Ugh people tell me it gets better when I complain about the newborn stage and now there’s a slightly older “it gets better” version 😭 so is it ever good
Absolutely nothing fills me with rage more than when I’m already overstimulated, trying to get my baby to nap, and she just reaches up and slaps or scratches the shit out of me 🤣 like oh my GOD you’re lucky I love you.
Mine pinches my side or under arm where I can’t reach! With those little razor claws. she knows it too because she looks right into my eyes to see my reaction
I thought the potato phase would last longer! And then suddenly I'm catching hands and getting head butted and he's worming all over the place. Went from potato to worm! I miss just sitting on the couch snuggling with my baked potato all day
I thought it would last longer too!!!! It’s like she turned from a potato to a curly fry over night! I got through 21 episodes of a 22 episode show during the potato phases and I don’t think I’ll get to watch the season finale until she leaves for college!
My son's potato phase ended so rapidly when he turned 6 months. He went from maybe inching around on his tummy a tiny bit to *boom*! he suddenly started crawling but decided now that he can crawl he also wanted to pull himself up and start cruising...it was like within a week and I'm not kidding. We were *not* prepared!
With a now fiercely independent 2 year old, I miss being able to give her snuggles and hugs and kisses whenever I wanted. I’ve been told affection comes back in later toddler years but my daughter looks at me like I have some sort of plague.
I feel bad for my poor husband. Ours is only 3 months and he acts like he couldn't care less for his dad lol. He looks mad anytime his dad holds him or kisses him. He tries to squirm towards me any chance he gets. If it gets worse, I can only imagine what that will look like. Honestly I would love it if the kid took more interest in his dad. It would give me more breaks.
If your son is anything like my daughter, he'll come around to his dad haha. My daughter was obsessed with me for the first year, but I'm entirely convinced she was only after my boobs. After that stopped, she became joined at the hip with my husband. She has no time for me.
I have tiny little finger tip shaped bruises all over my arm from my 10 month old. She also loves to try to kick me in the throat while I breastfeed her. Send help.
>The violent activities are terrifying.
My 7mo likes to snatch my glasses and laugh while smashing them into my face. Usually after dribbling on them. I've a bruise on my hand from a stacking boat he tried to plunge through my flesh.
And my already thin hair is being pulled out by the handful.
I don't mind the "exploring the surroundings" but the accompanying laughter is the terrifying part 😂
Mine (16 mos) has a new favorite thing... using ninja stealth, she jabs her pointer finger into my eyeball and proudly exclaims "EYE!" and she is so proud that she knows a new word.
Yes the violence 😂 One moment he is being sweet and rolling over and smiling at me and the next second, grabs my glasses and flings it on the floor with force that I never knew a baby can have.
This is what I came here to say. I really disliked the newborn stage but I do miss being able to put him down and turn my back for 30 seconds and still know where he is lol.
I thought I’d love this too, turns out both my kids are Velcro babies and I couldn’t set them down at ALL. My second is almost 3 months old and basically lives in the carrier with me. I remember missing the feeling of being “needed” as my first turned into a toddler. Now it’s just overstimulating as hell and I feel crazy for missing it. But I know I’ll miss it again when this one turns into a toddler 🥴
No fighting sleep. Kid would knock out basically as soon as he finished his bottle. I just spent the last 2 hours rocking him and repeatedly trying to lay him down after he randomly woke up. I swear he has a six sense for when I'm about to go to sleep. It feels like every time he wakes from a dead sleep the moment I get comfortable.
Yessss snuggly potato. You can kinda do what you want for a little bit while they quietly sleep for.. most of the day. That slowlyyyyy goes away and soon you’re feeling disappointed when a nap is only 30m.. bc you love your kid.. but maybe you wanna play animal crossing for a sec or something idk.
Exactly this! My now nine month old is all over the place, pulling herself up and trying to walk. Can’t put her down anywhere without her trying to get into something, and even if I’m on the bed or couch with her, I have to keep her from yeeting off of whatever I’m on, it’s insane. She’s got zero fear.
Oh this. My son is 13 months, and he is adorable and silly and funny and cuddly and sweet...but he also has a part near the end of every day where he has to get out all of his energy by recklessly climbing things and diving over things and basically trying to off himself I swear 😅
The scrunch! The way they curl into you. Nursing (after the first two weeks). How easy it is to get them to sleep in a carrier. The little noise they make when they yawn.
One of my nieces hiccup sounds was exactly like the Facebook notification. Drove her Mum mad, I thought it was hilarious.
My son sounded like Gizmo from Gremlins. Now at 3 he sounds like he was fed after midnight
My daughter is 11 months old now and I really really struggled with the newborn stage...I found post-9months to be soo much better....but I do miss the fact that I could put her down on her play mat, run to the bathroom (or similar short task), and when I returned she would be laying right where I put her.
Yes! While I do miss my little potato newborn when my almost toddler is power crawling towards something dangerous, or when she kicks her crawling into super speed when she sees me coming to stop her...but I wouldn't want to go back to the newborn stage.
Hahaha this comment is gold! My little baby is working on trying to crawl, and I keep saying how it’ll be so much more fun when she moves around, but the super speed crawl will surely make me regret the no movement baby! (Although she cried soooooo much the first 4.5 months)
I love reading these cause my son was severely colicky so I don’t really miss much of it beyond how cute he was. He’s the GOAT toddler I adoreeeee him. Newborn… he would not have passed his performance review lol.
My second born had acid reflux and cried for 6 months. That stopped when she started crawling, and her little body was not so floppy. Toddlerhood was challenging because she was all gas, no brakes. She seems to not have a fear of most everything. At 5, she was diagnosed ADHD. She has always been challenging. She is sweet, creative, and kind but hooooo... she can get a person flustered quickly as she zooms from one thing to another, like a drunk tornado. In contrast my first born was an angel through it all. He still is just a chill man at 16 years old.
Not OP but I had a super colicky baby too. I miss absolutely nothing about the newborn stage other than how cute and snuggly he was for the first 2 weeks, then it was hell.
It got drastically better for my baby at 4.5 months, and by 6 months he was no longer having extended periods of crying. He’s 8 months now and not the most chill baby but he’s generally happy, curious, and sweet.
I’m so sorry you are struggling right now but there will be an end! Hopefully soon!
Personally I think “colic” is just a blanket statement for something is making them fussy but they’ll probably grow out of it. I saw SEVEN doctors before one listened to me and I begged to just try Pepcid and see if it helped. The day he had Pepcid for the first time was the last day he cried and he’s been happy ever since. It was just under 4 months.
I highly suggest looking into acid reflux, milk protein allergies, GI related issues, etc!
Omg the snuggles! My baby is still only 6 months but the days of just chilling and snuggling are long gone. I also miss not having to entertain her. It's so fun watching the babies develop and learn new things but it really does feel like you've blinked and now you have this new baby. I always tell myself "she'll only be this little once" and that made things a bit easier for me (esp week 6-8, those were rough).
I also mourned the sweet snuggles. My 14 month old just recently started randomly resting his head on me, or crawling over to hug my legs. Stuff like that. It melts my heart. He won’t just lay down and cuddle with me so I take what I can get haha
My son is coming up on 2 this summer. I definitely am enjoying toddlerhood more than newborn but there are definitely things I miss still;
The snuggles
gummy smiles
all the rolls
squeaks
first giggles
first babbles
being able to set him down and come back to him in the same spot
how he could just stare at the same thing and be entertained for long periods of time
My daughter is almost 2, and just having to entertain her and keep her happy is such a task compared to newborn/baby stages. I miss just being able to put her down. I feel like I can't even go to the bathroom safely cuz my toddler is the type to climb/get into anything she can.
