The hardest part about this stage?

I'm a mum of one right now, who is just a smidge over a year old right now. Where I live right now there aren't a ton of other mums with little ones around the same age to chat with - so it's nice to have the forum here!

I'm wondering what everyone has found as the hardest part of this stage from 0-2. For my little one it's probably been trying to get her to self soothe, and also teething - what a nightmare!!

What about all of you?

Teething for us right now for sure. Potty training was tough with my first. Keeping my fingers crossed that experience will help this time around The really tough part (I think) is how fast they grow at this age, rushing through each milestone. You only get that teeny tiny new born for a few weeks, the amount my youngest has grown in just 6 months is staggering, I forgot just how fast it goes.

Oh good..we love potty training..NOT!!! Oh my goodness our little boy is two and it was so hard potty training him, but us parents shouldn't get discouraged because it will happen eventually. My husband and I found ourselves questioning each other like..."was it this hard with the girls".. and sometimes it was a little overwhelming but patience is how you get through it. At this stage though..wow it is such a whiny cry baby stage that it, coupled with potty training could send any sane parent to the crazy house. I think the crying and whining about any and everything is what I dislike...we don't call this stage "the terrible two's" for nothing.

With my 2 girls (now 9 and 16 years old) the hardest thing I had to deal with during the 0-2 stage was teething. These two cut more teeth faster than their brothers and it caused many a sleepless night. When finally figuring out that a nice frozen pop was a pain reliever it helped a lot. Or course of the years we learned to freeze apple sauce so that they did not get a sugar rush before bed time.
With my 2 boys (now 6 and 14 years old) the hardest thing was night time potty training. It was a night mare getting them out of bed because they are hard sleepers then having to carry them down stairs to the toilet two times every night. My 6 year old son still isn't night time trained. (Would love some tips on this one)

My first thought was that there was a long distance between 0 and 2 when talking about my daughter. So my answer would be different depending on which age I'm thinking about.

For the first year, it was the sleeplessness for my daughter... well, I should say sleeping at the wrong time, and nothing I did would make it better or change her schedule... she was a party girl, and unfortunately for me, that party always started around 2 a.m. She wanted to play at 2 a.m.

When she got past that, we really didn't have much of problem with either teething or potty training, so I'd have to say that the biggest issue was probably finding enough activities to keep her mind and hands busy... she's always loved learning, so I had to make sure there was a steady stream of activities to challenge her mind.

Speaking of potty training, at what age did you all try to start your little ones to train?

Are there any cues or signs I should be watching out for as to when she might be ready? Sorry if I sound clueless - first time mum so sometimes I just need the help of other mums to get a better picture of what to expect!

Teething was tough for us too...and the excessive drooling! And then beyond that the lack of sleep. With the exception so far (knock on wood) of the last one, the first two didn't start sleeping through the night until after age of 4 for the first one, on and off right now for the second. Of course, just when we get to normalcy with that I am sure something else will pop up as it always does!!

I am totally on the same page as you. I have 1 little girl who is 15 months old (almost 16 months). I also don't have a lot of people that I talk to that have children the same age as my little one, Stella because I am a stay-at-home-mom, we don't get out much.

We didn't really have much problems with self-soothing, and don't really have any problems with is now. I started really working about self-soothing at bedtime quite a while ago. I am not sure if this is the issue you are having, but it really helped my LO to go through a very strict bedtime routine whether it be naptime or bedtime.

What I did (which this part was just our preference, not anything I read) was right after her meal whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, is she went straight to bed (dinner did end up being a little different). Then, for her self-soothing routine, I would lay her down and walk out of the room so she was still awake. If she started crying (which at first she did), I waited 5 minutes. If she was still crying after those 5 minutes, I went in, sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to her twice (what I read just said to stay in 2-3 minutes, and when I timed that is how it played out), and if she was standing I laid her back down (WITHOUT PICKING HER BACK UP), and then walked out of the room again. This time I waited 10 minutes. If she was still crying I went back in and repeated the steps and then walked back out. Then waited 15 minutes, and if she was still crying, I did the same thing and then waited another 15 minutes each time after that until she was asleep or she had been in there crying for 1 hour. This was the routine I did for the first few days until I started seeing an improvement. After that, I started with 10 minutes the first round and then 15 after that. Now, she rarely needs the intervention, but when she does I only go in every 15 minutes. Hope this helps.

