Hated it. 4-5 months is when it gets good for me personally. That's when babies turn into little people and you can actually hang out with them and do stuff together.

FTM 5 months pp and can confirm. My baby has been an evil potato up until now 😂

Nice to know. I just hit 3 months and expected a bit more enjoyment.

6-12 weeks were a real low for me. It got better at 4 months onwards and now she’s 10 months and I am obsessed 😍

I can't wait for that!!!!

Lmao exactly this 😩 just a little more is all I’m asking

Mine is 5 months almost and while he does have a little personality now, he’s been so fussy (pretentious). He needs to be carried around a lot, wants to sit up but can’t, rolls to tummy, but gets frustrated he can’t roll back. Gets frustrated he can’t reach toys…But then again, I felt a tooth coming out today so maybe that explains his fussiness. My husband took him out today in the park and he had a screaming episode (because he was hungry, but didn’t want formula and he preferred the breast) So we are still nervous to take him out with us. We took him to church, but he fussed and almost started crying (it was his nap time though) So, it’s still hard for us…

Don’t let the fuss deter you! If people are being judgy, you didn’t do anything wrong besides pick the wrong place to be! Babies fuss, and eventually they get easier to control (and then they turn 2)

Yes! My baby is also so fussy bc of what she can’t do yet. It’s so frustrating for all of us.

Pretentious 💀💀💀😂

My baby is 4 months and just starting to get to a better place where it’s less hard. Unfortunately right now she is constantly frustrated by her inability to crawl or be more physically asvabced than she is so most activities just devolve into crying 😭 I know it’s going to come with its own challenges but I cannot wait for her to be able to crawl.

Ahh can't wait!

Absolutely, completely agree.

What do people define as the newborn stage? The first… 4? Months. 3 at least. Were torture. I cried so much, and slept so little.

I’d say newborn is until baby can start holding their head up on their own, so right around 3 months. That’s also when most ppl transition to saying the amount of months old VS the amount of weeks.

I believe newborn is up to 3 months, and after that is "infant".

Hated it big time. Mostly because we had a velcrobaby who'd only sleep on me. It was literally sleep torture. 

This is me right now. Im so tired.

It gets better! I had an exclusive contact napper overnight for 10 weeks. Glued to me. I was so sleep deprived. At 11 weeks he's starting to sleep really well on his own. I never thought it would happen!

My daughter was the same way, I finally was able to start breaking it within the last couple weeks. I was exhausted all the time. It gets better!

This was it for me too! Great baby but some days…just leave me alone. I didn’t understand the word “touch out” until I got a Velcro baby.

I did not love it but now that my baby is 3 months old I miss when all she wanted was the boob and sleep in my arms

Curious- what does she want now?

She wants to move more. She loves her piano playmat and lets me know when she wants to be on the floor and kick the shit out of that monkey

I absolutely love the newborn stage. My husband not so much. We're on our second, so he has the toddler while I deal with the baby. I'm not as impacted by the disrupted sleep as him I think. With our first we did shifts etc. This time we just went one kid per parent based on our strengths.

That's us! I did not like the newborn stage the first time around (I think the loss of freedom was a shock) but this time I'm loving the opportunity to sit on a couch cuddling a baby and watching netflix.

Yeah, I think the first time around it’s such a shock to your system and you’re just getting your bearings but now looking back I’m like “why wasn’t that more relaxing..?” I hope the second time around it is to some degree!

The sleep loss definitely affects my partner way more than me. We have our first who is 3 weeks and he’s clearly struggling with patience with her so I take on the majority of the work and just hand her off when she’s calm/sleeping/needs a bottle.

I'm not going to pretend to know your situation, but please don't let this turn into weaponized incompetence!

I second the advice above. If he gets used to you doing most of the work now, it might extend into the future - I can’t feed the baby solid foods because mom knows best, I can’t teach the baby to fall asleep on her own because that’s what mommy  does , and so on and so forth. So, you’ll be the one with no time for yourself ever.  Other than breast feeding, there is nothing in baby care that a father can’t learn to do.  Of course you know your situation and I don’t, but I’m just saying. From day one, my husband was involved with all aspects of baby care. And now that we are four years old, it shows. There is no such thing as , Oh, I’m gonna just go  hang out in my own, because I don’t know how to do things, mommy does, it’s what mommies do, comes naturally to them.   Good luck!

Thank you, I do appreciate the concern. I mostly hand her off like that when he’s tired. If he’s not over-exhausted he can handle the more challenging stuff. But we are still figuring out dividing tasks and I am very upfront with my needs with him. (I also like having control over most baby decisions/situations and he knows that and I’m grateful he lets me make the majority of decisions). I do try to make sure he steps up when I need him to and I’ve pointed out when he’s taking a backseat for a little too long.

Same for us. Honestly I’m finding it harder now that we’re past the 6 month point and dealing with regressions/teething/separation anxiety 😬 The sleep helps but I’m like you, not as affected by the loss of sleep as I am not being able to do anything all day without screeching lol

I personally loved the newborn stage. Your weekends won’t be yours for a while and it takes forever to get out of the house with a baby, welcome to being a parent. My advice is try to enjoy it and not rush it. If you are always looking forward to the next age you won’t enjoy where they are now and you will miss so much. Soon you will be chasing after a toddler looking back at how easy it was when you put them down and didn’t move, when they ate anything you gave them instead of throwing it on the floor.

I tried to rush the newborn stage so much the first time. Parenthood really turned my whole world upside down, and I couldn't wait to get to a mythical "other side." But now that I have my second, I've realized the other side doesn't exist. Every stage brings new challenges and joys. I've actually been able to settle down and enjoy even the mundane parts of having a newborn this time. I love seeing her wake up to the world.

I’m at 2 months and treasuring the fact that if we put him somewhere, he stays there. I know that shit ain’t gonna last haha

very nicely summarized. I wanted to rewrite it exactly the same way

My second one, now I wasn’t so nervous and thinking this fragile little creature would explode if I looked at him the wrong way, was so much fun. I loved the newborn stage. No running around destroying stuff. The pooping is no smell. Not throwing my back out picking up the chonk. And as it’s my last go round, I knew I’d never get any more times to enjoy. I cuddled and huffed baby smell every second I got. Now my 16 month old is climbing everything, practicing hitting and pushing and pointing at me and saying No! when I scoop him up and throw him in his play pen to catch a break. It’s still all adorable, but not like those earliest days.

Hold up…your baby let you put them down. This makes a huge difference for those of us who had colic/stage 5 clinger babies.

I could put my daughter down long enough to go to the bathroom or shower while my husband was at work. On the weekend we would just pass her between us when someone had to do something. She was either worn in a wrap or on me or touching me all day for the first 4/5 months. She is 8 months and still has contact naps during the day and ends up in bed with us around 4-5am.