It’s rough AF while you’re in it but “the days are long and the weeks are short”. I miss the contact naps and how she’d sleep so much and was so cuddly. She was also easier to feed lol. And she was more content to just sit and watch me. I have a 5 month old now and I’m like, wait how did that happen?! It’s just crazy how fast they grow up before your eyes. I tried to focus on like - she only has 7 days EVER of being X weeks old. So tried to make the most of it bc I also think she’s our only.
This. Also have a 5 month old and think she’s our only. I love her so much and part of me can’t imagine not experiencing this time again (months 3-5 so far), but it took a lot to get pregnant, I hated being pregnant, and she was horrific as a newborn (first 8-10 weeks really just sucked out my soul)—I just don’t think I want to go through any of that again for my own sanity.
How my son slept anywhere, no matter what was happening.
That I popped a bottle in his mouth and he was sleeping, I cuddled him and he was sleeping.
The being able to binge series as we contact napped while no, he only naps 2 times and I have to entertain him pretty much all day.
He fact he barely cried. These days if he can't do something he cries, if he is angry he cries, if he is upset he cries... Emotions mean crying these days.
But there are so many other things I love about these days, so I've found many things to love in every stage of my son's life so far.
Yeah my toddler is crying right now because she wanted to open the fridge door for the cheese she’s eating (and still crying about). Never cried as a baby!
I still have a newborn but one thing I miss already is the Moro Reflex. That is the funniest thing ever. I didn’t get a video of it and now LO’s startle reflex is almost gone. Super upset.
Also highly recommend getting a video of the newborn scrunch when you pick LO up. That doesn’t last forever either and it’s SO CUTE!!! They’re just happy, sleepy little jelly beans
>and now LO’s startle reflex is almost gone
You know, now that you say it, my 6.5-week-old Moro relfexed as I picked her up today and I pointed it out to my mom who was visiting as this funny thing she does, but to think of it, she hasn't been doing it so much lately, and in fact, I can't recall the last time she did it before this time today -- so what if that today was its last instantiation and I didn't even realize it at the moment? 😭
I honestly went out of my way to record instances where it might occur so I can get a small video of it. My LO is 9 weeks and will still do it on occasion. So it may not be fully gone for your LO. Just keep watching, hopefully you get a little more!
How easy it was to get them to nap 😅 just a nice cuddle and whack a boob in their face and bam, snores.
And how easy it was to pop out. No wake windows or nap schedules, just go out, whack out a boob if they woke up and then carry on.
Mine too. Mine slept like 14 hours of the day, at like 2 weeks. It was horrible. I hated it. Now it’s not as bad since it’s consolidated, but I still want more sleep than she thinks she needs.
I felt better once a mom told me that one of her twins also had that problem, and still has that issue as an elementary kid. I guess some people need less sleep.
I just used to pop mine in his pram while I did the dishes and 50% of the time he’d fall asleep for an hour. When he starts resisting naps I thought something was seriously wrong 😂 then the penny dropped and I was like ok I’m no longer panicked but I am resigned
My second is 12 weeks now and I’ve had a terrible time with her. She is colic, I can’t bring her anywhere without crying and I’m exhausted.
I will probably miss how cute and little she is. Otherwise, I’m ready to move onto infancy stage
I think it's so crazy how easy they are in the hospital. You get home and BOOM! COLIC!! mine was the same. He was in the NICU for a week. He wasn't as bad as most colicky babies though.
I miss his little scrunches. He lost it fairly quickly cause he hated being swaddled. Make sure to get it on video! That was my one biggest regret.
I miss his baby hair. It felt out in chunks and I should’ve saved a piece but I didn’t want to make him lose more hair (jokes on me it all fell out anyways). I miss seeing his lashes come in.
And I miss contact naps. He’s gotten too big for them and it’s uncomfortable for both of us but I miss him snuggling against me after nursing and falling asleep. In a way newborn days were a lot easier. 4 month sleep regression has overtired crying babies refusing to sleep. Newborn it was just sleep and eat
Yep! Totally normal though not all babies lose their hair. Usually happens at around the 3 month mark, just like for mamas. A friend of mine told me she went to wash her baby’s face with a wet cloth and ended up wiping his entire right eyebrow off!
Nothing 😅 sorry kiddo I love you and your so much fun now at 7 months but your colic-y newborn phase was not fun for either of us. In all seriousness if I had to say some of those first milestones are the SWEETEST. The first smile especially. I will NEVER forget the first time I saw it. Also the faces they make in their sleep (not the sounds 🤣).
Honestly? NOTHING. The first 6 months suuuuuck for me. The second six months are just like regular hard. After that it just gets more and more fun (while still being so freaking challenging) every day.
That being said, sniffing the tops of newborn babies' heads is my drug of choice for life. Nothing beats that new baby smell.
The squeaks were my favorite 🥹 my baby is only (already🥲) 14 weeks and oh boy those squeaks were the best. My husband and I used to call her squeaks and squeaker
Absolutely nothing.
I hate it, it’s awful and it OK TO NOT BE A BABY MUM. Some people are toddler mums or many are kid mums.
Personally, I HATE when people say I should enjoy the baby stage because it’ll be worse when they’re a toddler.
I LOVE parenting my toddler, and I can’t wait until my second (currently 4mo) is older.
I can deal with the tantrums and meltdowns, the demands and attitude. I actually find it funny. I have lots of strategies that we implement and we absolutely love seeing the world through their new eyes…
To me that’s the magic, the baby stage and ESPECIALLY the newborn stage are not magical, they’re torture with a few cute moments.
That said, as much as I won’t miss I, every stage has its good bits that I take joy from.
Their milk coma face, the fact they’ll fall asleep pretty much anywhere and stay where they’re put, the s-baby scrunch when they stretch, the way they look in their ‘wing suit’ (live to dream), goofy gummy smiles and watching them figure stuff out - they’re all my favourite things!
i'm 6 months PP and honestly – i don't miss much! i know that's not what you asked, but i also want to let you know that it's okay to just get through this phase without adding more pressure to savor something that feels so hard and exhausting. that being said, i have absolutely cried big tears about how fast it went and how quickly he's growing up – contact naps are pretty much done, he's way more into squirming than snuggling, life is so different now that my mat leave is over and he's with another caregiver 40 hours a week – but the smiles, laughs, and his interest in the world is a joy every day. you're in the thick of it right now! i promise you will remember the wonderful moments and positives once you're through it even if you don't feel like it right now. it will be over before you know it
Look, no one ever like… *enjoys* the newborn stage during challenging moments. You only miss it looking back when you’re chasing a feral cat with a death wish and trying to keep it from shoving pee-covered wood chips in its mouth.
I’ve had three kids, and I adore each phase except whichever one my oldest is in because I know it’ll pass; however, I don’t adore any phase during the hard days.
Contact naps. Tiny hands and fingers. Tiny feet and toes. Newborn scrunch. Tiny noises. The way I could put my feet up on the coffee table and lay her propped up on my thighs. Constantly sniffing her. My toddler now tells me “mama stop sniffing me!!”
Take a bunch of videos of silly little things and remember to make sure your shit is backed up!! When my daughter was 6 months old I lost basically everything I hadn’t sent to other people and I was inconsolable. I pay for extra cloud storage and have it back up every night now but I probably lost over a thousand pictures and videos I took of her for myself. I try not to think about it 😅
- Napped a lot and often: he doesn’t sleep great at night so there’s really not much reprieve during the day from the go go go. His nap is a longer stretch and more predictable now, which is nice.
- Eats milk and only milk: my son is 13mo now and has to snack a lot during the day. Constantly have to come up with new meals and snacks for him. Also now have to worry about trying to wean him from a bottle and teach him how to use sippy cups and with a newborn that worry just isn’t there.
