Anyone with a high-needs infant/toddler?

JulyMomma2U2

Just curious if there are any Momma's of high needs babies that have also done 2U2?  DS1 is, what we'd consider, very high needs.. as an infant he had terrible colic (in addition to reflux, digestive issues, etc).. colic cleared up around 4 months, but he is still very much high needs.. requires active attention and entertainment almost constantly.. on the weekends when DH and I are home, we spend a lot of time trying to break him of these habits.. trying to get him to be okay playing alone for periods here and there, etc.. but, during the week at my parents, they have a harder time doing this as he CRIES if you're not constantly appeasing him.. and, my Mom has a difficult time letting him cry!

Anyway.. I know there's no saying how DS2 will be, but regardless, DS1 is going to need to be a bit more independent while my time in the beginning very much focuses on DS2.  And, good golly if DS2 has colic, too, we'll be in trouble!! 

Just curious if any other Momma's have experienced this and what you did that helped the transition.. and, also, when did your high-needs little one start becoming a little less high needs?

KELLILOVESJOSH

Volunteer to babysit for a friend or family member, that will give you an idea of what to expect. Easier said than done though, I've been avoiding doing so because my DD is a little terror lol. But I have a 7yo DD to help.

ZooCrewMom

According to my family and friends both of my boys are pretty needy. My youngest, just turned 6mo and has reflux issues and is impatient. He is just starting to sit up and I am seeing an incredible difference already as he can play with things. 

My 22mo is just incredibly active, he wakes early and plays hard all day. If you aren't on your toes around him you usually pay for it later. Something magical is happening though, all of the time I spent with him on reading and teaching to play with toys is starting to pay off. Over the last few weeks there will be 10-20minute periods were he entertains himself. He's become obsessed with the alphabet and "reads" to himself - I've been speechless. 

So, I think it happens eventually, but I have no idea why it started happening now. 

virginiagirl11

My oldest is an extremely busy, interactive child who was an incredibly challenging baby. He didn't have colic or any medical issues. He was just pissed off at the world and ALWAYS wanted to be moving and seeing new things, etc. Basically, he was highly sensitive to external stimulation yet needed a ton of it and hardly napped at all and was very demanding about pretty much everything. He was way, way, way harder than any of my friends' babies were. No one understood and it was a very isolating, incredibly stressful time for DH and me.

It actually forced us to be really good parents. Not that we weren't planning to do our best, but it made us work our asses off to keep up with him and now we are used to working really hard with our kids. When we discussed having number 2, we said that, aside from a tragic medical condition, the worst that could happen was that we would have another baby like #1. Since we'd gotten through it and survived and came out the other side with an absolutely wonderful, delightful, albeit challenging toddler, we took the plunge again.

#2 has turned out to be slightly easier. He's much less pissed off and a lot more calm/content if his needs are met. However, he, too, requires a great deal of constant stimulation and also does not sleep very much and goes from zero to 60 in like one second. So I mostly feel like I'm living a deja vu, but at least we were prepared this time. We know our limits, we had caregivers and family lined up to help at different points, we have tricks up our sleeves, etc.

Prepare yourself and line up good help, even if you have to pay for it. We pay a lot of money for good help since we don't have much family around, but it's worth it because everyone wins in the end.