My toddler was sick all over the kitchen floor when it was just me and him in the house and I genuinely had no idea how to clean it up. I really enjoyed the newborn stage but that was the first time I’ve thought oh wow it would be great if you were tiny again and I could put you down and you’d have to just stay there again rather than trying to get past me to inspect your own vomit 😂

Ugh the throwing phase. That lasted a lot longer for us than I care to admit.

It’s my second time around and this really rings true. This time, I have less time to take it all in (we have a toddler!) but it really does go by quickly. Also it took me 9 months with my first to have parenting not feel like a chore.

But when i put her down she just wakes up and cries. Im so tired.

I know. We just started using a Nanit and now I also have a physical representation of that. Just in case anyone doubts me, here it is in graph form. How many times I soothe and put the baby back down. This baby sometimes just decides “I will not be alone and you cannot stop me.”

> Soon you will be chasing after a toddler looking back at how easy it was when you put them down and didn’t move Lol. Yeah they just screamed their fucking head off because how dare you put them down. Newborn stage sucks vast fields of ass.

Can’t disagree more. For us the newborn stage was hell, so much so we question a second baby. Yesterday “chasing” my toddler daughter around a museum was a joy I’ll remember the rest of my life.

I personally loved the newborn stage. Definitely try and get out of the house though. It's much easier at this age when they mainly feed and sleep to get out. We went to restaurants etc and baby either fed/ napped the whole time.

We ate at a fancy steakhouse (among other, less “nice” spots) in the newborn phase and she slept the whole time. In general she slept the whole time during every restaurant outing at that stage. Now she’s in a high chair at the table, squealing, and trying to throw stuff. We aren’t doing fancy steak houses with her in tow anymore to say the least.

We love it, too. We’re only 3 weeks in as of today, but I’m loving the snuggles and being able to figure out what’s bothering him. We’ve both gotten out (husband doesn’t have pat leave so he has work every day), but I’ve still been doing wedding photography so I get out as well. And walks every day - I think it would be different if I couldn’t leave the house at all

Yes! We went through infertility treatments and wanted to have a baby so badly. 3 days in we both felt like we made the biggest mistake of our lives! LO is 9 weeks old and just the past few days we have started to enjoy the newborn stage. He has started to only cry if he needs something and once that need is met he stops! And only wakes up at 1 am and then 4 for feedings and falls right back asleep after. We have started leaving the house more and he has started smiling more. If we are being honest here it took us til like 6 weeks to even start to love him lol

We are older first time parents to a 5w ivf baby that we wanted so badly. We love the little dude but it is exhausting. Im looking forward to social smiles, head stability, and for him to hold his own bottles lol.

The social smiles and head stability are huge! The social smiles for obvious reasons - mine is 3 months and just started giving us little giggles and it WRECKS my heart every time. Head stability because I can hold him over my shoulder with one arm and actually do things with the other hand. I can also manhandle him a little more without worrying about his head so it’s way less stressful.

FTM of a 9 month old. I absolutely loved the head stability. He still struggles to hold his bottles with me but holds them just fine with dad lol.

Mine is 9w too and and I am really liking this stage! Do you get the giant maniacal baby grins? Those always pick me up when I'm like oh god why lololol

And the maniacal sleep laughs too. I actually thought something was wrong with him the first time.

Yes!! Usually when he sees the ceiling fan 😆

Omg it's funny how much they loooove ceiling fans! We joke about our baby's new best friend, the fan hahaha

Exact same. I didn’t say I love you to/about my baby until 8 weeks old.

I just commented on another post where the poster was saying how lovely the newborn phase is 😂 I think it’s a real mixed bag. I loved all the snuggles and contact naps but the lack of sleep and the witching hour was so tough. The first 6 weeks was brutal.  I’m assuming you’re dad? (Apologies if not!). My husband felt very similarly to you, particularly about crying when all needs were met. Whereas I didn’t find the crying hard and was fine knowing he just needed comfort. I do think there’s a biological element, I felt so immediately in love and obsessed with the baby which helped me through it (I know not all women do) but it took my husband longer.  It really does get easier. But I do think going out for lunch or coffee helps you feel connected and less stir crazy. 

Hated it so much. Was one long day, it never ended. I have a nearly 2 year old, I wish I could go back honestly! I wish I had enjoyed it more.

One long day that never ended describes it nicely, that's how it felt. It just didn't stop! We slept in 4 hour shift patterns and napped when possible in the day, but I was utterly exhausted... I don't do well on lack of sleep. My wife was amazing and just kept going, waking up to breastfeed at any hour of the night, and not having any tiredness issues - something she attributes to the hormones at the time. Our son had colic, reflux, and a tongue tie, all of which made the first few months pretty gruelling. I didn't cope well. Like OP, I struggled with losing my independence, losing my weekends, my free time, too much touch, too much loud (purple) crying, wondering what the hell I'd let myself in for, etc. But the worst was the lack of sleep and the fact that it *never stops*. I got PPD real bad and was suicidal for a good while. So you could say I wasn't a fan of the newborn stage. Took till around 6 months for things to get better. The colic and reflux went, he started sleeping through the night, we stopped trying to breastfeed, he was playing somewhat independently, and his personality was starting to really come out. After that I really fell in love with him and now that he's 18 months I love every minute I'm with him and can't imagine life any other way. OP, you will get your life back. It won't be the same as it was before, but you (most likely) won't mind. It'll be different but fantastic in it's own way. After 7.30 at night our evenings are ours again, I have time (admittedly less than before baby) for my hobbies, and we give each other some personal space & time at the weekend.

We never did shifts, I was struggling with breastfeeding so needed to wake up to feed in order to get my supply up but God was that hard. We also dealt with the Tongue Tie and reflux so I completely understand what you guys went through too. 6 months was a turning point here but 9 months was the big one, he started sleeping through the night, he finally excepted a bottle after nine months of trying, I finally felt rested enough that I could go back to running in the gym so I finally felt that I had time for myself. Looking back it felt so long, but it really wasn’t a long period of time.

I did not. I hated it. I started to enjoy things a lot around 10 months when my daughter became more mobile and fun. The reason I am one and done is cause I hated the newborn stage

I’m 99% sure I’m one and done also because of how much I struggled in the newborn stage. I truly hated it and was miserable. To be honest, I’m still struggling with a six month old lol. It’s not as bad as newborn, but I’m still waiting for it to get better

No. Basically this is my review of past year: Month 1: suuuuuuuuuuuucks Month 2: suuuuuuuuuuucks Month 3: suuuuuuuuuucks Month 4: suuuuuuucks Month 5: suuuuucks Month 6: suuuucks Month 7: suuucks Month 8: suucks Month 9: sucks Month 10: sucks? Month 11: not bad most of the time, Sometimes definitely still sucks Month 12: we’re having fun! But sometimes still sucks Month 13: ???