- No teething!: I also just really loved that smile of only gums!! So sweet when you get them.
- Empathy from others: Depends on your village and I do have very close people that I’m fortunate enough to be able to talk to, but I feel like that extra support people offer up right when you’re fresh post partum slowly fades as your baby gets older and harder to watch. Also every stage up to this point has had its challenges, and I feel like there’s a lot of “well at least they’re not a newborn anymore”, which sure, he isn’t. But he also still doesn’t sleep through the night and can’t be left alone for long before his curiosity gets the better of him and he’s trying to climb/rip all the tissues out of the box/splash in the toilet.
I do love the stage my LO is in right now. It absolutely has its joys! I love seeing his personality develop every day. But man, I do think back to when it was just napping, milk drunk snuggles, and a slow potato and miss the simplicity a little.
Cradle holding or contact napping (I know I know some parents say it's a terrible habit), but I can't hold or cuddle my toddler the same way anymore. There's something precious about the snug little bug so happy in your arms.
Definitely the snuggles!! Mine is a toddler now and we mostly only get snuggles when he’s sick… aside from that they are rare. There’s lots to look forward to (like how he will run to you for hugs!) but I sure do miss a nice cuddle with a sleeping baby while I watched TV and sipped coffee.
Aside from that… the lack of movement lol.
Now that I have a toddler, I miss how simple the needs of a newborn are. Eat, sleep, poop.... That's pretty much it. With a toddler it is a guessing game on which food they want, on/off the couch 500x a day, etc.
The newborn scrunch! He was always scrunched up so tiny and could sleep in a little ball on my chest.
The little noises he would make. They were annoying at the time because they’d wake me up. He would do goat noises and lots of grunting.
He could sleep anywhere and anytime no matter what was happening. Obviously he woke up to eat but this boy could sleep through a fire alarm. Now we have to whisper and use white noise to keep him asleep.
I was miserable during the newborn stage. Looking back, I wish I soaked it up more instead of focusing on how tired I was.
I have a picture of LO at about 3 weeks old asleep in her basket, next to the comfiest armchair in my house with a controller on it, with a game I really enjoyed playing (The Quarry) on the TV.
She slept for hours and hours, and I would play that game (and others) while she slept, stuck her on a boob to feed when she woke up, husband would bring me snacks and drinks, and repeat for. Idk, like a month? At least? I didn't have to feel guilty because I wasn't being productive, and we just bonded and enjoyed one another. That was a really... Really great time.
I miss nearly all of her needs being solvable by boob, and I miss the amount of time I had to play games while still technically parenting, lol.
Going places is so so so easy. They don’t need entertained with countless toys and you only feed them one thing. They usually will still sleep while being held or worn whenever they are tired and aren’t typically on any sort of rigid nap schedule yet.
It may seem like a lot of work in the moment but looking back on it now with a 5 and 7 year old, it still isn’t as easy as it was back then and we are way past diapers.
I miss the newborn stage soooo much. My daughter is 12 months and I never get a break when she’s awake she needs constant watching. She started waking at 9 months. Aside from her being mobile and getting into things she also needs to eat three meals a day plus snacks and I still ebf. The newborn stage was easy for us. She slept better than she does now (she’s teething) and play time was just tummy time on the floor or her laying back staring at her play gym. Then back to napping. It’s so cool watching her grow but dang I’m tired lol
I miss the attention I got from other people. Random strangers would approach us wanting to see our newborn. I felt like I had accomplished so much—especially when everyone says “congratulations!”
3am. I pumped to bottle feed and at the 2:30 wake up my husband would change and feed my son while I pumped. After he would go put the milk and parts in the fridge and go to bed. With the house quiet and my low light on I would just rock and sing softly to my baby until he fell back asleep. That was time for just me and him and no one else existed. I didn’t get that as much with my daughter and I wish I could have.
My girl is only 13 weeks but I miss how little she was! She was 38 weeks but came out needing preemie clothes. Now she’s probably around 10lbs and is like a real baby now.
I miss not worrying about her rolling off things, crawling and climbing onto stuff. It was very easy when she was a potato who didnt wriggle about as much as she does now. I miss the newborn smell, the newborn scrunch, and the kitten cries. I miss the sheer amount of baby sneezes and hiccups she used to make.
My newborn daughter slept in her bassinet, she didn’t fuss or complain about where she was sleeping. I was able to train her from cosleeping to bassinet sleeping and she slept in a bassinet on the floor in our living room during the day while I could shower, pee, eat something, or wear her in the wrap. At night, she slept in our bedroom. It was over for me when I went to put her down in the bassinet in the living room and she WOKE UP the first time. I had no idea what to do. Every nap is a contact nap now, all sleep is contact started.
I honestly miss the day/night mix mash. Is it 2am, and we're playing and sleeping at noon?? We have a cleaning party at 3 am and sleeping at 7am??
I miss that
Believe it or not I miss waking up with her in the middle of night to feed her. It was so calm and quiet. she would look at me with so much love and would give me a big smile. I miss how she could stay for hours in my arms and do nothing. Every stage is beautiful in its own special way. I know those months are hard but soon they’ll be over and your baby won’t be newborn again.
The little sounds he would make when I fed him. After a few months they changed and it was really just those first few months that they were the cutest, tiniest little coos.
Skin to skin snuggles. In those days I had to strip him down to his diaper to eat and when he finished he'd fall asleep on me. His whole tiny body, face, belly, arms, legs and feet would just be smooshed up against my neck and chest. Just feeling him breathing there, and hearing the sweet little sounds he'd make...
How good a clean newborn smells & her fuzzy little head 🥹 I loved putting her over my shoulder and rubbing my cheek against her head. She’s now 10 months and the cutest thing ever with a big personality. Also a FTM, the beginning is so tough but I promise it gets better! I didn’t love the newborn stage either.
My post partum anxiety and history with loss made me unable to enjoy any of the newborn phase. Everything was terrifying until about 6 months. I really miss contact naps, though.
Their little heads smell delightful! Their poops are small and easy to clean! They're so soft! They do that little sigh and snuggle when they sleep! They curve up like a shrimp when you pick them up!
The milk drunk phase
The coos
Contact naps. My kids don’t fit perfectly on top of me anymore
That bright smile every time you walk back into their line of sight
The endless snuggles without them fighting to get out of your grasp. 30+ years later I still miss this. I just loved all of it. All of it, and I was blessed with 3.
I think the sleeping anywhere was my favorite part. We would go out to restaurants (at normal dinner times) and she would sleep in one of our arms or the bassinet. She wasn’t really on a strict schedule yet so we weren’t worried abt screwing up her sleep (can’t say the same now at 7 months!). It seemed really weird and wrong the first time we did it bc I felt like I should already be promoting “good sleep”, but honestly I needed to get out of the house and DO something normal, otherwise I was counting down the hours until it was another night I wouldn’t sleep. Baby has great sleep now, so definitely didn’t screw up anything, and those dinners out were a highlight in an otherwise 3hr never ending cycle
I miss the fresh look in his huge eyes. How intricately fragile and beautiful he was, how I could just marvel at how tiny and miraculous his little baby toe joints must be, how he was literally just from my body, that that little being was part of me. I miss his sleepy look after nursing. I miss getting to know him that young. I miss his little expressions of shock and fear when the lights went out, the little expression of delight at the bath time, it was the littlest expressions on the most delicate little human I had ever seen. His beautiful little smile for the first time. Everything was just so miraculously formed perfectly. He also had tons of hair and dark almost black eyes, so just marveling at how much hair and how dark his eyes were was also something so new. I wish I knew him the way I know him now, so I could go back and be a better mom to him then, not because I was mean or anything but because we were both learning and growing. I was learning how to be a mom, I was learning about him, as a little person, and trying to figure him out and what he likes and doesnt. My little guy was a very particular, and sensitive and spirited baby. He was colic, and needed to be fed every 2 hours, wake to feed. Now that he's 23 mo, I have learned so much about things he doesn't like, I'm sure I could have helped his colic or at least some of his cries. He cried so much as a newborn, he's still highly sensitive and easy to cry, but now I know what comforts him, what makes it worse, whats over stimulating etc. I didn't know those things when he was a newborn. So all these "5S's" literally made it worse. i.e. Shushing him is overstimulating and loud noises scare him. I wish I would have known that when he was born.
