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Hardest age?
What do you think has been the hardest age so far? DD is 2.5 and right in the middle of those famous terrible twos. She was so, so pleasant up until about 6 weeks ago. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it.
What has been the hardest age for you?
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Re: Hardest age?
3 years old. 3 makes the terrible two's look like a joke
But 3 is also my favorite age. Their personality is just exploding, their highs are so very happy...but the trade-off is their lows are hugely dramatic!
DD is only 14.5 months, but so far it was the newborn stage. She had colic and reflux and we were all miserable for the first few months. She hardly ever slept and was always crying.
From talking to all my friends and all of you, I've found that it totally depends on the person/the parent as to which age is the hardest: some people do better with no-sleep than others so the newborn phase isn't as hard for them and others have more patience so the terrible 2's where they are testing limits and boundaries isn't as hard for them.
For me, 18months to 26months was hardest.
Emily was throwing tantrums when he needs/wants weren't being met and it was nearly impossible to meet those needs/wants because she had little communication skills, she was also testing limits and boundaries and darting off at every chance she got. She hated her stroller and often times tried to climb out of shopping carts and constantly pulled things off shelves so going anywhere with her was an utter nightmare! This was our "terrible 2's" and because I have little patience to begin with, I was exasperated and exhausted by 1:030pm every day. *sigh* Thank God she took a 3-hour nap every afternoon at that age because I might have run away from home!
She's 3 1/2 years old now and a complete angel, especially in comparison. She's happy to go along with anything, play at home or run errands, travel and help clean up and she's still napping from time to time. She's a bit sassy and defiant at times but she respects us when we begin to count and rarely gets to "3", which would earn her a time-out. She's clever, hilarious, observant, witty and so affectionate... 3 has been my favorite age!!!
eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11
Newborns are the hardest. Plus, I am not really a "baby mom". I much prefer toddlers to infants.
That being said, I hear 3 is hard too. I also have a 2 1/2 yo. Despite Rowan joining the family, Parker has been a Saint.
FWIW my PT for Parker mentioned that the 1/2 birthday's (2 1/2, 3 1/2, etc) are the hardest and is when they're regress a little bit before they blossom. Hopefully you'll see a bit of a change soon.
For my step-daughter (now 4) the absolute worst was year 3 (I came in the picture when she was about 1 1/2). All of it. When she was 3 she thought she was totally entitled to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and if you asked her to do something her answer was always NO and if she didn't get her way she would have total meltdowns. I seriously thought she had ADD or something and it was really bad because NOBODY wanted to play with her or take care of her- kids and adults alike. It was like the moment she turned 4 she became a totally different little girl- she likes to share and follow directions- I only have to ask once for her to pick up her toys, etc. The only time she has meltdowns now is if she's tired/hungry/in a mood/ etc. But that's to be expected. Now, I actually enjoy having her around.
For my son (now 9 months) the hardest was the first 3 months. Probably because I had no idea what the heck I was doing, nor had I known what to expect- but wanted everything to be perfect. That paired with no sleep and I was stressssssed. Once he hit 3 months he began sleeping through the night, I got him on a good schedule, and I began to really understand what his needs were and when to anticipate them. Since then it's been smooth sailing.
For DD#1 it's been age 3.
For DD#2, it's NOW, between 2-3. I really hope that it doesn't get any worse.
Big ditto here. Like a PP said, I'm much better with older babies than newborns. The first few months were really rough for us with colic and reflux on top of just trying to figure out life as a mom.
I'm sure we have plenty more challenges coming up, but I'm really enjoying toddlerhood so far.
YES! I'm the total same way. I always joked that if I could just bypass that first yr, I'd keep popping them out a la Michelle Duggar.
I really didn't care for the crawling stage because every where and every thing is just icky and they're at the point where they want down and move around but you can't just plop them down. With that said, we don't necessarily have a "hardest age"...yet, but we have hardest phases. I find that the month or so before my kids' birthdays is always challenging behaviorally. I'm not sure why. We never really had terrible twos or threes, but fours...oy the beginning of four was rough. It's gotten better though. My favorite is right around 18 mos. They're so much fun then.