I've got the pre-toddler blues :(

[newmamalizzy]

DD just turned 8 months old.  She's days away from crawling and will likely walk by Christmas.  Pregnancy, newbornhood and infancy have been really REALLY difficult times for me.  There's been all sorts of non-baby stress, baby stress, and the surprise of just not being the "naturally" good mother that I thought I would be.  All this time I've been eagerly awaiting toddlerhood, hoping it might finally be easier, and I suddenly can't stop crying as I watch my little baby turning into a big girl!  Every time she naps in my arms I think that there will soon be a last time that it happens.  I see newborns in the grocery store and feel wistful and sad.  I'm so excited for Bea to be a toddler, but I don't want to lose my baby :(  Her dad thinks it's funny that I'm being so emotional, so I'm hoping for some sympathy from "the mamas."  Anyone else getting the older baby blues?

[reneeisorym]

Mine's only 3 months, but this is going to be me!  I already get sad when I see her hit a milestone like holding up her head and cooing.  As much as I'm sick of the newborn colicyness, I want her to stay a baby forever. 

[goinggreengirl]

Mine just turned 8 months as well! I know how you are feeling. Mine is starting to crawl a little and LOVES to step while we hold him up. It's definitely an emotional time. I just try to keep reminding myself that he will still need me when he's a toddler and I get to enjoy watching him learn so many new things.

[LeaPea]

I feel just like you.

There's been all sorts of non-baby stress, baby stress, and the surprise of just not being the "naturally" good mother that I thought I would be.  All this time I've been eagerly awaiting toddlerhood, hoping it might finally be easier, and I suddenly can't stop crying as I watch my little baby turning into a big girl!

My daughter is almost 6 months, and we have had a rocky road! Colic, family stress, no family help, breastfeeding troubles. It has been so stressful!! But now that she is trying to crawl and I have to pack away her small clothes, it makes me teary eyed. Some of it is that I survived the first 6 months with little help, the other is that she is growing up whether I like it or not. I, too, thought motherhood would be so natural for me, but it hasn't. I'm getting there, but it is far harder than I ever imagined. It really is going by so fast. I don't even know how I got here!!

[lizsky]

Oh I hear you!  It really does fly.  I've felt so torn watching my DD (almost 9 months) start crawling and then almost immediately started pulling up to standing after that...on the one hand I'm so proud of her, but on the other, I just want her to stay little and be my baby for longer.   Some days I feel really sad about it, but other days I am able to look ahead with a more balanced perspective...I think one thing that has helped has been envisioning the wonderful things about toddlerhood...I know there are parts that will be really hard and I don't want to have unrealistic expectations about it being pure bliss, but by the same token, there are some amazing things just around the corner...DD's first words, playing games with me, saying "mama", giving hugs, doing art projects together...I know that its so amazing to cuddle my sleeping baby in my arms now, but I imagine its going to be wonderful to snuggle her and hear her whisper that she loves her mama someday...not sure if that helps but just wanted to offer some encouragement.

[dagnyb224]

I'm with you too.  DD is 9 months and started crawling a little over a week ago.  She'd been going through a super clingy period where she wanted me all the time and wanted to be held constantly and now I sit her down and she zips away to check out the dog, vacuum cleaner, wall, etc. and it makes me a little sad.  But then she comes back over for a cuddle and it's all good.  I'm glad she naps in her crib now but I do miss snuggling on the couch and catching up on my shows on the DVR while she napped in my arms.  I am definitely looking forward to all the fun things we'll be able to do as she gets older - helping me bake, craft projects, going to the park - but I will miss my little baby.  We'll be trying for #2 after she turns 1 so then hopefully I'll get to do it all over again with another.

[chiromommy10]

I'm with you mommas'!  DD is 10 months going on 11 months next week.  With the holidays coming up I've already started planning her 1st birthday party...ugh!!  As my mom and I discussed logistics, I bawled my eyes out!!  I can't believe my baby will be a year so soon.  I, too, get upset at packing away clothes that are too small and when rocking her I think about how one day she won't want to be rocked to sleep anymore.  It's rough to be a mommy sometimes!!  

I've gotten to the point that this week I can't even talk to DH about her birthday party b/c it just sends me into emotion city and he thinks I'm nuts!  Haha!  Oh well, I know it has to happen...hopefully in a year or so we'll try for another and I can go through the process again!  Haha!

Sending all my LOVE and SUPPORT to you mommas!!

[tzs]

hang in there!

dd is 14 months and just started really walking and it's amazing!!!!! i also couldn;t imagine it but at this point it's so cute and she's having so much fun that now i'm sad to think of her growing out of "toddling!" there's always something!

[Knitting Mama]

I know how you feel, mama. All of my friends are like, "THANK GOD THEY'RE OUT OF THE BABY STAGE!" and I am over here crying as I put away clothes she's outgrown. She started out so tiny, wearing preemie clothes (she was 6 lbs 3 oz at birth), and looking at how teensy those clothes are make me so nostalgic! Every big milestone she hits is bittersweet, as it shows me that there will be a time, sooner rather than later, that she doesn't want to be in my arms all the time!

[onemommyonemama]

My little baby is now 18 months old. She started crawling and pulling up at 8 months, and walking until 16 months.

I was worried about her growing. Especially as my sisters around me started having newborns right when my little one was starting to crawl and walk. It made me jealous and I worried about it. However, things didn't change NEARLY as fast as I thought. My little one still likes to nap in her moms arms, but now she actually asks for it and comes and snuggles in. She loves cuddles and sleepy morning hugs. She likes to be rocked and still LOVES her sling. She communicates so much more than back then. And I love the glimpses I get of how she sees the world.

Her growing older has been a lot easier, a lot less painful than I thought it might be. In fact it has been joyful. Each day I get to know her more. Putting away the first few sizes of closes were the hardest. It is easier now that I feel our attachement will continue, in new ways, but just as strong.

[marinak1977]

Sign me up into this club. DS is almost 11 months and is trying to talk. I love watching him grow and learn new things but I am feeling bittersweet about my little squishy growing up. We know we want more, and I have to admit as much as I was miserable during my pregnancy I'm really excited about TTC again.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Yes. Sigh.

DS is our last baby (biological, anyway, and most likely our last, period). Every time he does something new I get weepy. He's such a strong boy, and determined, and fiercely independent. I tried so, so hard to relish every single second of his infancy because I knew he'd be our last, and yet I can barely remember it even now. Thank goodness he still night-nurses and becomes a real baby again then.

As much as I'm weepy about it though, I can keep perspective because when DD was a baby, and then a toddler, and preschooler, I kept saying "I want to freeze her NOW" and of course I couldn't... and the next stage was even better. I did love her being a baby too, but she's just as magnificent, even more so, as a five-year-old who can make up stories, compose songs, draw fairies, and say "Oh, CRAP" (which is terrible, but had me in fits of laughter!).

So I'm looking forward to him being older, too, and really getting to know him. I just hope it happens really slowly..