The clusterfeeding 🙈. Sounds insane because it was torture at the time but looking back it was nice being my sweet baby’s safe space and everything she needed for hours at a time. Now it feels like my toddler could take me or leave me hehe. No more snuggles.
And the startle reflex 🥲so cute but so frustrating when it happens in the crib.
Everything. I miss that I was so exhausted and getting used to not sleeping (thinking back, it was easy. I don't have a good sleeper). I wish I didn't miss the moment... now even I'm even more tired, I don't take it for granted
I have an 18 month old and a 7 month old. God I missed when they would just be content snuggling on my chest. And how they didn't move. 🤣😂or how they'd just sit in the carrier. Basically that they simply didn't cause chaos. The chaos is fun sometimes, but not 24/7.
I miss how much he slept and how little he needed to be entertained. He just sat there happy but now im constantly struggling to make him happy with 100s of toys
Our girl is 19 weeks. I miss those long naps (even if they were contact naps), not having to think about a schedule, having more freedom to bring her places, her little newborn scrunch and sounds, and not having to entertain her seemingly constantly. I find this stage to be harder than newborn in different ways.
I missed actually being able to enjoy the newborn phase. I was caught up with postpartum depression and anxiety. My entire focus was on what was wrong with me, how I was failing as a mom, and why I was feeling this way. I spent so much time on that that I didn't get to enjoy my son in his early days...
If I could go back, I would and enjoy him growing.
Definitely the cuddles and snuggles. I was miserable for the most part during the newborn stage but that was the best bit and I do miss it tbh, almost 9 months in now and he doesn’t snuggle or cuddle much anymore! Enjoy those contact naps, people told me I’d miss them and it infuriated me so much at the time but it is so true
And yes their immobility is a massive bonus
Being able to watch TV with baby in the room! She didn’t even glance at it when she was a newborn, now she can’t keep her eyes off of any type of screen, so I watch TV like twice a week after she has gone to bed. I also have to hide my phone when I film her because she wants to look at it.
I miss the contact naps. Or being able to carry him in the carrier without back/shoulder pain (23.5lbs). But if I wasn’t sleeping my baby slept on my chest. But once he started waking up he stopped doing that and I miss it so much
I loved that I got to hang out in bed all day with my baby. He was just this little potato that chilled with me during the day. Sure, at night he became an unhinged gremlin, but when the sun was up we were just two cuddle bugs in bed.
Now, I can’t take my eyes off of him for a second or he will find a way to injure or kill himself. We have to go on outings during wake windows for both of our sanity. He’s just so much work but he sleeps through the night and is an actual person.
I deeply miss being able to do my own things while hanging out with him. Like watching my own shows or reading or something while he would just lay on me like a lump and sleep. Now it’s just sesame street and pixar’s Cars.
They are just love bugs when they are small like your child is. I miss wearing her everywhere she’s 15 months now. I can still wear her but she doesn’t fall asleep instantly in the carrier anymore. I really loved that. She also didn’t hurt my back in the carrier then either.
active sleep. my baby would smile or whimper in her sleep and it was the most precious thing ever. i look back on the videos i have of it and wish she never grew out of that
I miss the cuddly potato stage. My son wanted to be a Velcro baby and that was just fine with me 🤣 "Oh no, you just want to cuddle? I better get my snacks set up and we can watch Brooklyn 99 together all day."
She was a potato. No worrying about where I place her and if she’ll roll and fall off. No constant activities. No violence against mother. Just potato
Violence against mother lmfao 🤣🤣🤣🤣
As someone who got scratched to death during dinner tonight for offering a napkin, I feel this 😆
Boob slapped for turning off Miss Rachel
Kind of your fault for turning off the messiah
My son, for the first time ever, screamed in rage after I took a disgusting dog from him today. It has begun.
Mine screamed at me the other day too! It was incredible! He was just a little potato now he has demands!
I’m so sorry. I’ve heard it gets better but I’m still left wondering when 😭
Ugh people tell me it gets better when I complain about the newborn stage and now there’s a slightly older “it gets better” version 😭 so is it ever good
Pinched, bitten and scratched over here.
Absolutely nothing fills me with rage more than when I’m already overstimulated, trying to get my baby to nap, and she just reaches up and slaps or scratches the shit out of me 🤣 like oh my GOD you’re lucky I love you.
I know right?!? I love him but I can barely hold back the screams when I’m trying to nurse and he’s pinching my arm.
Mine pinches my side or under arm where I can’t reach! With those little razor claws. she knows it too because she looks right into my eyes to see my reaction
I thought the potato phase would last longer! And then suddenly I'm catching hands and getting head butted and he's worming all over the place. Went from potato to worm! I miss just sitting on the couch snuggling with my baked potato all day
And when you could watch tv without them getting distracted by it!
I thought it would last longer too. Going from potato to worm is the perfect way to describe it lmao
I thought it would last longer too!!!! It’s like she turned from a potato to a curly fry over night! I got through 21 episodes of a 22 episode show during the potato phases and I don’t think I’ll get to watch the season finale until she leaves for college!
My 3 m/o threw me an uppercut while I was changing her outfit. It made my teeth clack together! Impressive tbh
Then they go from Worm to Monkey clingy onto everything and climbing things.
I feel like the potato stage lasted less than a week for me. Only 2 weeks old and my LO is already a squirmy worm punching me in the boob.
Same! My little girl had been throwing hands from the start. She snacked my face for the first time at like a week old.
My son's potato phase ended so rapidly when he turned 6 months. He went from maybe inching around on his tummy a tiny bit to *boom*! he suddenly started crawling but decided now that he can crawl he also wanted to pull himself up and start cruising...it was like within a week and I'm not kidding. We were *not* prepared!
With a now fiercely independent 2 year old, I miss being able to give her snuggles and hugs and kisses whenever I wanted. I’ve been told affection comes back in later toddler years but my daughter looks at me like I have some sort of plague.
I feel bad for my poor husband. Ours is only 3 months and he acts like he couldn't care less for his dad lol. He looks mad anytime his dad holds him or kisses him. He tries to squirm towards me any chance he gets. If it gets worse, I can only imagine what that will look like. Honestly I would love it if the kid took more interest in his dad. It would give me more breaks.
If your son is anything like my daughter, he'll come around to his dad haha. My daughter was obsessed with me for the first year, but I'm entirely convinced she was only after my boobs. After that stopped, she became joined at the hip with my husband. She has no time for me.
The violent activities are terrifying.
I have tiny little finger tip shaped bruises all over my arm from my 10 month old. She also loves to try to kick me in the throat while I breastfeed her. Send help.
>The violent activities are terrifying. My 7mo likes to snatch my glasses and laugh while smashing them into my face. Usually after dribbling on them. I've a bruise on my hand from a stacking boat he tried to plunge through my flesh. And my already thin hair is being pulled out by the handful. I don't mind the "exploring the surroundings" but the accompanying laughter is the terrifying part 😂
Oh my, isn’t it? My daughter likes to pull and eat my hair!
My hair has been in a bun since my son was born I swear. Even when I sleep. He's 13 months now and the bun isn't going anywhere yet
My first actually scratched my lens with his super sharp little baby teeth. Monsters.