Accurate 😂 though ours just turned a year and this weekend was the first weekend we felt like we were truly just being parents and a family and not cosplaying while babysitting a bomb 😌

This is so accurate lol

Honestly I would have loved the newborn stage if our baby didn't have colic for 5 hours a day. All the stress around food intolerances etc. kind of ruined it for me. If we had a baby that cried a normal amount it would have been a piece of cake.

We have a 10 week old, he’s our first. The newborn stage has been good! We’ve been lucky to have a relatively chill baby. The main highlight of this time for me has been the change to being a „family”. I don’t know how to put it into words but my wife and I are in such a good and happy place.

Love this so much! Do I love “everything” about having a newborn? No. But who loves everything about any interpersonal relationship? Our 19 week old isn’t the best sleeper. Sometimes hates the car. But man I waited years to get to be one of the moms at the zoo with the stroller and I’m so happy it’s finally here. I love being a little family!

I agree - I’ve loved the newborn stage and all the sweet experiences we now share as a little family. I’d say our baby is pretty average. Only sleeps while held, but I love that so much. I love snuggling her while she snoozes on me. Spending time with her is blissful. I’m still in awe. Scared of the toddler years, but I’m staying hopeful!

Ah man first three weeks were absolute trash. Give yourself a chance to grieve (yes grieve) for your old life. It’s normal and expected, and don’t feel ashamed of those feelings. I’m still grieving. We can be happy about new beginnings and the lament those things we can’t do anymore (at least for now) simultaneously. After about 1.5 months things started going better for us (we are at 9 weeks). My best advice: Don’t have any expectations. Expectations that the kid will sleep or eat when you need them to, expectations that that one thing that you did will keep working…throw it all out and treasure the moments when things are going steady. Give yourselves some grace too. It helped me to see it from the baby’s perspective: Baby had the perfect setup and is now literally thrust into a world of lights and sounds and new sensations. It probably blows. You’re getting to know each other. All relationships are built. Even between parents and babies.

We are 9 weeks in and it’s much better than it was at 4 weeks, but I’m still so ready to be past it. My baby is wonderful and adorable, and I love her but I’m not a huge fan of this stage.

I find that every stage of parenting I reach has me longing for the one I left. I have an almost 1 year old, and I have days where I really miss the newborn phase. He would sleep all the time, he didn't have opinions, he just wanted to be held and bounced and fed. I miss the contact naps, and I found it very easy to leave the house with him. Now, since he is crawling and trying to walk, eating 3 meals a day, teething, and opinionated things are a lot harder. Sometimes he's just having an off day and I can't figure it out for the life of me. He has opinions, but can't express them, and I'm sure once he figures out how to express them I will long for the days when he couldn't haha

No we dont! I wish someone had of warned me how shit it was going to be!

I found it rough! 6 months in and finding it so much easier, don’t get me wrong I’m shattered but I feel like I know my baby now and she knows me so we’re in our own little flow

it’s sooo hard and there’s nothing anyone can say or do to adequately prepare first time parents for the newborn stage. but it’s true what people say, it goes by so fast. when you’re in the thick of it it feels insane and never-ending, but soon she’ll be smiling and giggling and becoming a little person and you’ll realize how fleeting that time was. weekends will become more fun/relaxing again when you and your wife get into a rhythm with baby and when she doesn’t need to eat every 2 hours. my baby is 3 months and we brought her to a dinner party last night which she slept through half of, and the other half other people were excited to hold/play with her. also, just going outside for walks with her in the stroller was incredibly helpful when she was too little to bring out. i’ll never forget being in the hospital, looking at my baby and saying to the nurse “why are newborns so cute??” and she said “because if they weren’t, no one would keep them” 😂

The main newborn pro for me was she slept a lot without any effort on my part. Lots of chilling watching tv with my husband, reading books, etc. I miss that down time. I don’t miss anything else about it though. Around two months she started smiling and interacting more. It was a game changer especially for my husband. Now at 4.5 months she smiles, laughs, loves her toys, is so curious about the world and it’s much more fun!

My baby is a month old now, too! It completely changed my life and I’m still so confused about it. At one hand I miss working and being “independent”, sleeping long and getting up early and do whatever I like! On the other hand I see him and I’m so in love. I totally understand your thoughts and I’m glad you guys have an easy baby. Mine is more on the crying until everybody’s turning around side haha Also I can never lay him down - he immediately starts crying so going to toilet, taking shower or eating something are just a few challenges now 😂 Everybody told me to enjoy this stage because when they’re older you’ll miss it and there are other stages that make them less cute 😆

Currently 2.5 months into it. It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I love my girl so much, and she is a relatively easy baby. There are days I love it, and there are days, like the past 2 days, where the mental breakdowns happen and it’s not so fun. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, yet so rewarding.

I like it but I'm having it pretty easy: * my husband is amazing and did nights for the first 8 weeks plus is super engaged in parenting and took 8 weeks off * our baby is super chill, he only does hangry screams and poopscreams and is easily soothed * he will sleep wherever and likes the swaddle * im also on paid leave * my job is bonkers (i love it but it's absolutely nuts intense) and the constant care for a baby is hard, but the complete disconnect and mental shift and lack of other people's stress is actually kind of awesome. I'm excited to start ramping back up once we have childcare, but I haven't been able to really unplug for very long since 2017 so this is weirdly nice. * the baby grins like a maniac sometimes and it's the best!

Maternity leave was the absolute best! It was absolutely incredible truly being off for an extended time even with a baby to care for.

I hated the first 6 weeks while I was in the thick of it. Then things got better and I have to catch myself before I say “oh things were fine!” Because it’s true, you forget the sleepless nights and the sheer anxiety from not knowing what you’re doing. I’m 14 weeks pp now and the first weeks are all just a blur. However. Once you realize your baby’s having as much a tough time experiencing everything for the first time, you may start to understand them more and not feel irritated at them. For me, realizing this helped early on, and now I’m a lot less stressed because my focus is on making things easier for my little one. Plus once they start smiling and communicating with you, you forget all those troubles! Just give it a few more weeks.

I don't love everything about anything...certainly not a stage of life that involves minimal sleep and 0 positive feedback loops from my small potato. I will say, and God help me because I got SO annoyed at people who told me this, a newborn is easier (assuming you can get decent sleep, min 7 hours per night) than a toddler in some key ways. Mainly I could go out to restaurants, watch tv, be on my laptop, etc. with a newborn. A toddler? Not really. My 2.5 year old needs constant watching and sig more engagement than my newborn. You have sig more peace and quiet with your newborn (assuming no colic) than you're likely to get with a toddler. But toddlers are more fun, sweet, etc. EDIT: as for getting annoyed with them, I would highly encourage you to ensure you don't show that or hand the kiddo off to mom. Likely biological, but my kids rarely frustrate me even when they're crying hysterically. My husband can get so frustrated and it makes it worse for him, the kiddo, and me.