Stella also hasn't had much problem with teething. She has 12 teeth now, so we are just waiting on a few more. She has been drooling again and chewing on stuff for about a month now, so I am patiently (not patiently) waiting for them to come on in. I heard popsicles help a lot though.

I think the biggest problem I have right now with my LO is that she has started hitting in the face. Not all the time, and not when she is mad or anything, just playing. Then when I tell her "no" she thinks it is even funnier and it makes her hit more. I am not sure what to do about this problem, but I don't want her to think that hitting is okay, or funny.

@MommyDearest we are having that issue too, it's just been a recent thing (my LO is just behind yours - 13 months over here!) and like you if we tell her no she just laughs and laughs. It's becoming a challenge and I don't really know the best way of approaching it!

Our self soothing has been going a lot better - and routine has been key - we've been working a lot harder on it, and like you mentioned the part about not picking them back up has been key for us!

Well, with the early stages, the lack of sleep we got was challenging. But potty training is another challenge as well and getting my little one to eat.

My daughter is only 6 months old, but since you included ages 0-2 I still have a little input to give I suppose. I would have to say that my daughter has a huge attitude about going to sleep. Since she hit 4 months old it has been a disaster trying to get her down to sleep properly. The nights of her sleeping 12 hours straight are long gone. I just can't wait until I can get a reliable night's sleep again without being woken up multiple times to soothe her back to sleep.

Lack of sleep, for sure. And teething - I hated seeing mine go through so much pain and me not being able to anything for them except dope them up with Tylenol and rub Oragel on their gums.

Oh, and the night terrors! The endless, inexplicable, unsoothable screaming that you just had to let run its course. Nothing made me feel more like an incompetent mother than those things - which was sad, really, because those were the things over which I had the least control. Then again, that's probably why they bothered me the most.

The hardest part of raising my son is sleeping. I think he feels he is still in the stomach and just wants to lie on my chest before he can go to sleep. I have tried all I can and he grabs a pillow when he can't seem to feel me next to him.
Whenever I put him into his bed, he wriggles out and comes to ours where he finds his way onto my chest and lie there. I wonder how long this would go on for.

The hardest part I faced in raising my baby was, coping up with his sleep pattern. He had no fixed time of sleep and he used to sleep according to his own whim and fancy. Sadly I could not accompany him to sleep as I had other domestic chores to complete before he could wake up again. This would leave me totally exhausted by the end of the day.

sheebah7 said:
Oh good..we love potty training..NOT!!! Oh my goodness our little boy is two and it was so hard potty training him, but us parents shouldn't get discouraged because it will happen eventually. My husband and I found ourselves questioning each other like..."was it this hard with the girls".. and sometimes it was a little overwhelming but patience is how you get through it. At this stage though..wow it is such a whiny cry baby stage that it, coupled with potty training could send any sane parent to the crazy house. I think the crying and whining about any and everything is what I dislike...we don't call this stage "the terrible two's" for nothing.

Oh my goodness... I thought I was doing something wrong! My 2 year old is also on that crying and whining stage. I didn't know if this was normal or not. I makes more sense to see that other kids are also going through that. I just don't know how to stop the crying and whining from turning in to an all guns blazing, eye of hell opening type of tantrum. Yes....it is that bad...the tantrum I mean. Combine this with potty training.... I've had her cry about the potty being too low, then too high, then she wants to use the big toilet, then she wants the potty seat on the big toilet, and then.....the dreaded...."I wanna peepee like daddy" how or why she would think daddy uses the toilet differently than her, I don't know, it's not like he leaves the door open or anything so she could have seen.

The hardest part of this parenting stage is often the challenge of getting our kids to sleep and dealing with their pre-bedtime drama. It's a common struggle for many parents. To make this easier, you can create a calming bedtime routine. Start by making the hour before bedtime a relaxed time. Turn down the lights, put away phones and tablets, and do calming activities like reading a good book together. Reading can help your child relax and fall asleep more easily. Choose fun books that your child enjoys. Making reading a part of your bedtime routine can make bedtime more peaceful and enjoyable for both you and your child. You can check the @makemykidstar.com website for good book suggestions.