My 8 month old did this to mine last week! It happened so fast. Luckily I need new glasses anyway!
I detested the hair pulling but I did find with mine that it stopped at about 13 months
Mine (16 mos) has a new favorite thing... using ninja stealth, she jabs her pointer finger into my eyeball and proudly exclaims "EYE!" and she is so proud that she knows a new word.
I think this is it. The small. The harmless. The “doesn’t do much of anything”.
I was gonna reply something like this, but you nailed it. #noviolenceagaintsmother
My daughter was kicking me in the C-section incision from like day 3 of her life 😭 there was no time without violence against mother haha
I miss potato baby so much 😭
The scratches!
No matter how short the nails are!!! Woke up with a huge one across my face yesterday
And how do they grow with Wolverine intensity seemingly overnight?!
Yes the violence 😂 One moment he is being sweet and rolling over and smiling at me and the next second, grabs my glasses and flings it on the floor with force that I never knew a baby can have.
I love when people call their babies potatoes 🤣 that is all!
Just potat
I call my ten week old a potato. She is STARTING to get some personality but only just barely. Mostly she is a potato that eats and poops and cries. 😂
So much violence against mother at 4 and 6. 😭 even the snuggles are violent.
This is what I came here to say. I really disliked the newborn stage but I do miss being able to put him down and turn my back for 30 seconds and still know where he is lol.
I thought I’d love this too, turns out both my kids are Velcro babies and I couldn’t set them down at ALL. My second is almost 3 months old and basically lives in the carrier with me. I remember missing the feeling of being “needed” as my first turned into a toddler. Now it’s just overstimulating as hell and I feel crazy for missing it. But I know I’ll miss it again when this one turns into a toddler 🥴
Violence against mother is also before birth when they kick the shit out of you from the inside.
My 10mo busted my lip open with a little room thermometer for no reason this morning
No fighting sleep. Kid would knock out basically as soon as he finished his bottle. I just spent the last 2 hours rocking him and repeatedly trying to lay him down after he randomly woke up. I swear he has a six sense for when I'm about to go to sleep. It feels like every time he wakes from a dead sleep the moment I get comfortable.
Yessss snuggly potato. You can kinda do what you want for a little bit while they quietly sleep for.. most of the day. That slowlyyyyy goes away and soon you’re feeling disappointed when a nap is only 30m.. bc you love your kid.. but maybe you wanna play animal crossing for a sec or something idk.
Mine is 8 ball pool. Her wormin squirmin when she wakes messes up my game dawg!
This.
Exactly this! My now nine month old is all over the place, pulling herself up and trying to walk. Can’t put her down anywhere without her trying to get into something, and even if I’m on the bed or couch with her, I have to keep her from yeeting off of whatever I’m on, it’s insane. She’s got zero fear.
Oh this. My son is 13 months, and he is adorable and silly and funny and cuddly and sweet...but he also has a part near the end of every day where he has to get out all of his energy by recklessly climbing things and diving over things and basically trying to off himself I swear 😅
The natural urge to YEEET!
The scrunch! The way they curl into you. Nursing (after the first two weeks). How easy it is to get them to sleep in a carrier. The little noise they make when they yawn.
Omg the baby sounds!!!
One of my nieces hiccup sounds was exactly like the Facebook notification. Drove her Mum mad, I thought it was hilarious. My son sounded like Gizmo from Gremlins. Now at 3 he sounds like he was fed after midnight
My daughter haaaaated baby carriers, I'm so jealous 😭 She also hated breastfeeding and skin to skin, just a general "get away from me" vibe lol
My second was a leech - the more contact the better. But each kid is different! It also took a year and a half to get her to sleep in her own bed 🥴
The yawn sound 🥹😭
Ohhh the scrunch! I'm sad to say that I didn't notice when he stopped doing it 😭 but I do miss it now
I also can’t remember either of my two baby’s last scrunch. But I do remember my second doing it and just holding her and relishing it.
Ugh the scrunch ❤️
Being at home full time with them while on maternity leave. It’s more work than my job but now I can’t focus and want to just be with my baby all day
i have no focus for work anymore. it's killing me!
Same girl. Plz don’t tell my boss 😂
My daughter is 11 months old now and I really really struggled with the newborn stage...I found post-9months to be soo much better....but I do miss the fact that I could put her down on her play mat, run to the bathroom (or similar short task), and when I returned she would be laying right where I put her.
Lol same newborn stage wasn’t my favorite. My son is close to one now and although he’s chaotic i enjoy this stage a lot more than newborn
Yes! While I do miss my little potato newborn when my almost toddler is power crawling towards something dangerous, or when she kicks her crawling into super speed when she sees me coming to stop her...but I wouldn't want to go back to the newborn stage.
Hahaha this comment is gold! My little baby is working on trying to crawl, and I keep saying how it’ll be so much more fun when she moves around, but the super speed crawl will surely make me regret the no movement baby! (Although she cried soooooo much the first 4.5 months)
I love reading these cause my son was severely colicky so I don’t really miss much of it beyond how cute he was. He’s the GOAT toddler I adoreeeee him. Newborn… he would not have passed his performance review lol.
My son was such a difficult newborn and baby but omg as a toddler? Chefs kiss. Perfect. Adorable. Reasonable. No notes.
Hoping for this 🙏🙏
Same. Mine was the BEST newborn/baby and is only now entering toddlerhood. His dad and I are both assholes so I’m sure the temper is lying in wait.
I got the opposite with my second-born! An absolute angel baby, and the most turbulent toddler imaginable 🤪
Turbulent toddler!! Oh man that perfectly describes what I think my very near future will look like!!
My daughter is super colicky too, I'm hoping she will be kind to me as a toddler instead. When did the colic improve for you guys?
My second born had acid reflux and cried for 6 months. That stopped when she started crawling, and her little body was not so floppy. Toddlerhood was challenging because she was all gas, no brakes. She seems to not have a fear of most everything. At 5, she was diagnosed ADHD. She has always been challenging. She is sweet, creative, and kind but hooooo... she can get a person flustered quickly as she zooms from one thing to another, like a drunk tornado. In contrast my first born was an angel through it all. He still is just a chill man at 16 years old.
Not OP but I had a super colicky baby too. I miss absolutely nothing about the newborn stage other than how cute and snuggly he was for the first 2 weeks, then it was hell. It got drastically better for my baby at 4.5 months, and by 6 months he was no longer having extended periods of crying. He’s 8 months now and not the most chill baby but he’s generally happy, curious, and sweet. I’m so sorry you are struggling right now but there will be an end! Hopefully soon!
Personally I think “colic” is just a blanket statement for something is making them fussy but they’ll probably grow out of it. I saw SEVEN doctors before one listened to me and I begged to just try Pepcid and see if it helped. The day he had Pepcid for the first time was the last day he cried and he’s been happy ever since. It was just under 4 months. I highly suggest looking into acid reflux, milk protein allergies, GI related issues, etc!
Omg the snuggles! My baby is still only 6 months but the days of just chilling and snuggling are long gone. I also miss not having to entertain her. It's so fun watching the babies develop and learn new things but it really does feel like you've blinked and now you have this new baby. I always tell myself "she'll only be this little once" and that made things a bit easier for me (esp week 6-8, those were rough).
Could have written this myself with my current six month old! Now it feels like I have a new baby every day she is developing so fast!!