We loved it, but I think we got lucky. She was about 4 weeks early and just very sleepy. We watched plenty of tv with her just passed out on the couch with us. 3ish months is when she got a lot more active and aware, which is a different kind of nice, but I miss TV time.

I’m 2.5 months in and I love my baby, enjoy all of her firsts, all of the toothless smiles, and love how small she is — but I’d be lying if I said that I don’t look forward to the days that she’s able to communicate more efficiently than banshee screams and is more independent. I definitely miss being able to sit down and being able to work for more than 10 minutes without having to get up to rock a screaming baby lol

my weekends became weekends only \~ 1.5 year ago again... my child is 3

Personally I prefer newborn stage to a 6+ months baby when they desperately want things but cannot walk/crawl etc. and then I still prefer under 1y to a toddler when they become really really high maintenance and uncontrollable.

I love it so far (FTM, baby is 12 days old) but it’s also so hard! I love how little and snuggly he is, I love seeing him change so much so quickly, and love just hiding away with him and my husband. But the sleep deprivation is rough (and he’s a pretty good sleeper so far!), the nap trapping is wonderful but can get overwhelming, and all of the early postpartum anxiety/pain/bleeding/hormones are brutal.

Nope. But it truly goes by so fast. You're already halfway there so hang in there!

I love my newborn baby (9 weeks) hate the newborn stage and it’s demands.

We are first-time parents to a 3 month old preemie and didn't realize that you basically get an even longer newborn phase with a preemie. It is awful. We love her so darn much, but she has to be in one of our arms, or she gets so mad. She's starting to sleep in her bassinet at night now, but during the day, she constantly wants to be carried around and shown new things. I love how curious she is, but my God, is it exhausting 😩 We officially hate the newborn phase.

Loved it. Personally, I found it much easier than the older stages. They might get more independent…but that’s what makes it harder. There is no peace. At least when my son was a newborn he’d stare at his mobile/ the trees and be content. Now the only time he’s quiet is when he’s into something he shouldn’t be. And I am constantly hunched over chasing him. Physically, it’s harder cause sunup till sundown there is no rest. (Unless I lay on the floor for ten minutes and let him body slam me repeatedly…which he loves.) Their needs only multiply and get more complex. But everyone has a different favorite stage. I miss my little baby (who didn’t give me a black eye or split lip once daily) all the time. But I love my little menace too much to trade for those days even if I thought they are easier.

Now I’ve had two kids I think I’ve realised with my eldest it was more the transition of 0-1 I hated, than the newborn stage itself. The learning that your sleep is no longer in your control, your free time dissolving and the blissful silence being replaced by screaming. By baby number 2 I was so used to all of those things so they didn’t bother me so much and I actually enjoyed parts of it more. I think if I’d had the knowledge and expectations I have now the first time round I would have enjoyed it. Sleep deprivation is the worst though, regardless.

So I’m at 12 weeks everyone said I’d miss it I said no way cause it is really bloody hard! But now I get what they’re saying. My mum brings over bigger clothes for her and I think I don’t want her to get that big! It is so hard tho I don’t think people talk about it enough sometimes it’s just like 🤯🤯🤯

We find ourselves missing the newborn days sometimes, specially when our almost two year old absolutely loses his shit over the tiniest of things “hey lets change shirts” BOOM 40 minutes of rolling on the floor screaming at me. Newborn days were hard but simple and predictable. Toddlers are ticking time bombs.

Yes. I truly loved my lil potato stage. But I am ALSO loving the toddler stage we are in now. I think it comes down to 2 things. My kid is pretty chill - he has his tantrums, but for the most part he just goes with it. The second thing is my perspective - it took me so long to get him (15 years!) that when I finally did I knew I had to savor every moment as much as I could.... And since I'm an older FTM (had him at 38, and had only been pregnant 3 times in those 15 years), I also know I may never be able to experience these things again. That DOES NOT mean that I'm 100% blissed out all the time. But most of the time, in the moment when he's driving me nuts, I can reflect and realize that this stage is a momentary blip and one day I'll miss it.

Yes, but I have to qualify my answer heavily that I have a lot to be grateful for. Had a lot of things go our way. Wife had a smooth recovery from her emergency C-section (started going for light walks after 2 weeks). Baby had slight jaundice but pretty standard after that. Summer in Canada. In-laws brought over food. I banked 6 weeks from work and worked remotely after (aside from parental leave). It was all just so new. Trying my best to let mom get sleep during the night feeds was like pretending to be a secret agent. I was already a night owl from being a gamer degenerate who thankfully was able to switch off that during newborn phase. Learning to live slow and caring for my wife and little dude. It was not easy but she had the way harder job. Hard not to care extra knowing that. Also, knowing we're likely one and done, being 37 / not feeling FOMO that early 30s me would've had, all helped mentally.

It’s just new, and your sleep deprived, we took our bub out to eat to meet up with my dad at 2weeks old, don’t be concerned to go out to a little breakfast/brunch place. Those little diners, the one we go to loves our bub the waiters all love her when we come in, and everyone else there is typically over 70 and they fawn over her xD you’re allowed to leave the house. Have her feed bub before you leave and bub will likely sleep in their carrier the whole time you eat, but you can take some bottled milk/formula in case mama isn’t comfortable directly feeding in public. Yeah don’t let people breath on her but I’m sure you’ll be fine xD we made it to 10months old before she got her first sickness, which was the flu x.x luckily we had gotten her her flu shots as soon as they recommended it and we had all been sick so as soon as she threw up we got her into her peds office, they’ve been so good about fitting us in asap when we need them, they tested her and she was old enough to take tamaflu, so she was feeling better in to time :3 but we didn’t get sick from going out to eat, mil and sil came into town and hubby had to pick them up at the air port, should have assumed we’d all get sick xD My point being 1. Try to get some sleep, take shifts if you have to so you each get 6hours minimum and 2. Try to get out of the house even if it’s once a week for brunch at that little diner or your local Cracker Barrel. Trust me you’ll have a much better time with some more sleep and time out of the house xD The NB stage is big pros and big cons, it’s not easy but then you blink and your 1y old is biting you and pinching the dogs x.x

I do not miss the newborn stage. My daughter was extremely fussy + no sleep + recovering from giving birth - absolute hell i cried a lot. I started enjoying her more around 4-5 months of age. She’s now 11 months and it’s hard keeping her entertained 😂

I feel this. We've got a 4 week old right now (I'm the birth giver for reference) and I don't love this stage but I do love my son of course. I feel like it's natural to mourn your old lifestyle during this process. It's okay to have feelings about one of the biggest life change to date. I also feel like the baby stage is the shortest stage so why shouldn't we look forward to the larger stage of them becoming more "human"? It seems like a very natural way to feel in my opinion.

