So, be honest....is having a baby really as hard as they say it is?

Question

I don't mean the birth.. i mean actually having a baby around. With the crying and screaming, and not sleeping..... how hard is it? Is it worse or better than you thought it was?

Answer 1

With our son it was harder: colic, lack of sleep though we coslept, then an autism diagnosis.

With our daughter- easier. She had no colic, has no autism, and sleeps great.

Depends on the baby from my limited experience with only 2.

All in all: I would do it all again because I love my kids to pieces and though he was a tough infant and toddler, she will probably be a difficult child when a teen-ager. Hope not...but we'll see.

It's all worth it when I get a hug and a kiss or my son tells me how much he loves me. That makes it all worth it.

Answer 2

I have wanted a baby since i was 13 yrs old. I am now 21 and i have a beautiful 9 month old baby. I is SOOOO much harder than i ever thought possible!! It is very rewarding yes, but you life revolves around that baby and that baby only. When he eats, poops, sleeps, and when and what he wants to play with!! The first two months were probably the best and worst 2 months in my life! Between no sleep and having limited amount of help from my family, it was the biggest obsticle i have ever faced. I now wish that i would have waited a little longer so i could have finished school and began a career, but i wouldnt trade him for anything!

Answer 3

It was much harder than I imagined, and I had every possible advantage a new mother could hope for - a stable marriage, a husband ready to be a dad, plenty of money, lots of friends ready to lend a hand, a supportive workplace, an easy pregnancy.

Sleep deprivation is part of it. You think you can tough it out, but by the time your child is born, odds are your sleep has been mediocre for months. It's also this sense of being overwhelmed. It sounds like it's straightforward to care for a child, but when you hold them, they're so small and fragile and can't tell you what they need. Everyone wants to tell you exactly how to do it, and yet it's really your kid to figure out. When you soothe them, you feel like you should get a Nobel prize - when you fall short and your child just keeps crying, it can feel like the world is ending.

Puzzling through those first few weeks of when and how much to feed, of doing mountains of laundry, of trying to leave the house with pounds of equipment and a kid that can go off like a car alarm - I couldn't have imagined it, and I rather wonder how I made it through. :)

Answer 4

The hardest part was the first month. We didn't get enough sleep, or enough help. We live 9 hours away from family for my husbands school. I think if I would have had more help it wouldn't have been that bad. The crying for me wasn't that bad but the screaming every once in a while would when he would do it for no apparent reason. But now he his 4 months and it's a blast. We have so much fun together now that he plays. The sleeping and eating thing was getting old for me.LOL I cant wait for him to start walking and such. So it gets better and its all worth it.

Answer 5

YES!!! It is very hard. But, the love you feel for that child gives you the strength to keep going. I have a 3 month old, and sometimes I just want to cry because I'm so sleepy. But I still get all the things done that have to be because somebody has to take care of the precious little baby!!!

Answer 6

It is hard in the sense that you have to play and you can't just go when you want, you have to get baby ready have milk and such. Then leave super early, wake up earlier go to bed earlier. Wake all through the night. It can be a challenge. Some days are earlier than others. It is not about you anymore.

Answer 7

it isn't easy. All babies are different. My daughter was a quiet baby that slept, ate and smiled. My boys both were very difficult babies.
Would I choose to not have them, not in a heart beat. No regrets.

Parenting is the most difficult job that you will ever love. My kids are grown up and still I am mom. Having a baby is a life time commitment. A wonderful one.

Now I am grandma and I love it.

Answer 8

i find it harder at time, considering its my first there is a lot to get use to & to adjust too. but it all gets easier with time.

currently im a stay at home mommy [ which i LOVE LOVE LOVE! ]. so my schedule is pretty flexible, though my son has some what of a set schedule, if we need to run errands or want to go shopping, its easier to adjust not really having to worry about time & such!

im still not use to the lack of sleep, daddy works long hours [being in the medical field 24/48 hr shifts are the norm around our house, we miss him terribly but im greatful i have means & oppurtunity to stay at home!]. but its me and baby alllllll the time, not much adult interactions very often! soo that gets rough at times, expecially when hes super fussy & clingy & daddys isnt there for me to just get away for a couple minutes! && no matter what time i go to bed, i know im the one up with baby, and daddy when hes off too work. && hes sleeping less & less as times goes on, so im missing those daytime naps!!

hmm what else.. the get up & go, haha pretty much does exsist anymore.. its get up, fix the diaper bag, get the carseat, get the baby, .... so onnn. -- im still adjusting, everytime i go somewhere i always for get something!

i personally dont see it as hard, its just something you have to adapt to & set your ways.

but im sure there are parents out there that find having children hard, because they make it that way.

but i loveeee my son to death & wouldnt change a thing, i love the 4am wake up calls, stubbing my toes on the crib, the poopy diapers, fumbling in the dark for a bottle.. its all amazing & the new better & improved part of my life, everything is SOOO much better with a child [if youre ready for one]. idk its a love & feeling i dont think any mother could explain, it something you just have to experience!

Answer 9

well, i mean, you do what you have to do... for me, i just kind of stepped up and took everything in stride. i didn't have help (my mom isn't around) so i basically had to just jump in and figure things out for myself. most of it is common sense. if you have questions, you can ask the pediatrician. it got overwhelming at times, yes. i was pretty lucky with my son, he was a pretty easy baby...so i've heard. he slept well at night. some things will drive you crazy. it was much better than i thought, for sure. i think the most overwhelming thing was probably the first couple of days after i brought him home from the hospital. it takes a bit to get yourself together. i remember coming home, putting him in his bassinet and just thinking, "okay, now what do i do?"

Answer 10

Well, it's definetely not as bad as everyone made it out to be with their horror stories and such. I have been single for my whole pregnancy and I am still single. My son is eight months old. It's gets more difficult as he gets older and mobile, but it's not hard at all. It is frustrating though when he is cranky and now he is sick, so it's a little rough, but we manage.