What's the hardest age?

[LittlemissMama67]

I'm curious to see what people say is the hardest age. I have 3

(8)(2.5)and 4 months.

for me I'd say 3 was pretty rough. But I'm curious what others think.

Teenagers 100%

Depends completely on the child in my experience!

DC1 was lovely at age 3, very little bad behaviour, nice and chatty and generally a joy/really easy-going. Life was really chilled and easy with him. DC2 was a complete nightmare, tantrums, hitting, screaming, a biting phase. Very stressful!

Newborn so far for me. But most of my friends would probably say age 3 ish. I really like age 3. Think it depends a lot on the child and when they have their inevitable difficult phases. DS has been a pretty easy toddler but was a very unsettled newborn. Full disclaimer, none of us have any experience of teenagers yet…

Mine are getting harder as they get older I miss when they were babies / toddlers I never found that stage hard not as hard as now anyway

Teenagers! sorry

babies only difficult because of lack of sleep I think. And ground hog day nature of parenting.

Literally just having the conversation with my childfree friend. She would say all of them but isn't averse to the odd conversation with a teenager (she's a university lecturer!)

I like the baby and toddler ages. I like the rapid development and all the stuff you see them learning. I also LOVE the anarchy of toddlers, my youngest DS at about 2-3 was absolutely hilarious.

The ages I have now (7 and 8) I'm finding pretty tough. They're not really brilliant conversationalists yet, still very stuck on one track subjects like Dan TDM or endless bloody Minecraft. And the endless bloody bickering all the damn time. Toddlers choose violence and then it's done or easily distracted. My two can drag out a fight alllllll day and then STILL choose violence. It's endless and honestly....kind of boring.

I suspect I'll come into my own again once they get closer to teen years. Obviously it's not all gloom and we do get some excellent moments where I can see flashes of the lovely people they're growing up to be. I'm just not thrilled with this particular age range and that's ok. Most people hate the baby/toddler stage and I loved that bit!

Teenagers. Without a doubt!

Look - as the mum of a 7 and a 3 it’s easy to think evening tantrums and snotty nosed night wake ups are torture and drudgery. Yes they are.

but then I speak to a colleague whose 17 year old has taken a flight to Amsterdam and not rung for 3 days and a mate whose 19 year old is seriously into throwing his life away and I think - I’ll take those night wakings and the refusal to tidy up Lego a while longer yet please.

Newborn. But then that’s probably because your hormones are everywhere and physically recovering. They’re tiny and seem so frail.

I am loving being a toddler mum, they’re absolutely fascinating and the things DD says are brutal/funny/sweet in equal measure. They have no self awareness or gratitude but I find it hysterically funny.

Early years are brutal.

Teenage years - honestly - nearly ended our relationship / nearly ended up in jail / nearly ended up in suicide / nearly ended up losing jobs.

There’s an innocence when they are young
Teenagers are just evil.

Have you had a teenager yet 😜

hmm. I think teens. The emotional burden is pretty heavy by that point and you’ve been parenting for a while, and they’re usually not cute at that age.

It’s all hard.

I'm finding my 16 yr old pretty hard work right now:)

Teenagers. You'll need negotiating skills and plenty of wine to get you through.

@hay5689

I don’t like wine. 😭

All the stress eating is making me fat though.

Teenagers. Sweet Jesus.

The "grunt" age generally in boys between about 15.5 and 17.5 years old.... Girls about the same age but not quite so monosyllabic .....

I’m sorry. But as someone whose only kids are 7 and 3 I cannot begin to remotely imagine what teenagers are like. So saying “newborn” is hardest when you’ve only got to toddlerhood is a bit naive :)

Whatever age they are at the present moment.

When DS was 2 I thought that was the hardest age. Now he is 15 and we have had to deal with potential teenage pregnancy and potential suspension from school I'm pretty sure this is the hardest age.

Teenagers, as my user name suggests 😂😂😂😂

It’s the only time I have momentarily wished I weren’t a parent….

Oh gosh 😂 at the moment my oldest is 8 and is generally pretty easy, he has a moan and a whinge sometimes, he tried to show me whole minecraft villages brick by brick when I'm busy doing something, my daughter is 2.5 and just runs rings around me, she's always into something and I can't take my eyes off her, and my baby dosnt ever want to be put down and whinges all day everyday, I'm pretty much in the thick of it but by the sounds of it the worst is yet to come and I better not wish these days away 😄

16/17 think they're grown ups, they're not!

Teenagers. Unquestionably. Lord give me strength.

☝️This