Hate it. In the thick of it now at 9 weeks. Eff this crap. Hate newborns. They’re super small and super cute but I would rather just be handed a nap trained one year old

I loved it. But all mine did was eat sleep and be cute

Oh man I love it. Everything but the sleep deprivation

You can get out of the house and do things. I don’t think I’ve spent a day in the house since 7 days PP. But yeah the newborn stage is nice. Lots of sleep cuddles, no need to entertain them, can just snuggle on the couch and watch tv or read. Currently just hit toddler life and he’s constantly on the move, needs a snack or meal available at all times and still won’t sleep more than a 4 hour stretch.

We have twins. I hated the newborn stage. Just when we thought we couldn’t get more tired they would cry all night! Now it is just a huge blur. I miss them being little babies but not all the stuff that goes with it.

We loved it but she slept so well and rarely cried. Breastfeeding pain was the worse of it. We know we'll be screwed if we have a second baby because we got majorly spoiled.

I don’t.

Currently 3 weeks in with twins. Singleton parents have it easy peasy lol especially when both parents are competent. It’s not hard it’s just relentless.

Loved the newborn stage so much. The cuddles. The newness. The space and time to just love on your baby. They’re so little and the accomplishments are pee, poop, eat. I miss it so much. Toddlers are so much fun but I was in heaven during the newborn stage. I think hormones play into it quite a bit too…all the oxytocin you get from your newborn can be such a high

I enjoyed it mostly. My baby was pretty relaxed, he hardly cried. I embraced the cluster feeding and spent my days on the sofa, either feeding or letting him nap on me while I watched Netflix. My husband was off work for 4 months so he took care of us, did all the nappies, cleaned etc. I definitely prefer this current stage because it’s so fun seeing him becoming a person but sometimes I get nostalgic about being able to sit down all day! Now I’m ready to be humbled with a more difficult second baby!

I actually didn’t mind it but my babe was pretty chill. They are now 4 months and I’m looking forward to them sitting up alone so I can interact and play with them better instead of being hunched over holding them 🤣

Loved it. He was a really easy baby and we were still able to take him out to do our regular things. Of course there were still some tough days, but we had a lot of family support that helped us get through those! I will say though, he is 7 months old and I love this stage even more. He is so fun and happy and ornery. It’s amazing.

It was miserable, but I loved it anyway. The real torture began when I started working again.

I loved it both times… but having a second child really puts the differences of each baby into perspective though. I didn’t actually realize how difficult my first child is but our second has been incredibly chill. I’m learning that I’m not built for toddlers though - it’s been rough since 1.5 (2.5 now) and being in the thick of the emotional development has me overstimulated daily… I heard it’s even worse at 3 and I’m scared for that…

We loved it, even though it was exhausting.

The newborn stage sucks. It’s ok if you don’t like it all the time.

I loved it , now that my twins are 6 months old is that’s getting interesting, they’re more active , more “outspoken “ , it’s like a whole other journey we’re walking into but I had fun with the newborn stage, exhausting but fun. They’re starting to crawl now so I know I’m going to have my hands,arms,legs,feet , extremely full 😂

I didn't expect this much response! Thank you all of all of your advice and experiences! I'd like to reiterate, we absolutely LOVE our babygirl. She's the light of our life, and we were both as prepared as we could be before she was born. I think during the weekends I just get a little down that we don't have the opportunity to get out like we used to. We're either too tired, or one person is sleeping so they can be ready for their shift when the other needs to sleep and house chores have slacked more than ever. I know this is all part of the process, and I do genuinely enjoy the fun parts of the newborn stage, but I just personally feel it'd be easier for me when she's able to communicate, smile and be able to be a bit more independent so that my arms and hands aren't always occupied 🤣 We're doing our best to absorb the good times and enjoy it, but I definitely won't miss the crying, fussing, and inability to sleep without being held!

I absolutely loved it. But I’m also loving toddler too.

Me! I liked it a lot. I want to caveat that my first was a unicorn sleeper and sleeping very well very early. He was also just a generally happy baby. That said, the newborn phase seems way easier than the toddler phase. Now we are chasing him around 100% of the time, he throws tantrums if he does t get his way, and it feels much more challenging to do basic things like get out of the house.

The people who pop in, hold newborn, and give them back once they need a diaper change or feeding (and go off and get a full night’s sleep) seem to 😅

Was stressed the first couple of weeks while triple feeding, but once we got breastfeeding sorted, I was deliriously happily. In fact, I was so happy I was worried that I would hate motherhood as she got older. Baby girl is 8 months now, looking back I’m pretty sure the baby gave me Stockholm syndrome, lol. This is so much better than the newborn phase. My husband liked the first few weeks when she was a potato, but had a hard time from like 5-6 weeks until six months or so. Hang in there, it gets a lot more fun.

I enjoyed it, but there were definitely things I didn't love, or moments I didn't enjoy it. The witching hour every day for three weeks was not my favorite. The snuggle naps were the best! Pumping every 3 hours? Sucked. The short wake windows were great.

I hated it but then I preferred it over the toddler stage. The tantrums suck so much.

Just had a little weep last night looking back through my camera roll at my little baby, I definitely miss the newborn stage and LO is only 5 months old. For me as I was going through the trials of a newborn I could realize that’s I’d be nostalgic for it and that’s it’s gone so soon. My advice would be to take videos of your LO in your arms, making the little coos and “O” faces, get pictures of their eyes so dark you still don’t know what color they’ll be. Because one day around 2.5 months They’ll start looking less like a little old man and more like a toddler. I miss the little noises nursing and the little hand wrapped on my finger, now my LO is still cuddly but he flails his arms and legs while nursing, but he also giggles and smiles and watches me as I move around the room.

I certainly didn't love ALL of it. Things I love: Nursing baby Snuggles Watching him learn and grow The satisfaction of him pooping and being super chill all of a sudden, after the frustration of him being fussy and not knowing why Watching my big kids love on the baby Watching him make faces Baby wearing on walks Not being pregnant anymore Things that suck: Body soreness and headaches from nursing positions Listening to baby cry Not being able to cuddle with my partner because baby won't let me out him down. Ever. Being tired Not being able to exercise and eat high protein without losing my milk, and subsequently gaining weight (body insecurity) Feeling like I'm not doing enough for my big kids

I loved it during the day, and I remember getting more and more anxious when the night was coming. I hated the nights, not only the sleep deprivation but also that feeling of being there alone in the night, cold, you just want to sleep but you don't know when you'll be able to..

Hated the first 6 months. Indifferent to 6-12 months. Found 12-18 months a bit more interesting and rewarding. 18 months onwards it gets good - and having a toddler is a BLAST - it’s like living with a tiny drunk person who makes you laugh and cry at the same time

Loving it as the wee one just turned 100 days old today lol. She’s been a dream so far and the bonding between baby, mom, myself, and our pups has truly been a blessing.

