When did your baby get easier...

[misslockdown87]

I know there's no general hard and fast rule but just wondering when you believe your baby got easier..
I should start by saying my baby isn't overly difficult but at the moment we are going through a regression and he's difficult to get to nap. Entertaining him is difficult too - he's 4.5 months so as you can imagine his attention span is short.
It's getting slightly easier as he can "entertain" himself long enough for me to make some lunch or use the loo so we're getting there.
Just wondered what the magic age was for you or if it's just gradual and you just one day realise it's slightly easier.
(By the way - I have heard the saying they don't get easier it's just difficult but in different ways)

12 months roughly for me. He was a late crawler, but much happier once he could get around more easily and walked soon after. Every passing month seems easier still (he's now 16 months), aside from the tantrums, which are epic

I'm not sure it does!

I've got a newborn, a 5 year old and a 6 year old and the newborn is the easiest!

Mine's 18 and I'm still waiting.... 😉

2

I didn't really find either of mine hard as babies but I think some of it is about expectations - I didn't expect much time to myself or for the baby to entertain themselves for long. Personally, I found 12-20ish months the hardest as they still have no sense of danger but are properly mobile and fast and don't have the advantage of being verbal and therefore funny/somewhat able to reason

DS got a bit easier at about 7/8 months when he started napping for more than 30 minutes at a time. I don’t think he really changed, I just had more down time so could cope better!
He’s generally got easier since, and he’s only just started crawling at 14 months (!!) and it’s been bliss this past few weeks with the frustration just melting away. He’s always slept well at night thankfully.
He’s been napping only in his cot since lockdown started in March so I presume when he does go to nursery his sleep will go to shit for a while!

6 weeks, he was sleeping through then and was generally very placid, did not require entertaining all of the time but I think I had a freak baby.
I didn't risk a second because I knew it would be the baby from hell.

When he started walking. So much more content.

Depends what you find difficult. Dc1 was easier once he slept through aged 2. Dc2 has only got harder. Dc3 was an easy baby and a tough toddler.

I find lack of sleep and constant demanding attention difficult. Just repeat “it’s just a phase” on loop

When they leave home . . .

Think it depends on the baby. DD is 3.5 and still very high need. She never stops talking, wanting to play, needing something. DS is 2 in 2 weeks and has always been fairly easy going and entertains himself for genuinely an hour with no input.

Sounds like a cop out but I did find each day was just a bit easier. Honestly for us it's become easier with each day and month that goes by. 100% crawling was the turning point and then walking even more so. He was very frustrated. Now he is 2 and I love how I can have communication with him and he understands (if not listens!) to what I'm saying. Personally 3/4/5 months were the worst for us by far! So far. Early days.

At 5 months I felt a huge change. Baby just started to go down for naps without crying (i had a tough time with his crying before this). By 6 months baby could get put down (mostly) easily for naps and wake up from them (mostly) not crying. Still woke for milk in night lots but not with the awful crying. Then each month they got easier and more fun. They are 4 now and still fab.

Do you have a decent jungle gym OP?

With my eldest at around 22 months when she started walking and the reflux settled down.

With my youngest she was a really nice easy baby. Now she is 15 months and a tornado of destruction and pent up energy. So the complete opposite so god knows when she will be a bit more easier to deal with 🤣

Still waiting 11 years on.
But in baby terms-as soon as we started weaning, then again when she started crawling and then walking and talking.

As babies, from when we got sleeping and eating into a reasonable routine, which was 3 months with DS and 9 months with DD who had reflux and was distressed/unsettled a lot when tiny. As young children, DD was really easy as she played by herself brilliantly, DS , while lovely, was hard work as he wanted constant input. They are teenagers now and still not easy, though it’s very different now, both are desperate to get back to school and finding lock down difficult, which makes it hard for DH and me too.

13 and still waiting. Enjoy the ride.

Three weeks and six weeks, three months and six months. At first she was more settled with clearer boundaries between sleeping and waking and her digestive system was working better. She started eating food at 14 weeks (it was advised to start at 14lb then) and that was another improvement as she was a big hungry baby. Next, she was much happier when she learned to sit up and could use her hands in front of her to examine things. Then she started talking at nine months and could tell the staff (me) what she wanted instead of just whinging until I figured it out. Crawling at ten months, she could get where she wanted.

After that it was steady slight progress. It helped to remember that, barring illness or other setbacks, every week is, on average, a bit better than the week before.

Age 6

By 4 months he was very contented, interested in things, lively, good fun. Started to eat and enjoyed that. Six months, started crawling. Eight months pulling himself up on chairs and things, singing. Ten months saying things, walking. He'd sit in his chair at the table and eat with us then. Looking back, it was good. I felt good too, I was working part time and loved it. They aren't babies for long though, it's a time to cherish.

6 months when she could sit up unaided and could entertain herself with a treasure basket. Then easier again at 9 months when she learnt to crawl.

Basically the more independent she gets, the easier it becomes.

Ha! Adorable when people think they’re 4/5/6 month old babies are difficult

Oops *their

Age 4