What age did you find most challenging with your child?

[lavalamplady]

I have a 1year old - interested to know which age people found the biggest challenge

My oldest is 5 and youngest 1.

With both it was the 4-9 month stage. Too old to sleep all day but too young to play with toys or be able to move themselves. Lots of crying, needing constant attention and waking up all night.

16-18 for both, for different reasons.

Age 4 to 5 years. Bloody nightmare. Then it calmed down. Now at 8yo, it's ramping up again. I think this is just how it's going to be, some rough years, some good ones.

Teens, easiest was babies/toddlers

13 - DD has never had any challenging behaviour she's been an absolute breeze but she struggled with the start of Secondary, had COVID pretty badly, thought she was losing her mind so 13 brought the most stress and worry more than challenge. An autism diagnosis later and sufficient adjustments in place and all is good again.

14, both kids

The first year, the first six months in particular. Boring and exhausting.
Now 21 and 19.

I think this is very child dependent.

My eldest was a nightmare baby then freaking lovely aged 1-3, when lots of my friend’s kids were challenging. He’s been a very, very challenging pre schooler. I’m not sure how many other people find age 4 extremely difficult but i certainly have.

Youngest was a bit difficult around 4-5 months. He’s a little difficult currently (11 months) but really he’s been a very straightforward baby. It’ll be interesting to see when his properly ‘difficult’ phase(s) are. Because they all have them. Nobody gets off scot free from 0-18+

Teens! I'd rather have 3 year old triplets than one 16 year old!

Newborn. I had PND and of course having a baby is a massive shock even when you've been planning everything for months and beyond! DD had issues gaining weight for the first few weeks, then went to colic and cried until about 3 months. After that we both felt much better and it's been lovely even since (only 4.5 years currently).

I always think each age is better than the last BUT I haven't had to deal with a teenager yet! 😅

Definitely the teenage years from about 13-15. I also found having a 21mnth old and a newborn incredibly challenging.

With babies/toddlers the challenges are often practical and physical. With teenagers it is usually emotional and social.

It also does not help that for some mothers the teenage years coincide with the beginnings of menopause and working full time.

The first year as they didn’t sleep longer than an hour at a time 😩 They are both in high school now and are absolute dreams. Maybe I am speaking too soon! 🙊

16-17. Both DC are boys. I suspect the worst might happen earlier with girls. They were lovely little kids, easy early teens but around 16 decided they knew everything, I knew nothing etc. Very wearying. Happy to say the 19 year old is very much out the other side now. 17 year old not so much!

14-15

Teenage years definitely

First 3years, much better after that but haven’t got to the teens yet.

I think the toddler years were the most challenging, especially as neither of mine were good sleepers. I did also really enjoy them being that age though.

As teenagers my kids have been easy. 🙏🏻

Toddler years. Because after 2 years of sleep deprivation, the tantrums start. Once you can reason with them and they let you sleep at night it I'd easier

My lovely sweet boy has turned into an absolute horror now he is 12!

9 because they are coming out of that little child stage then 14, with 14 being the most "testing" 😄

Girl- 18 to 19 (she's 19 now). Mainly as crisis about uni/course choices etc. Still ongoing a bit but not nearly as bad as my:
boy: 15-20. First love heartache, getting drunk, trying drugs, Covid, college, GCSEs... becoming an adult with no father (deceased). Very hard on both of us.
Babyhood/toddler years were a doddle in comparison.

My dd had a really really shit year when she was 21. That was the absolute worst for me.

Sorry!

18 to 20 has been totally hell tbh
but mostly because her dad had to go , kicked him out he was a f fraudster a thief and a cheat, bastard
the impact on my daughter nearly finished her
Her way of coping was a drug addiction etc
clean now, but it’s going to take a long time and a lot of support and a shit load of patience and understanding to get her through,
and I thought teen years where a challenge!

I think it varies from child to child. I have 4 kids and they’ve all been challenging in their own ways at different stages / ages.

Whilst being new parents was such a culture shock, it was nowhere near as challenging as being a parent of a teenager, especially age 13 to 15. The saying small children small problems, big children big problems, was relatable for me.