What was your least favorite age?

[Anonymous]

8 - starting to be more independent, know-it-all, competitive, rough on friends/can’t tell how far is too far, spacey

[Anonymous]

12-18 months. Mobility without rationality. Either needing to be held or getting into things he shouldn't (china cabinet, cat's water bowl). Cannot be left unattended for one second. Thank God he can't climb out of the playpen yet.

[Anonymous]

I have an almost 4 year old. My least favorite age so far has been the younger toddler/toddler years, maybe 12 months - a bit over 2 years. My kid was an early and good walker/runner and taking him anywhere was so stressful. 1 year olds don’t listen, don’t hold your hand, can’t act calm for even a few minutes, etc. He was very speech delayed and couldn’t communicate verbally. He also had a very tough clingy phase at that age and only wanted Mommy. A bit after 2 it got a lot better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12-18 months. Mobility without rationality. Either needing to be held or getting into things he shouldn't (china cabinet, cat's water bowl). Cannot be left unattended for one second. Thank God he can't climb out of the playpen yet.

Me too.

[Anonymous]

3.5 yrs old was the worst for my DS. He was a talker and absolutely relentless. Later he was diagnosed with ADHD. At 3.5 he talked non-stop and wouldn't take no for an answer. No temper tantrums but just constant circling back to give more reasons for why he should be able to _________. My employer (I was a nanny) said he would either end up being a lawyer or be in need of a lawyer. He just joined the debate team in high school so maybe it will all work out in the end.

[Anonymous]

Interesting question. It also helps to know the oldest child of the responders. My oldest is 10 (fantastic age, btw). Least favorite for both kids so far was 3.5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12-18 months. Mobility without rationality. Either needing to be held or getting into things he shouldn't (china cabinet, cat's water bowl). Cannot be left unattended for one second. Thank God he can't climb out of the playpen yet.

Me too.

Same here - constant forehead bumps from falling all the time, I was always worried CPS would come knocking on my door. Climbing onto EVERYTHING. Mine could climb out of the crib at like 15 months, though, so that was fun...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newborn to preschool age was the worst.

+1

I'd say 0-36 months. I'm loving 3.5--4 right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting question. It also helps to know the oldest child of the responders. My oldest is 10 (fantastic age, btw). Least favorite for both kids so far was 3.5.

+1
I sure hope there are a lot of parents of younger kids responding. I can’t be alone in my teenage hate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting question. It also helps to know the oldest child of the responders. My oldest is 10 (fantastic age, btw). Least favorite for both kids so far was 3.5.

+1
I sure hope there are a lot of parents of younger kids responding. I can’t be alone in my teenage hate!

I was going to say that I can’t reply as a mom of under 8s.

But I can say what it is so far: 2 or 3. As they near age two until sometime before they turn 4. Once 4, things are a lot more manageable.

It must be the difficulty communicating back and forth, the tantrums, the never ending curiosity that is AlWAYs messy. And constant peril! My 21mo old is climbing onto our super high table every chance he gets now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting question. It also helps to know the oldest child of the responders. My oldest is 10 (fantastic age, btw). Least favorite for both kids so far was 3.5.

+1
I sure hope there are a lot of parents of younger kids responding. I can’t be alone in my teenage hate!

I was going to say that I can’t reply as a mom of under 8s.

But I can say what it is so far: 2 or 3. As they near age two until sometime before they turn 4. Once 4, things are a lot more manageable.

It must be the difficulty communicating back and forth, the tantrums, the never ending curiosity that is AlWAYs messy. And constant peril! My 21mo old is climbing onto our super high table every chance he gets now.

Me again. And it’s the potty training phase which feels like 18months of intermittent torture. Not constant torture bc sometimes they get it. But they learn each step in phases. First pee. Then pop. Then you still have to wipe them. Accident phases. Then nighttime or vacation problems. Oy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:12-18 months. Mobility without rationality. Either needing to be held or getting into things he shouldn't (china cabinet, cat's water bowl). Cannot be left unattended for one second. Thank God he can't climb out of the playpen yet.

Me too.

Mine is only 3 years old so I haven't experienced most ages, but based on the first three years of life I wholeheartedly second this. I HATED this period of time, I was exhausted, I dreaded leaving the house, staying home sucked too. She didn't sit still for a SECOND. We would literally joke, when she stopped moving we'd start counting out loud and we never made it to 3 seconds before she was moving again. I wanted to just stick her in a room with padded walls and scatter food on the floor and leave.

[Anonymous]

0-3 months was tough. We have a 3.5 year old now and all the other ages have been so much fun. We have another one on the way, and I'm really not looking forward to the newborn stage. I expect the teen years not to be that fun, but we'll see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newborn through 6 months was my least favorite. So fussy, so needy, and also kind of boring.

+1 for me -- I also had colicky babies who were pretty difficult until the 4-6 month range. They are 4 & 6 now and I love these ages.

[Anonymous]

I love every age. DC is 10.