When does it get easier?!

[moomin35]

Just wondering if the baby stage ever passes and gets easier and when? I'm in the full throes of teething, sleepless nights, colds, seperation anxiety, crawling, weaning, solids but still milk, nappies and it's all really full on, does it ever ease up and get easier?

When they leave home. I'm still waiting.

No, there's a spell from about 18 months to 10 when it gets easier. Indeed, a pleasure. Then it's teenage hell.

I found the first six months incredibly hard. It gets progressively easier after that. Now at 2yrs 10months it is an absolute pleasure - of course I'm going to balls all that up by having another baby in September

I think every stage has its difficulties but would agree that about 6 months things tend to improve a bit. It's when they start gaining a bit of independence and hopefully things have fallen into place a bit. With my first the sleepless nights lasted for ages but I got systems in place and specific days for doing certain jobs - washing, ironing, shopping etc. I think I found it easier to get prepared the night before then get out of the house, anywhere! A day can really drag when you're sat at home with no distraction. I genuinely think the baby gets fed up with you (well mine seemed to!) It saved making a mess at home and baby slept/relaxed in the pushchair or with other people. Having said that now I've got two I don't go out in public with them!

Definitely agree that it takes a few months for things to settle down/get into a routine, and I have found this with both my first and my second (with only a 16 month interval between!) It is true that as soon as you feel like you have "cracked it" something else rears up but I guess it is all a series of challenges/phases!!!!

I found at around six months, they sit up themselves which makes life easier, feeding is more of a routine rather than a constant and they start to interact more with you and the world which makes the day more interesting. I would agree that getting out of the house is good, even if it feels like a lot of effort getting everyone dressed and out the door.

Good luck!

I think it depends on the baby, and on you. Personally I found the first 3 months rather blissful, whereas loads of people had told me to just survive that bit and then it would get easier. Others said 6 months was the threshold after which it would somehow get easier. Actually I've found 6-9 months really tough, here is so much new stuff to cope with. All the things you say - teeth, weaning, colds (winter has been shit hasn't it?), and 9 months cumulative sleep deprivation. I'm just trying to find the things I enjoy about each age, and remind myself we'll
be through to be next birt soon. And the days are getting longer, thank god.

It doesn't get easier, you just get better at it.

For me, 0-1 is hard. 1-2 is easier. 2.5 - 6 has been a joy.

I am not a baby person

According to my DM never - I'm sure she is referring to her DS who at nearly 30 is about to move back home for the millionth time and definitely not her wonderful independent DD

For me I love the baby bit but I find 18 months- 3 years really hard (especially when I had two toddlers). Now they're both at school it's great!

Agree with 'when they've left home' - of course everyone is different but for me, the teenage years are the worst .

I look back on the baby and toddler years when they did what you wanted with fond memories. .

I am probably getting my own back as I had such an easy baby - slept well, ate well, loved playschool etc etc - I never had a broken night's sleep .

There's a brief window when they're in primary school where you think you're on top of it all and then teenagerness hits.

DS will be 19 soon, that's quite pleasant - but that could just be in comparison to 14 yr old DD who has given us a pretty horrible year, so I'm going to go with when they leave home as well.

3 months - 1.8 was an absolute joy. Ahhhh so cuddly and cute. No confrontation, fighting, tantrums, meltdowns, demands, screeching at you for more more more!!!

1.9-4 was not so good. Much more tougher than the easy baby time.

4 onwards has its challenges but overall is a joy.

I hear primary school years are the best but are not easy by any stretch. So even though I haven't got to the teenage years, I know it will only get easier when they leave home : )

I find it gets easier when DD gets the hang of each new thing. It took her a very long time to use her hands, but as soon as she did she was a different baby, no longer frustrated and bored when I couldn't entertain her. Then she got sitting up sorted out, same thing. It was like the world opened up for her (and us!) a little bit more each time. She's been standing with help for ages and that's made her happy, and soon she'll be able to do it herself and I think we'll be in business then! I mean, all of these things bring new challenges and frustrations but on the whole they've made things better.

We had/have a lot of troubles with milk and eating, but those aside life is much easier as she slowly gains more independence. Once she can communicate with words and be open to at least a tiny bit of reason, I hope some more frustrating things will fade (to be replaced with other things obviously!).

It gets a lot less physical. First at around a year/18 months when they can walk reliably. Again at about 3/4 when they can talk fairly well and actually listen to directions almost 50% of the time. And again at 5/6 when they are pretty good at doing stuff themselves (finally!) and have mostly outgrown the tendency to just refuse random requests for no apparent reason.

I'd swap the earlier months for the toddler stage any day!!.. My ds is almost 3 (a three-nager)!!! & is very loud & demanding.. Dd was far easier so I really think it depends on the child!

It gets easier when they sleep reliably. I was just about cracking up when DD was tiny, but when she got the hang of going to bed at 7pm, going straight to sleep, and staying asleep, it got loads easier. A few hours to yourself every evening, secure in the knowledge that no one's going to need you until tomorrow morning - it's bliss, and it gives you chance to regroup, recharge, and thus cope with the teething and other tortures.

Mine is only 10.5 months but it's been a joy since 6 months. Before that it was gruelling.

I'm ready for number two simply because I'm dreading the first 6 months all over again and I just want to get it over and done with so I can have a proper little person with personality instead of little pink blob that Breastfeeds round the bloody clock.

Whenever someone asks this I think of an old neighbour, who during a random chat looked at toddler ds and said "there's this point, in late primary school, when life is almost normal and then they become teenagers and it's like they're 2 again!"

My eldest is only 7.5 so this only really applies to 0-7.5y but I think it got easier for me psychologically when each child started to gain more sense of themselves as an individual as oppose to a part of me. I'm having the easiest time in years at the moment. The 7 and 5 yo are at school, 3yo dd2 starts pre school in a few weeks. The level of dependence has gone down loads, I can't help but find that easier.

Suspect it also helps that none of them are old enough to have encountered (or just happen to have not encountered for some other reason) any really complicated problems yet. Teenagers I can't really bring myself to properly consider yet :-/