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)

Same here Bess, DS has never been a tantrummer. He was an awful baby however.

Same here, we never really had terrible twos or the threenager stage, based on my experience with DC1 I don't understand why people find those stages hard. Just goes to show everyone's experience is different.

For DD1 she was a great baby, even greater 2 year old but when she turned 3 she was the devil incarnate.
DD2 on the other hand is so much harder, shes nearly 9 months already crawling and cruising, fiercely independent and does not sleep, still struggling.
Expecting DC3 in October so hopefully hes easier!

Tbf I dont think they ever get easier as such just the dynamics change and theres new challenges.

Sorry just to add by the time DD1 turned 4 she was back to her lovely self and is a wonderful nearly 8 year old now so the hard phase didnt last too long!

As someone who had pnd with the first to the point where I was hitting holes in the wall with my phone, it gets easier. I've even had a second now (not the best timing with lockdown). But do speak to gp or someone to get help with pnd if you haven't. I really should have done so sooner.

For me:

Newborn 1 month: pretty easy
1m- 6 months : easiest
6-10m (early mover) pretty tough
10m - 18m pretty easy
18m - 3: toughest so far

Basically, for me it's got progressively tougher, with the occasional lul.

Same with my second - she sleeps just as badly at night as in the first couple of months, but less in the day, constantly tries to kill herself, and I have to balance it with work...

Having now read the rest of the thread and seeing how you are currently feeling, I feel like I should add a few things.

1. I'm not going to patronise you by backtracking on how I found things. You've seen from this thread just different people find the stages. I hope things turn a corner for you soon, but there's a fine line between telling you what you want to hear to be supportive, and misleading you. So I think it's fair to know that some people find babies east and toddlers hard, as well as the other way round.

2. it's perhaps like a computer game. You start on level 1. As your child grows, and possibly has additional siblings, you 'level up'. But that means you've got the experience of the previous levels. Some people find the initial learning the game hard but then sail through later bits. Some find the first few levels fine but then struggle. But the important thing is that you gain experience as you go, which helps even if the challenges are harder. And not everyone's games are equal obviously...

1. Sleep is really important factor. If someone has a baby that starts sleeping through at 3m, then that's where the sleep deprivation ends, and they are likely to find that first bit harder than someone whose baby still wakes every 2 hours at a year. Someone up thread ridiculed the idea that a toddler could cause as much sleep deprivation as a newborn. Mine slept for 3-5 hour chunks at 3m old, by the time she was 9m, she was waking upwards of 10 times a night. At 13m, I consider a 3 hour block good.so yes, it's really variable.

You don't know which category of sleeper you'll fall into yet, so there is certainly hope.

Easier from this bit - when they can sit up properly. It means they can sit and look at things for a while. Or when they can do both sitting and moving themselves around. Most babies get frustrated by not being able to do this so it's a relief when they do.