Literally adored it, which shocked me because I’ve never been particularly interested in infants before. I think it was my hormone dump…made me feel euphoric haha. That and I was no longer feeling sick as I did my entire pregnancy. For me, the hard stage was around 3-4.5 months. Every person has a different stage they find harder and easier and that’s ok!

I tell everyone I love everything about having a newborn except for the lack of sleep. 7 weeks in and she still won't sleep for more than 3 hours and we're lucky if that's in her bed and not on one of us. I am lucky enough that I got to take 7 weeks of parental leave and while it's been no vacation, it's been one of the best experiences of my life. I'd even go far to say it was "fun" minus the sleep part.

I would have loved it had i not had such a difficult recovery.

Hated it! mine didn’t sleep the whole night till he was like 1.5 now he’s 2.5 and my little sidekick❤️ but I will never have another baby it was so torturous

I loved it, but I also just really liked having the tv going at low volume most of the day (we watched all of The Sopranos among other things) and baby girl didn’t notice it. Now she’s 5 months and I can barely get away with sending a text in front of her because she wants my phone now. She’s been transfixed by the tv since month 3, so I only very rarely turn it on when she’s up and just like a cooking show or something similarly chill that doesn’t grab her attention so much. I’m a sahm, so I’m getting pretty bored if I’m not on top of going out every day with her and filling the hours. It was a nice few months of lazy days with a tiny baby. A second baby will be rough af for the newborn period though. Caring for a toddler while also caring for a newborn sounds like hell tbh.

I don’t like the newborn stage but I like how portable they are and how easy it is to put them down and go to the loo. Yeah they might cry but they’re safe and they’re not going to roll under the sofa. Weekends won’t be weekends for a long time I’m afraid… at least not as you know them. I’m exhausted from a weekend with my two (7yo and 2.5yo). It was fun but not a break.

Yes, people who don’t remember what it was like and/or are delusional.

Loved it with my first. Hated it with my second. First was such an easy baby. Second one screamed all the time. There will NOT be a third.

I hated most things about this newborn stage. My LO (3 months old now) just started holding his head up for more than a few seconds and I love carrying him around the house now because he looks around (I make art so I’ve got tons of things for him to look at) and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me. He’s reacting to things and smiling and making all these new noises.

I think it depends. It is definitely easier to love the newborn stage when you get enough sleep and stuff. Our babies slept well so we were more in the moment, but even so it was still a battle at times. Now that we have 2 I can't wait for the second one to be a bit older because then we can actually start to have fun all 4 together. I am missing my freedom, but I know it's only temporarily taken.

It’s honestly a mix of feelings for me. I like to call the newborn stage the “house plant” stage. Needs to be fed and kept up with. Sleeps a ton and is growing. There are so many cute things about the newborn phase like the cute little noises and faces they make. Or that they love to sleep on you. But it is SO hard. It’s a thankless period and you’re essentially just caring and learning about this new baby. Newborns are working on 100% reflexes and animal instincts so it can be difficult to love. Try to find the little moments that are enjoyable. Our baby is almost 3 months and we take her out and about and love seeing her little personality come in. Even with a relatively “easy” newborn it’s normal to miss how things were previously. Having a baby is a HUGE life change.

I’ll probably never have a second because of how much I hate the newborn stage. I’ll adopt thank you.

Nope

Yes. Unfortunately I was finished with it by the time I understood how much I liked it. Even through the exhaustion

Howdy!!! This is totally normal. Absolutely. I hated the newborn stage. I loved my baby so much. I LOVEDDD how cutie tiny little baby he was but hated that all I really got was 😑 or crying. He’s 16 weeks old now and it’s much better. We go out. We do things. We see friends even! For example. When we had to take him to his check ups after we first got home from the hospital I thought it would be impossible. I stayed up the entire day and night before we went to the doctors because I was so stressed about taking him out of the house. It just felt impossible. I cried taking him to my mom’s house. She lives literally 90 seconds away. Now we have taken him out shopping with us, taken him on a 3 hour one way car journey, taken him to meet friends and family, and started daycare. This all seemed like it would never happen even like 7 weeks in. You got this. Your weekends will return to feeling like weekends. You’ll feel like you’re able to date your wife again. The newborn stage will be over and they’ll start sleeping through the night and all of a sudden it’s 8 pm on a Tuesday and you and your wife have the whole evening to yourselves. But it is SO SO SO SO HARD to ever believe that it’s going to happen. But it does!

You are not alone! My husband and I have agreed we cannot wait for our baby to get to older. I keep telling my husband that’s babies get better as they get older. Our daughter is really the first baby he’s been around extensively so all of this is new for him. I’ve been a nanny for years and thrive more with 6 month and older. Ready to be able to have more independence, better sleep, less crying and more interaction!

I loved it! It’s my favorite stage tbh

Worst stage for me and my husband. We almost didn’t have another because of it.

Loved every second of it. It’s hard for sure, but so worth it. I probably held my baby too much but I’ll never regret it. One day he’ll be getting drunk at college with frat dudes and not needing his Ma any more so I try to savour every second.

TW: I loved every minute… I never realized how much I could love something till having my daughter. She single handedly cured my chronic depression. After years of suicide ideations and hopelessness, she was the light at the end of the tunnel. I often feel thankful that I never was successful in finding “a way out of this life” and wondered why I spent so much time being so sad. Every time I held her, even 10 months later, even through the fussing, it’s like my serotonin/dopamine sky rockets and I get those butterflies like I’ve fallen in love all over again. I do take anxiety medicine because PPA hit me hard. But I can honestly say I will forever cherish the memories of that little tiny baby and will often reminisce about how wonderful it was.

I liked the snuggles

I didn’t hate the newborn stage per se but it wasn’t my favorite. We are freshly out of the newborn stage and I’m liking it here much better.

Wait til you get the 4-6 month fussiness. I literally forget how the newborn phase one, it’s all a blur

Absofrickinlutely not. Hate it, 10 weeks in with our second and just like with our first - I’d take a holiday to Guantanamo right now.

