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What age did you find hardest? - Page 3  

Poll Results: I found..........

Poll expired: Sep 4, 2008  
  • 16% (15)
    birth to one pretty hard!
  • 0% (0)
    birth to one pretty easy!
  • 0% (0)
    birth to one had its moments!
  • 10% (10)
    one to 2 pretty hard!
  • 1% (1)
    one to 2 pretty easy!
  • 0% (0)
    one to 2 had its moments!
  • 4% (4)
    2 to 3 pretty hard!
  • 0% (0)
    2 to 3 pretty easy!
  • 1% (1)
    2 to 3 had its moments!
  • 35% (32)
    3 to 4 pretty hard!
  • 1% (1)
    3 to 4 pretty easy!
  • 2% (2)
    3 to 4 had its moments!
  • 17% (16)
    4 sometimes onwards was harder than any above age choices. (this is vague)
  • 6% (6)
    I have a boy
  • 3% (3)
    I have a girl
91 Total Votes  
post #41 of 50
8/6/08 at 12:59am
4 sucked. Sometimes it seemed like a bad dream i couldn't wake up from.
post #42 of 50
8/6/08 at 1:05am

Depends on the Kid

For us, it depended on the kid...

All of our kids were easy babies. Our middle child was really challenging around two and a half. She'll be three in September and we've recently turned the corner. December was a really bad month for her. Our oldest was nothing until recently. She just turned four, and although she's still a pretty easy kid, I'd say that we've had our most challenging moments with her since in the last few weeks!
post #43 of 50
8/6/08 at 1:07am
My opinion is that the age a mom finds most difficult has more to do with the mom than the characteristics of the age. Each age has it's challenges, and we as individuals have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to dealing with the challenges.

I've found age 3 to be really hard because consistently having to cajole a child to do ___ (insert any daily routine here) while they act silly and cleverly avoid allowing me to do ___ for them, drives me insane! Other people don't mind that song and dance so much. Their buttons are pushed more by the crying of an infant, or the stubborn insistence of "do it myself" of a 2 year old, or the "sass back" of an older child.

FWIW, I found 7 to be the hardest age for *my child* so far. (Only my oldest has been through that age at this point.) She went through a real period of the blues. Just as I was starting to get pretty worried about her, I found out it's a common (though not universal) stage. Phew! She pulled out of it after a few months and returned to her regular self, only more mature. I remember 11 being a really awful year for me as a child.
post #44 of 50
8/6/08 at 1:13am
I said one to two. All ages have their challenges and their blessings...but for me the hardest time is the toddler time. Could be because I get blessed with children who are extremely mobile quite early, but talk really late. There's that whole period of time from 12 mos to 24 mos where they are so so so independent, so adventurous, so unstoppable - but they don't have the understanding or concept. That time of utter total vigilance is kind of wearing. The summer that my son was a year old, I didn't go to playgrounds or parks at all. I mean, not once. Going outside was torture for both of us - me becasue I wanted to keep him safe, and him because he wanted to explore and assert himself. There was no way. He's 2 now, and it's much easier! Plus he's got some words. Verbal speech is a handy handy thing.
post #45 of 50
8/6/08 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv my 2 sweeties View Post
My opinion is that the age a mom finds most difficult has more to do with the mom than the characteristics of the age.
That's true too.
post #46 of 50
8/6/08 at 12:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv my 2 sweeties View Post
My opinion is that the age a mom finds most difficult has more to do with the mom than the characteristics of the age.
Or perhaps the characteristics of the particular child. Having a hard time with newborn to age one was nothing to do with me, lol. It was everything to do with having a high needs velcro babe that couldn't be set down long enough to pee or shove food in my mouth without his screaming! It also would have been much easier if he'd have slept for more than an hour at a time.

And one to two was easier for me (if only by contrast) because ds was very verbal but also cautious and wanting to stay close to me. So I understood him, he didn't get frustrated as a result, and he didn't go off exploring without towing me along so he wasn't getting into things without me helping him.

Four was bad, not because I have a hard time being patient, but because ds was asserting his independence in big ways like not eating food from the choices of available things (as in things we had in the house bought because he presumably liked them), not wanting to take much needed naps no matter how pleasant of an affair they were. Being hungry and tired caused anything to spiral down into a horrible horrible place. He started biting and hitting at this age, things he didn't do previously.
post #47 of 50
8/6/08 at 1:45pm
None of the ages you listed in your poll I found to be hard. I would say the teen years 13 to 16/17 are by far the most challenging, in my experience. Of course it depends on the child.
post #48 of 50
8/6/08 at 3:43pm
Teen years can wipe you out!!!! My oldest DD is 17 and its getting better all the time.
post #49 of 50
8/19/08 at 2:55pm
the first year was difficult to me but i'm not that big on the infant stage. i found the best age so far to be 12.5 months (he's now 2 years 8 months.)
post #50 of 50
8/19/08 at 6:51pm
All this talk about the Terrible Twos was nothing. I'm finding DS1 a little more difficult as three rolls around. He's definitely testing the boundaries and will go into a cluster meltdown a bit more easily. It's not unbearable, but it's definitely harder than 2.
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