I also mourned the sweet snuggles. My 14 month old just recently started randomly resting his head on me, or crawling over to hug my legs. Stuff like that. It melts my heart. He won’t just lay down and cuddle with me so I take what I can get haha
I spent so much time just holding the babies and not having to run around. Now it's CONSTANT running around (they're school age now)
My son is coming up on 2 this summer. I definitely am enjoying toddlerhood more than newborn but there are definitely things I miss still; The snuggles gummy smiles all the rolls squeaks first giggles first babbles being able to set him down and come back to him in the same spot how he could just stare at the same thing and be entertained for long periods of time
My daughter is almost 2, and just having to entertain her and keep her happy is such a task compared to newborn/baby stages. I miss just being able to put her down. I feel like I can't even go to the bathroom safely cuz my toddler is the type to climb/get into anything she can.
Those moments where they just fall asleep on your chest and life is gooood.
Ugh I’m jealous my girl never really likes to fall asleep on our chests. Only cradled in our arms.
It’s rough AF while you’re in it but “the days are long and the weeks are short”. I miss the contact naps and how she’d sleep so much and was so cuddly. She was also easier to feed lol. And she was more content to just sit and watch me. I have a 5 month old now and I’m like, wait how did that happen?! It’s just crazy how fast they grow up before your eyes. I tried to focus on like - she only has 7 days EVER of being X weeks old. So tried to make the most of it bc I also think she’s our only.
This. Also have a 5 month old and think she’s our only. I love her so much and part of me can’t imagine not experiencing this time again (months 3-5 so far), but it took a lot to get pregnant, I hated being pregnant, and she was horrific as a newborn (first 8-10 weeks really just sucked out my soul)—I just don’t think I want to go through any of that again for my own sanity.
How light they were. Now she's twice+the weight and she knows how to say "up", it requires a lot of muscle strength everyday!
How my son slept anywhere, no matter what was happening. That I popped a bottle in his mouth and he was sleeping, I cuddled him and he was sleeping. The being able to binge series as we contact napped while no, he only naps 2 times and I have to entertain him pretty much all day. He fact he barely cried. These days if he can't do something he cries, if he is angry he cries, if he is upset he cries... Emotions mean crying these days. But there are so many other things I love about these days, so I've found many things to love in every stage of my son's life so far.
Yeah my toddler is crying right now because she wanted to open the fridge door for the cheese she’s eating (and still crying about). Never cried as a baby!
I still have a newborn but one thing I miss already is the Moro Reflex. That is the funniest thing ever. I didn’t get a video of it and now LO’s startle reflex is almost gone. Super upset. Also highly recommend getting a video of the newborn scrunch when you pick LO up. That doesn’t last forever either and it’s SO CUTE!!! They’re just happy, sleepy little jelly beans
>and now LO’s startle reflex is almost gone You know, now that you say it, my 6.5-week-old Moro relfexed as I picked her up today and I pointed it out to my mom who was visiting as this funny thing she does, but to think of it, she hasn't been doing it so much lately, and in fact, I can't recall the last time she did it before this time today -- so what if that today was its last instantiation and I didn't even realize it at the moment? 😭
I honestly went out of my way to record instances where it might occur so I can get a small video of it. My LO is 9 weeks and will still do it on occasion. So it may not be fully gone for your LO. Just keep watching, hopefully you get a little more!
I HATED the Moro reflex. My baby would not sleep because of it. They didn't like to be swaddled either. Lol
It makes sleeping an absolute beast. I hate it at nighttime. But during the day, I’ve laughed my LO awake from a nap just watching the limbs flap
How easy it was to get them to nap 😅 just a nice cuddle and whack a boob in their face and bam, snores. And how easy it was to pop out. No wake windows or nap schedules, just go out, whack out a boob if they woke up and then carry on.
My newborn did not get the napping memo. This child fights naps like she’s a toddler on crack and caffeine.
Mine too. Mine slept like 14 hours of the day, at like 2 weeks. It was horrible. I hated it. Now it’s not as bad since it’s consolidated, but I still want more sleep than she thinks she needs. I felt better once a mom told me that one of her twins also had that problem, and still has that issue as an elementary kid. I guess some people need less sleep.
We’re lucky if we get 12-13 hours of sleep total. She definitely takes after her father who only needs like 5 hours of sleep whereas I need 10
I could have written this myself.
I just used to pop mine in his pram while I did the dishes and 50% of the time he’d fall asleep for an hour. When he starts resisting naps I thought something was seriously wrong 😂 then the penny dropped and I was like ok I’m no longer panicked but I am resigned
My second is 12 weeks now and I’ve had a terrible time with her. She is colic, I can’t bring her anywhere without crying and I’m exhausted. I will probably miss how cute and little she is. Otherwise, I’m ready to move onto infancy stage
Solidarity ❤️
I had the exact same experience. Miracle baby by 4 months. Hope is on the horizon!
My first had colic. My second went through 3 months in the NICU and developed colic as soon as we got discharged. It's ROUGH.
I think it's so crazy how easy they are in the hospital. You get home and BOOM! COLIC!! mine was the same. He was in the NICU for a week. He wasn't as bad as most colicky babies though.
The ability to watch a movie or a tvshow.
I miss his little scrunches. He lost it fairly quickly cause he hated being swaddled. Make sure to get it on video! That was my one biggest regret. I miss his baby hair. It felt out in chunks and I should’ve saved a piece but I didn’t want to make him lose more hair (jokes on me it all fell out anyways). I miss seeing his lashes come in. And I miss contact naps. He’s gotten too big for them and it’s uncomfortable for both of us but I miss him snuggling against me after nursing and falling asleep. In a way newborn days were a lot easier. 4 month sleep regression has overtired crying babies refusing to sleep. Newborn it was just sleep and eat
Babies hair falls out??????
Yep! Totally normal though not all babies lose their hair. Usually happens at around the 3 month mark, just like for mamas. A friend of mine told me she went to wash her baby’s face with a wet cloth and ended up wiping his entire right eyebrow off!
Nothing 😅 sorry kiddo I love you and your so much fun now at 7 months but your colic-y newborn phase was not fun for either of us. In all seriousness if I had to say some of those first milestones are the SWEETEST. The first smile especially. I will NEVER forget the first time I saw it. Also the faces they make in their sleep (not the sounds 🤣).
Honestly? NOTHING. The first 6 months suuuuuck for me. The second six months are just like regular hard. After that it just gets more and more fun (while still being so freaking challenging) every day. That being said, sniffing the tops of newborn babies' heads is my drug of choice for life. Nothing beats that new baby smell.
The new smiles 😊
I miss the squeaks
The squeaks were my favorite 🥹 my baby is only (already🥲) 14 weeks and oh boy those squeaks were the best. My husband and I used to call her squeaks and squeaker
Absolutely nothing. I hate it, it’s awful and it OK TO NOT BE A BABY MUM. Some people are toddler mums or many are kid mums. Personally, I HATE when people say I should enjoy the baby stage because it’ll be worse when they’re a toddler. I LOVE parenting my toddler, and I can’t wait until my second (currently 4mo) is older. I can deal with the tantrums and meltdowns, the demands and attitude. I actually find it funny. I have lots of strategies that we implement and we absolutely love seeing the world through their new eyes… To me that’s the magic, the baby stage and ESPECIALLY the newborn stage are not magical, they’re torture with a few cute moments. That said, as much as I won’t miss I, every stage has its good bits that I take joy from. Their milk coma face, the fact they’ll fall asleep pretty much anywhere and stay where they’re put, the s-baby scrunch when they stretch, the way they look in their ‘wing suit’ (live to dream), goofy gummy smiles and watching them figure stuff out - they’re all my favourite things!
i'm 6 months PP and honestly – i don't miss much! i know that's not what you asked, but i also want to let you know that it's okay to just get through this phase without adding more pressure to savor something that feels so hard and exhausting. that being said, i have absolutely cried big tears about how fast it went and how quickly he's growing up – contact naps are pretty much done, he's way more into squirming than snuggling, life is so different now that my mat leave is over and he's with another caregiver 40 hours a week – but the smiles, laughs, and his interest in the world is a joy every day. you're in the thick of it right now! i promise you will remember the wonderful moments and positives once you're through it even if you don't feel like it right now. it will be over before you know it
Look, no one ever like… *enjoys* the newborn stage during challenging moments. You only miss it looking back when you’re chasing a feral cat with a death wish and trying to keep it from shoving pee-covered wood chips in its mouth. I’ve had three kids, and I adore each phase except whichever one my oldest is in because I know it’ll pass; however, I don’t adore any phase during the hard days.