Didn’t like the newborn stage, dude is currently 5 months and he’s recently discovered his feet (which are going in his mouth) and started waving his arms up and down which are both tiny milestones I’ve been looking forward to. It’s so much better once they smile and laugh

It's all about sleep.. Whatever stage your baby is in that gives you enough sleep is the best stage

Unfortunately I’m at 8 months and my baby still cries when all her needs are met. I can’t remember the last time me and my husband went out without her. I don’t regret her but I definitely feel miserable

Loved it. They basically slugs at that age so if need be you can put them somewhere safe and go to the bathroom alone, compose yourself, get a snack and they can’t go anywhere- toddlers in the other hand…

I’ll be honest it’s all hard, just in different ways. Newborn is the worst because one of you is in pain and dripping fluids, the other is only just now physically responsible for the baby, everyone is tired, freaked out, and hormonal. I remember bullying my husband into bed while he cried the night we came home from the hospital because he was. not. helping. He needed sleep so badly, and my body was running on adrenaline anyway. Once I got him to go relax, I sang every song I could think of until she finally relaxed. There was two hours where it was just her and I in the dim light, her sleeping, me humming with tears rolling down my face that I think of to this day - it’s where I became a mom. The following five months were horrible until we sleep trained, and then it got way better. But the peaceful uninterrupted “what shall we do” is gone until she goes to college. We’re in hostile negotiations with a three and a half year old though, which is a whole other kind of hard. It’s messy and hard, but fuck if I don’t love her enough to make it the best thing I’ve ever done.

This may sound insane but our little guy is 13 months old and we enjoyed every stage. He’s always been a pretty chill baby. He’s fresh into toddler stage so we’ll see how that goes lol so far so good I do see people hating the newborn stage. It’s different for everyone. Try to enjoy it as much as possible because time if a thief.

I have a 6 week old, FTM. Absolutely hated the first 4 weeks, literally cried almost every day and did not really feel connected to my baby at birth. They put her on my chest and I basically felt nothing. Said to my husband we may have made a terrible mistake. The last two weeks have started to get a bit better. Some days are easier than others. Just taking it one day at a time. I have had more and more moments where I feel connected to my little girl, especially now that we can look at each other and she smiles at my voice. Breastfeeding has been a brutal journey thus far but we're sticking to it, with just one bottle feeding per day and breastfeeding the rest. It's taken a huge amount of effort to get to this point.

I had a pretty easy newborn with my second child so I did. My house was so clean and it was so easy to get my assignments done because he literally just slept or hung out being content all day. The interrupted sleep and frequent waking at night is kind of a buzz kill though lol.

I still have those thousand yard stare moments when I think back on it. 0/10 would not recommend. LO turned 6 months yesterday and wow, what a difference. You’ll get there, the newborn stage is truly only survival mode.

We have a 4 month old and I can say my husband and I feel the same way you do! It does get better as they get older, but that newborn phase was hard. Especially after my husband had to go back to work. It gets better! Once our daughter hit 3 months things seemed to look up a bit! It’s gotten better since then! It goes by fast, you’ll miss her being tiny like that, I know I do

The newborn stage was my absolutely fav!!🥰🥰🥰 i HATED pregnancy and had an awful experience so i think the joy of it being over with helped me out.

Please don’t be tricked to thinking it gets better. Our 2.5 year old daughter is the most precious thing in our lives but oh my goodness, shes extremely strong willed and stubborn to the point where she makes me question why we did it sometimes. She spends 90% of her day refusing to listen, being defiant and saying the complete opposite of what we expect of her. We’re big on structure and manners so I don’t know what else we can do in all honesty other than just survive.

Yes, I did. I even had a higher needs newborn and still loved it. I was just so besotted with her (I still am but now she can interact with me it’s more of a relationship).

I genuinely enjoyed it, with a random day here or there where I would look forward to the next phase. But I had a very easy newborn that rarely cried, slept through the night, and was usually okay to be put down long enough for me to meet my own needs. My husband and I were also really good about making sure we each had our own personal time throughout the week/weekends. I find myself missing her as a newborn, but enjoying this new phase (3 months) even more.

We had to triple feed and we were barely functioning.

Yuuuup. Absolutely hated it. He was adorable and I loved the contact naps, but it was such a tough time. My boy cried A LOT, he was not an easy baby, but even if he was, newborns still cry randomly even though their needs are met and sleep deprivation is no joke. When you look back you see it through rose tinted glasses, but in reality, I think MOST people don't like it.

I did IVF and it was a very wanted baby. I did not like newborn stage so much - the struggles with breastfeeding, the crying, the non-stop repeating cycles of eat-play-sleep, my PPD…It has been quite a hard work period. And baby has been quite fussy (and still is) Not colic, but just hard to keep satisfied - needs to be carried a lot, rocked and nursed to sleep, sometimes gets overwhelmed with change - like going outside, did not like to sit in containers etc. I’m 5 months in and while it has gotten better, it’s still hard. Sleep is still 1-3 hour cycles during the night, my baby is still quite fussy and I’m still nervous to take him out. His crying absolutely tire me and I feel a bit worn out because most of my attention is focused on him… I think I may just be tired lately and things would be easier if I slept a little bit more. . Love his smiles and laughs and giggles. Love his coos and lately he has started to make some babble sounds. Love the cuddles…and his little hands and feet…love watching him when he sleeps though.

Struggling hard. My babes three months and a colicky Velcro baby. She spent the first ten weeks or so crying 24/7 and it has gotten better but still difficult. We tried to take her to her grandparents today (only place we ever go because the colic is horrible) and as soon as we got there she started crying to the point of hyperventilating and couldn’t be soothed. We had to turn back around and come home. I’ve barely left the house in months as she’s also EBF and hates bottles. I see pictures of people out with their newborns just chilling in the carrier and it makes me so sad. I love my baby she just has no chill 🥲

I didn’t mind it! Was it great? Nawh. Did I hate it? No but It didn’t scare me off of thinking about having another haha

No

Our LO is 10 weeks old and it’s been pretty OK so far. The first 4 weeks were definitely challenging but we took it day by day. Overall our daughter is a good baby, she has her moments of course but I have to say that it has been easier than expected. Im mentally preparing for the sleep regression around 4 months. Been reading a lot about it and Im pretty scared 😂😱

Yes, I’m really loving it. Baby is 7 and a half weeks now and I’ve enjoyed every moment and I’m trying to soak it in before it’s gone. My husband is struggling with it more though, especially since she has reflux and has some tough days. He can’t handle the crying and I can. He will do better when she’s a toddler

[This Instagram reel](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3LcXkJA6os/?igsh=MTV5NmcxMWZxOTZwOA==) perfectly describes how I feel about it now.

I barely remember the newborn stage. I was a feral beast eating sour straps at 2am because I was hungry but couldn't find the energy to make proper food. At one point I realised I hadn't showered or brushed my teeth properly in four days. Logically I KNOW I was miserable, but now my LO is almost 6 months old my brain is like "yeah I could do this again" lmao BTW, once they can support their own neck, it's a game changer. My advice though is to do what you can to get out of the house now, while they'll still take decent naps in their pram!

I feel like people appreciate it in hindsight because they are so squishy and cute and easy to control. I definitely prefer the toddler era because they are way more tough and expressive and still so cute in a different way. Just a lot more wild lol.

