DD is three. Two big moments when things became easier come to mind:

- Sleeping through the night. This should be obvious why it made things easier. It wasn't until 9-12 months when she began consistently sleeping throguh the night, but it definately made things easier.

- Being able to play independently. DD was (and still is) very needy, so when she was able to play independently instead of saying "mommy, mommy, mommy!" it felt like we could take a breath and get other stuff done.

You might have a strong willed child, in which case you are in it for the long haul, or as others have said, you might just have a kid who doesn't like being a helpless baby. Only time will tell. I think you'll get a better picture by toddlerhood.

Big milestones for us were child sleeping through the night, day toilet training, and later night toilet training.

mine didn't sleep at all at night until 7.5 months (like reflux/colic/screamed all night and i'd hold her up after every feed for 30 minutes, and then she'd poop, then be hungry, repeat, all night... i just didn't sleep). it got better whens he started sleeping through the night, which honestly happened when i started exclusively pumping... and then life got a lot easier at 12 months when i stopped pumping and she was still sleeping

Two kids, 2 and almost 4.

For me, there were two spots where it got noticeably easier.

1) When they were sleeping through the night. We sleep trained right at 4 months (with an dreamfeed) using The Sleep Easy Solution. Highly recommend.

2) When they grew out of “everything goes directly in my mouth” - for one kid that was at about 17/18 months, for the other closer to 2. At that point, you go from basically always having to be an arms length away to up to like 20 ft away in a safe location. You can pee, unload the dishwasher, chat a little with another parent at the park. It’s nice.

Generally, both kids got a little easier each month after 4 months (lots of ups and downs before then), except the month we potty trained (it’s harder there for a while).

Hang in there and consider sleep training. I’ve got a persnickety kid, too, and sleep training, IMHO, is the first step towards learning that you can’t always have things exactly your way all the time.

4 months old are hard in some ways and easy in others. Then when they hit 3 they are hard in new ways and some of the old problems are better. Each age stage has new challenges while old ones resolve. It never gets easy.

The change that made the most difference was consistent sleeping through the night. That happened for my kids around 6 months.

Their personalities didn't change, but my ability to handle the rough moments with a fully rested mind and body was life changing.

Sounds like you've gotten good advice.

The first year is really hard (as they get older it's different struggles). Hang in there!

22 years, give or take a three months

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some babies just don't like being babies. It may get easier after the first year, but she may always be a particular kid. Teach that baby sign language as soon as you can, and hang in there!

That’s word for word what our nanny said! She said she imagines she’ll be much happier when she’s mobile and can communicate. She’s not an unhappy baby but she’s fairly temperamental and will get set off easy!

Ha, well sounds like you have a good nanny! Focus on the smiley moments (take videos and watch them later!) and give it time.

2nd grade

4. Sorry.

Anonymous wrote:Some babies just don't like being babies. It may get easier after the first year, but she may always be a particular kid. Teach that baby sign language as soon as you can, and hang in there!

That’s word for word what our nanny said! She said she imagines she’ll be much happier when she’s mobile and can communicate. She’s not an unhappy baby but she’s fairly temperamental and will get set off easy!

Some babies just don't like being babies. It may get easier after the first year, but she may always be a particular kid. Teach that baby sign language as soon as you can, and hang in there!

LO is 4 months and not an easy baby. No colic (thank god) so not the hardest but for sure not easy.

Everything is a fight. Getting her to sleep, getting her to stay asleep, feeding her. Everything has to be so particular and it changes weekly. God forbid you don’t walk around, pat her butt, bounce her and sing the right song. Even if exhausted she’ll scream and refuse to sleep. Oh! And you’ve got to make sure you can predict if she wants the right breast or left. Give her the wrong one and meltdown.

I thought I was just being crazy but our nanny (with 20 years of infant experience) finally admitted to me that my kid was “particularly particular”.

We don’t think it’s tummy trouble or anything. She’s a doll when everything is going perfectly. We just think this is her current personality. But is this it forever?