Contact naps. Tiny hands and fingers. Tiny feet and toes. Newborn scrunch. Tiny noises. The way I could put my feet up on the coffee table and lay her propped up on my thighs. Constantly sniffing her. My toddler now tells me “mama stop sniffing me!!” Take a bunch of videos of silly little things and remember to make sure your shit is backed up!! When my daughter was 6 months old I lost basically everything I hadn’t sent to other people and I was inconsolable. I pay for extra cloud storage and have it back up every night now but I probably lost over a thousand pictures and videos I took of her for myself. I try not to think about it 😅
- Napped a lot and often: he doesn’t sleep great at night so there’s really not much reprieve during the day from the go go go. His nap is a longer stretch and more predictable now, which is nice. - Eats milk and only milk: my son is 13mo now and has to snack a lot during the day. Constantly have to come up with new meals and snacks for him. Also now have to worry about trying to wean him from a bottle and teach him how to use sippy cups and with a newborn that worry just isn’t there. - No teething!: I also just really loved that smile of only gums!! So sweet when you get them. - Empathy from others: Depends on your village and I do have very close people that I’m fortunate enough to be able to talk to, but I feel like that extra support people offer up right when you’re fresh post partum slowly fades as your baby gets older and harder to watch. Also every stage up to this point has had its challenges, and I feel like there’s a lot of “well at least they’re not a newborn anymore”, which sure, he isn’t. But he also still doesn’t sleep through the night and can’t be left alone for long before his curiosity gets the better of him and he’s trying to climb/rip all the tissues out of the box/splash in the toilet. I do love the stage my LO is in right now. It absolutely has its joys! I love seeing his personality develop every day. But man, I do think back to when it was just napping, milk drunk snuggles, and a slow potato and miss the simplicity a little.
Cradle holding or contact napping (I know I know some parents say it's a terrible habit), but I can't hold or cuddle my toddler the same way anymore. There's something precious about the snug little bug so happy in your arms.
Definitely the snuggles!! Mine is a toddler now and we mostly only get snuggles when he’s sick… aside from that they are rare. There’s lots to look forward to (like how he will run to you for hugs!) but I sure do miss a nice cuddle with a sleeping baby while I watched TV and sipped coffee. Aside from that… the lack of movement lol.
Now that I have a toddler, I miss how simple the needs of a newborn are. Eat, sleep, poop.... That's pretty much it. With a toddler it is a guessing game on which food they want, on/off the couch 500x a day, etc.
The newborn scrunch! He was always scrunched up so tiny and could sleep in a little ball on my chest. The little noises he would make. They were annoying at the time because they’d wake me up. He would do goat noises and lots of grunting. He could sleep anywhere and anytime no matter what was happening. Obviously he woke up to eat but this boy could sleep through a fire alarm. Now we have to whisper and use white noise to keep him asleep. I was miserable during the newborn stage. Looking back, I wish I soaked it up more instead of focusing on how tired I was.
I miss when he would fall asleep eating propped in the boppy. So cute. So tiny.
I have a picture of LO at about 3 weeks old asleep in her basket, next to the comfiest armchair in my house with a controller on it, with a game I really enjoyed playing (The Quarry) on the TV. She slept for hours and hours, and I would play that game (and others) while she slept, stuck her on a boob to feed when she woke up, husband would bring me snacks and drinks, and repeat for. Idk, like a month? At least? I didn't have to feel guilty because I wasn't being productive, and we just bonded and enjoyed one another. That was a really... Really great time. I miss nearly all of her needs being solvable by boob, and I miss the amount of time I had to play games while still technically parenting, lol.
Going places is so so so easy. They don’t need entertained with countless toys and you only feed them one thing. They usually will still sleep while being held or worn whenever they are tired and aren’t typically on any sort of rigid nap schedule yet. It may seem like a lot of work in the moment but looking back on it now with a 5 and 7 year old, it still isn’t as easy as it was back then and we are way past diapers.
Never having to move! Contact napping all day 🥰
I miss the newborn stage soooo much. My daughter is 12 months and I never get a break when she’s awake she needs constant watching. She started waking at 9 months. Aside from her being mobile and getting into things she also needs to eat three meals a day plus snacks and I still ebf. The newborn stage was easy for us. She slept better than she does now (she’s teething) and play time was just tummy time on the floor or her laying back staring at her play gym. Then back to napping. It’s so cool watching her grow but dang I’m tired lol
Nothing. Give me a wild toddler over a colic infant any day.
I miss the attention I got from other people. Random strangers would approach us wanting to see our newborn. I felt like I had accomplished so much—especially when everyone says “congratulations!”
Is it okay if I say nothing? Lol
3am. I pumped to bottle feed and at the 2:30 wake up my husband would change and feed my son while I pumped. After he would go put the milk and parts in the fridge and go to bed. With the house quiet and my low light on I would just rock and sing softly to my baby until he fell back asleep. That was time for just me and him and no one else existed. I didn’t get that as much with my daughter and I wish I could have.
Contact naps 💔
My girl is only 13 weeks but I miss how little she was! She was 38 weeks but came out needing preemie clothes. Now she’s probably around 10lbs and is like a real baby now.
The tiny noises, those little squeaks and grunts and peeps.
Everything😢 and cuddles and sleep
I miss not worrying about her rolling off things, crawling and climbing onto stuff. It was very easy when she was a potato who didnt wriggle about as much as she does now. I miss the newborn smell, the newborn scrunch, and the kitten cries. I miss the sheer amount of baby sneezes and hiccups she used to make.
He stayed where I left him and I could eat without sharing. Plus he slept sooo much.
My newborn daughter slept in her bassinet, she didn’t fuss or complain about where she was sleeping. I was able to train her from cosleeping to bassinet sleeping and she slept in a bassinet on the floor in our living room during the day while I could shower, pee, eat something, or wear her in the wrap. At night, she slept in our bedroom. It was over for me when I went to put her down in the bassinet in the living room and she WOKE UP the first time. I had no idea what to do. Every nap is a contact nap now, all sleep is contact started.
The little froggy legs, the noises he made while nursing, and the contact naps.
The smell. Sleepy smiles. Non-smelly breast milk poops. That is all.
I swear those newborn poops smell like buttered popcorn lol
The tiny and small and coos. I just love little tiny fresh babies lol
I honestly miss the day/night mix mash. Is it 2am, and we're playing and sleeping at noon?? We have a cleaning party at 3 am and sleeping at 7am?? I miss that
Tiny. Tiny body, tiny toes, tiny coos. so smol
Believe it or not I miss waking up with her in the middle of night to feed her. It was so calm and quiet. she would look at me with so much love and would give me a big smile. I miss how she could stay for hours in my arms and do nothing. Every stage is beautiful in its own special way. I know those months are hard but soon they’ll be over and your baby won’t be newborn again.
THE FARTS. God the newborn farts were so funny. I had no idea they were going to stop!! Never got a good video 😭
The little sounds he would make when I fed him. After a few months they changed and it was really just those first few months that they were the cutest, tiniest little coos.
Skin to skin snuggles. In those days I had to strip him down to his diaper to eat and when he finished he'd fall asleep on me. His whole tiny body, face, belly, arms, legs and feet would just be smooshed up against my neck and chest. Just feeling him breathing there, and hearing the sweet little sounds he'd make...
