Which age of parenting was hardest for you?

[tulipsandteacups]

Interested to know... and why?

I have three children, depends which one you're asking about.

Eldest is 17, always been easy

Middle is 15 and was an easy baby and younger child but for the last three years I have found parenting her emotionally exhausting

Youngest is 12, was a nightmare toddler. A total live wire who never ever stopped. She is now a delight.

All girls.

I think parenting and easy and hard stages totally depends on the individual child rather than a generic three year old is worse than a teenager

Now. A levels, GCSEs, dealing with futures, high levels of anxiety, disappointment, relationships, character formed so there's loads of guilt (I didn't help them with this, I caused that issue...). Combined with them being rude or moody or just dismissive.

I would swap the toddler years or newborn any day of the week. We do also have a good laugh altogether sometimes - it's the only way to stay sane.

Easiest years - primary school.

0 - 7

Three kids, first year for all of them was the worst. It's been a doddle after that.

Physically hardest - newborn stage. Hated it.

Have now reached the teen years and it is more emotionally draining than anything else. My child has mental health issues though so that might be specific to me. I think the worst thing is if your child is having a hard time. The other difficult times of parenthood have been hard for me but when your child is unhappy it's awful for both of you.

100% 15 to 20.

15 to 20 here too!

Am thinking many of those answering with younger ages haven’t got to late teens yet 😑

With DC1 newborn to 12months was horrific, colic, silent reflux and they just seemed to hate being a baby, toddlerhood and preschool was a breeze although at 5 they now have an answer for everything and very stubborn. On the other hand DC2 was a delight as a baby but is currently turning into the toddler from actual hell 🙈

DD is almost 10 and I'm finding this age the hardest I think .. friendship issues, school issues, confidence issues, hormones.....!

With DS who's 7, it was probably 4/5 when he was hardest work just with tantrums/defiance.

They were both lovely, easy babies who slept really well and I often wish we could go back to that time!

Having 2 close together and up to about 4/5 and that’s compared to the teenage years which haven’t been easy (17/18 now). For me nothing as exhausting as meeting the constant opposing demands of 2 little ones!!

I have 3, the eldest is 16.

For me the hardest was the first two months with my first. I was like zombie existing on sleep in 20 minute increments. My post partum body felt huge and uncomfortable, breast feeding was a nightmare and my breasts felt grotesque. I felt really out of control of my body, my time, my sleep, my life.

Luckily every month and year since then has gotten better. I have two teens and a tween and I love having teenagers.

DS, no majorly difficult ages, he was a crap sleeper as a baby/toddler and is a bit of a lazy moody teen now but no age has been especially difficult.

DD on the other hand has always been hard work, the baby/toddler stage was probably the easiest, she's currently 12 and she's pretty much been a consistent a*hole since she was 3 😂😂😂

14-25. I find the early years a doddle in comparison.
Should say my eldest is 33, a boy and two girls aged 10 and 12.

Around 18 months. Old enough to be a pain, too young to understand explanations and consequences.

The teen years have been easy for me so far (eldest is nearly 18).

Age 4 and 5 I'd say.

Younger than this they are cute and you can just pick them up and go somewhere and/or you can easily persuade them of things

Older and they have calmed down and have much more sense.

But this age is hellish, they are so argumentative and over-emotional without any sense of logic to it at all.

My eldest is 15, my youngest 2.

Toddlers

16-19 for both of mine.

To be fair I didn't do the baby years, I started with a 2.5yo & 8yo.

So far… age 2.5-4 was probably the hardest for me. One of mine had epic tantrums which I found incredibly draining and infuriating. The other one was much more chilled out but even then, they’re just full-on at that age. Having a sit down and a cup of tea was a rare thing because they’re always on the go, the house was a fecking tip all the time, plus one of them used to wake up ridiculously early so I was constantly knackered and therefore less well-equipped to deal with their shenanigans. I didn’t realise I was uptight about noise and mess until I lived with little children. 😬

The teen years have mostly been a doddle here but eldest is now 18 and can be tricky but that’s a recent thing. She was really easy and delightful from age 4 up to 17. And when I say ‘tricky’, nothing awful or dramatic. No drugs or excessive boozing or unsuitable boyfriends or whatnot, just really needs to pull her finger out at college, try and get a bit more organised and stop eating so much junk food 😂

DD17 is currently very hard to live with but she's going through A levels / UCAS / uni / leaning home so I'm trying to understand. And she's been a doddle the rest of her life. Perfect sleeper, eater, pleasant, hard working, high achiever.

DS was horrendous 12-14 so I'm praying it's over for him...

14 - 18 - emotional rollercoaster. Mines now in 2nd year of Uni and everything seems to have settled down.

Newborn/fourth trimester. Absolutely wretched, miserable experience both times.

I don't have teenagers yet though...

Teenagers!!

0-2 the sleeplessness and the total lack of reason

Later teen for me. 16 onwards. Friends, relationships, exams. I'm put through emotional trauma daily!

Didn't realise this was an old thread and was about to post 14-17 which is exactly what I put a few months ago .. fortunately we got through it and I now have a charming 22 year old !