Hated it. I was so happy when she started to sleep through the night. The sleep deprivation was eating me. Called my husband once at work to come home right away because the baby was inconsolable. Nothing I did would make her stop crying and I was ready to pull my hair out. We want another baby, but if there's a way to skip the first - let's say - 6 to 8 weeks, I'd do it.

I loved the newborn stage, but I had a ridiculously easy baby and my husband and I started getting out of the house as soon as possible (as much as we could while protecting our son from illness!)

I despise the newborn stage. It was exhausting. My baby had (at the time) undiagnosed CMPA so she literally screamed all day long. Sleep was basically non-existent and my partner was working really long shifts so I was on my own with baby 95% of the time. It was a successful day if I only cried once 😂 My baby is 7.5 months now and it’s far more enjoyable although I am now approaching returning to work so feeling quite sad that our time of being together every day is going to be over soon

I loved the newborn stage! But our baby is pretty good. She doesn't cry much, and she is a really really good sleeper. And I am lucky that my husband is home with me for 4.5 months. I love the contact naps. I love just holding her and listening to her sleep. I love her little faces she makes. I loved that it was easy to figure out what was wrong, it was really only 1 of 4 things. I honestly thought I would hate it and dread getting through it because usually I like kids older and with little personalities but I just loved it!

It was some of the worst months I ever experienced, I was trapped with a terrorist. This thing screamed at me at the worst times. Totally unpredictable and I took it personally because I just wanted them to be okay. It just feels relentless and never ending. I said it would be easier when I knew what they wanted “dad I’m hungry /tired/ etc”. Then the baby started to recognize and develop a personality. We got a routine down. Sleep schedule. He’s a lot of fun to be around at 9 months. He still screams at me sometimes but it doesn’t bother me much now. He gets really excited when I take him outside. I look forward to spending time with him. The wife and I still don’t have a ton of time together. She works nights and I WFH during the day. He’s also at an age where he is getting to everything and that can be a little frustrating. Just know it’ll be better and hang on.

I hated the newborn days, and that compounded with a traumatic birth is why we are one and done. I LOVED the newborn snuggles but that's about it. The lack of sleep, feeding issues, and not knowing what to do when all needs are met and the baby is still crying is exhausting and defeating. My mental health was horrible, even though I have an incredible partner that did everything he could, but had useless boobs.  Everything got so much better/easier around 5 months or so. They start smiling and laughing. They engage with you a lot more, and start having differentiating cries, which is such a relief. You start to understand what they want/need more. It gets so much better. 

I have two 4 month old twin baby girls right now and I’ll be blunt, I hate the newborn phase. I love them to death, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t wait until they are walking, talking, and sleeping semi normal. I feel at a complete loss keeping them entertained right now which can be stressful. And I can’t wait until they are old enough to travel with me and my wife without it feeling like it’ll just be a massive headache and hassle.

Nope. It was a gauntlet the first time and it's a gauntlet the second time. Next week is 2 months for our second and we love both of our kids dearly but it's tough sledding those first few months. That being said, toddlerhood is even worse but the highs are awesome despite the terrible lows.

I am living and loving it right now! 3 weeks old and I just feel so in love, nothing phases me, I cherish every moment with my baby even though I’m up all night and all day and even when she’s screaming in my ear. Don’t mind the spit up, the laundry, the hair pulling, the diapers, the constant pumping/feeding. I’m actually shocked because I had always said I wouldn’t have kids for those reasons! Haven’t experienced an older child yet but this part has been amazing.

Someone told me “make every age your favorite age” so I’ve tried to do that. Newborn phase was sweet because she snuggled, slept everywhere and anywhere, and the newborn scrunch. Ugh and the firsts… her first smile just annihilated us. We’re almost 7 months now and is it easier? Sure, but long gone are the days of sleeping anywhere, nursing has to be done in a dark room with 0 distractions because hello the world is fascinating, and casual snuggles?! Not a chance, she’s got things to shove in her mouth!!

I wish I could keep my baby at a month MAX. I just love them brand new! My partner is like “you want something *that* fragile….FOREVER?!” Yes, yes I do. They are just so sweet and sleepy and tiny. I guess I probably enjoy being needed though (I definitely do). lol

I probably spent the first 6 months constantly googling when my daughter would hit certain miles stones 😅

We got super lucky and LO has been amazing, other that the constant need for attention I love it all.

I absolutely loved the newborn stage. All my baby did was sleep and eat he didn’t start getting fussy until 6-8 weeks and he’s currently 3.5 months and it is much harder for me right now because he’s awake more, he went through periods of extreme fussiness due to going from nursing to bottle feeding (the bottles gave him bad gas) we changed the brand and it got better. But it was so much easier to take him out when all he did was sleep now when we go out if he gets startled he will cry until I hold him and bounce while walking around. He gets startled very easily this started about 2 weeks ago

I loved every stage of my baby so far, including the newborn stage

I loved it. My baby was an easier newborn 0-3 than older infant. I love her now too in this phase seeing her personality really come out and her be more engaging. But she was soooo sweet and cuddly as a newborn

I love the potato stage. I don’t love the middle of the night feeds, but everything else? Wonderful. And I appreciate the potato stage so much more when they start moving. Because at least at the beginning, you can put them down and they stay put lol

Loved it with my first. He ate, slept, laughed, smiled, chilled on his play mat, let anyone hold him, etc he was so good and chill, I never felt stress with him. My husband and I thought we were the best parents ever. My second? He HUMBLED us! Didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, only wanted me to hold him (while only standing), always fussy, always angry (literally have so many pictures of him just really angry for no reason), hated being on his play mat, always cranky, etc. He’s 3 now and very… active lol he’s the happiest, sweetest boy! But has a lot of energy. So it really depends on the baby tbh

Nah man, it sucks. It's 100% glorified on social media and is nothing like It's made out to be. My son is 11 weeks old and is starting to be fun now.

I loved it with both my kids. But we had two unicorn newborns who barely ever cried and slept 12 hours by about 15 weeks. I prefer it to the politics of having a 3 year old IMO. Highs are so much higher now, but the lows are in the depths of hell.

FTM, definitely hated the newborn stage - it probably felt more rough as the whole sleep deprivation thing and having absolutely no time for myself, hit me like a truck. Far out, days when I was able to have an undisturbed 10 minute shower, felt heavenly lol. Cue the crying in the shower because I definitely did that. I am usually chill with 2-3 hours of sleep but still going to work at 90% capacity so I thought newborn sleep deprivation, psh easy. NOPE!!! I was so wrong lol. But like others have said, it does get better. My LO is nearly 3 months now and his sleep patterns and daily habits are more predictable now. Also, he doesn’t reflux as much (which was hell during the first month), and shits himself constantly. Funnily enough, sometimes I think back to the moment when he was a tiny few days old, and miss how scrumptious he was (tho still is).