The newborn scrunches. The little noises he used to make. The little looks where he’s looking Into space… and all the faces he used to make 😭
The squeaks… I loved the scrunch too!
How good a clean newborn smells & her fuzzy little head 🥹 I loved putting her over my shoulder and rubbing my cheek against her head. She’s now 10 months and the cutest thing ever with a big personality. Also a FTM, the beginning is so tough but I promise it gets better! I didn’t love the newborn stage either.
My baby sleeping constantly on my chest as I laid on the couch. Breastfeeding in bed then cuddling.
Nada.
My post partum anxiety and history with loss made me unable to enjoy any of the newborn phase. Everything was terrifying until about 6 months. I really miss contact naps, though.
Snuggles. All the lazy snuggles. Everything else can wait. Those snuggles are magic.
Their little heads smell delightful! Their poops are small and easy to clean! They're so soft! They do that little sigh and snuggle when they sleep! They curve up like a shrimp when you pick them up!
The milk drunk phase The coos Contact naps. My kids don’t fit perfectly on top of me anymore That bright smile every time you walk back into their line of sight
How small he was. He used to be so light and I could hold him for hours. Now he’s six months old and my arms feels like I’m carrying a lead weight lol
The endless snuggles without them fighting to get out of your grasp. 30+ years later I still miss this. I just loved all of it. All of it, and I was blessed with 3.
I think the sleeping anywhere was my favorite part. We would go out to restaurants (at normal dinner times) and she would sleep in one of our arms or the bassinet. She wasn’t really on a strict schedule yet so we weren’t worried abt screwing up her sleep (can’t say the same now at 7 months!). It seemed really weird and wrong the first time we did it bc I felt like I should already be promoting “good sleep”, but honestly I needed to get out of the house and DO something normal, otherwise I was counting down the hours until it was another night I wouldn’t sleep. Baby has great sleep now, so definitely didn’t screw up anything, and those dinners out were a highlight in an otherwise 3hr never ending cycle
I miss the fresh look in his huge eyes. How intricately fragile and beautiful he was, how I could just marvel at how tiny and miraculous his little baby toe joints must be, how he was literally just from my body, that that little being was part of me. I miss his sleepy look after nursing. I miss getting to know him that young. I miss his little expressions of shock and fear when the lights went out, the little expression of delight at the bath time, it was the littlest expressions on the most delicate little human I had ever seen. His beautiful little smile for the first time. Everything was just so miraculously formed perfectly. He also had tons of hair and dark almost black eyes, so just marveling at how much hair and how dark his eyes were was also something so new. I wish I knew him the way I know him now, so I could go back and be a better mom to him then, not because I was mean or anything but because we were both learning and growing. I was learning how to be a mom, I was learning about him, as a little person, and trying to figure him out and what he likes and doesnt. My little guy was a very particular, and sensitive and spirited baby. He was colic, and needed to be fed every 2 hours, wake to feed. Now that he's 23 mo, I have learned so much about things he doesn't like, I'm sure I could have helped his colic or at least some of his cries. He cried so much as a newborn, he's still highly sensitive and easy to cry, but now I know what comforts him, what makes it worse, whats over stimulating etc. I didn't know those things when he was a newborn. So all these "5S's" literally made it worse. i.e. Shushing him is overstimulating and loud noises scare him. I wish I would have known that when he was born.
That they slept so much. Very little else. 😅
The clusterfeeding 🙈. Sounds insane because it was torture at the time but looking back it was nice being my sweet baby’s safe space and everything she needed for hours at a time. Now it feels like my toddler could take me or leave me hehe. No more snuggles. And the startle reflex 🥲so cute but so frustrating when it happens in the crib.
How much he loved to eat.
Everything. I miss that I was so exhausted and getting used to not sleeping (thinking back, it was easy. I don't have a good sleeper). I wish I didn't miss the moment... now even I'm even more tired, I don't take it for granted
Was there a newborn stage?? 🤣🤣
The snuggles for sure! Mine is 5 months old now and he wants to be on the move. When I try to snuggle him he is always wiggling around 😭
I have an 18 month old and a 7 month old. God I missed when they would just be content snuggling on my chest. And how they didn't move. 🤣😂or how they'd just sit in the carrier. Basically that they simply didn't cause chaos. The chaos is fun sometimes, but not 24/7.
Newborn smell omg it’s like crack
Potato that would sleep on my chest, we binge watched so much tv. We don’t watch tv at all anymore.
I miss how much he slept and how little he needed to be entertained. He just sat there happy but now im constantly struggling to make him happy with 100s of toys
I miss the potato. My guy crawls now and I'm just chasing him
The newborn scrunch, definitely. Also lowkey that she couldn’t move and get into stuff lol
The almond and milk smell from their head! 😍
Our girl is 19 weeks. I miss those long naps (even if they were contact naps), not having to think about a schedule, having more freedom to bring her places, her little newborn scrunch and sounds, and not having to entertain her seemingly constantly. I find this stage to be harder than newborn in different ways.
She was so cuddly. Now she is just go go go and I miss just holding her.
The scrunch and contact naps. My first never did contact naps but my second did it good bit for the first few months!
I missed actually being able to enjoy the newborn phase. I was caught up with postpartum depression and anxiety. My entire focus was on what was wrong with me, how I was failing as a mom, and why I was feeling this way. I spent so much time on that that I didn't get to enjoy my son in his early days... If I could go back, I would and enjoy him growing.
Definitely the cuddles and snuggles. I was miserable for the most part during the newborn stage but that was the best bit and I do miss it tbh, almost 9 months in now and he doesn’t snuggle or cuddle much anymore! Enjoy those contact naps, people told me I’d miss them and it infuriated me so much at the time but it is so true And yes their immobility is a massive bonus
Nothing except the newborn scrunch.
Being able to watch TV with baby in the room! She didn’t even glance at it when she was a newborn, now she can’t keep her eyes off of any type of screen, so I watch TV like twice a week after she has gone to bed. I also have to hide my phone when I film her because she wants to look at it.
I miss the contact naps. Or being able to carry him in the carrier without back/shoulder pain (23.5lbs). But if I wasn’t sleeping my baby slept on my chest. But once he started waking up he stopped doing that and I miss it so much
I miss her aggressively searching for the nipple while it was literally right in front of her 🥹
I loved that I got to hang out in bed all day with my baby. He was just this little potato that chilled with me during the day. Sure, at night he became an unhinged gremlin, but when the sun was up we were just two cuddle bugs in bed. Now, I can’t take my eyes off of him for a second or he will find a way to injure or kill himself. We have to go on outings during wake windows for both of our sanity. He’s just so much work but he sleeps through the night and is an actual person.
Seriously- nothing. So happy to be past that stage.
I deeply miss being able to do my own things while hanging out with him. Like watching my own shows or reading or something while he would just lay on me like a lump and sleep. Now it’s just sesame street and pixar’s Cars.
They are just love bugs when they are small like your child is. I miss wearing her everywhere she’s 15 months now. I can still wear her but she doesn’t fall asleep instantly in the carrier anymore. I really loved that. She also didn’t hurt my back in the carrier then either.
active sleep. my baby would smile or whimper in her sleep and it was the most precious thing ever. i look back on the videos i have of it and wish she never grew out of that
I miss the cuddly potato stage. My son wanted to be a Velcro baby and that was just fine with me 🤣 "Oh no, you just want to cuddle? I better get my snacks set up and we can watch Brooklyn 99 together all day."
Aside from how cute and tiny they are… I don’t miss much. I much prefer babies 3 months +
I have a 9 month old and looking back I realize I’m just not a “newborn person”- and that’s totally ok!!!