better than 1-2 😀

1-2 for sure! No sense of danger, poor communication skills and constantly trying to put objects in their mouth, destroy things and they get so frustrated when they can't. It's exhausting.
It gets better at age two and age three is a dream.

2-3 I would say, knowing what he wanted but not able to communicate as good as he wanted to. Although he went to nursery at 2.5 which helped 😅 also sleep was fine at that age too so I suppose it's swings and round abouts. I waited with fear of the terrible 2s which didn't come, but the second he turned 3, omg! 0-6months and 3-3.5 were the hardest stages for me

For me 1-2 was harder than 2-3 or any other year, and that includes teenagers (my eldest is 18 now). Hang in there OP!

Watching with interest. DS is 26 months and I am finding parenting really draining at the moment.

Every weekend or break just involves stressful incidents: Trying to fix his own jigsaw with super glue from a drawer we didn't realise he was tall enough to reach, and getting it over his face an our hardwood floors. Accidentally locking himself in a hotel room bathroom necessitating a locksmith call out.

He also always demanding that he "wants to walk" but lacks the stamina to go very far and, so I have to have a wrestling match with him to get him to go into the buggy.

Everyone keeps telling me it will be magically better at 4 years old, which seems a long time to wait.

So I can't really answer as DS has just turned 2. However, I feel like the last 6 months have been easier than the previous. Now he can communicate exactly what he wants, so is less frustrated.

2-3 with my twins, especially one of them. You will come through the other side of it! Toddlers are very challenging. They want to do more than they’re able to and they’re just frustrated constantly and expect you to read their minds.
Do you have help/support? I found having a few hours to myself frequently helped me a lot, even if I just did a massive dog walk by myself x

2-3 probably? but I'd say the worst bit so far was actually about 2 yrs 5 months til 3 yrs 3 months. DS was just a little ball of anger and stroppiness. Seems to becoming out of that now he is getting closer to 4.

Thank you! I wanted to say the same. Said child is 3 this week. I have high expectation for change

So glad you said this! I’m going out of my mind with my 4 year old. It’s like he drinks 13 red bulls a day