Hellobee

Every age has its challenges and rewards. When I was in the middle of a particular stage, it was often difficult for me to see the rewards. Or, conversely, I was convinced that a particular age was the best age ever. But looking back, it’s much easier to see both the good and the bad. Here’s what I loved, as well as what I didn’t enjoy so much, about the first six months of being a parent (both times).

Panda slept 20+ hours a day for the first three months of his life.

Biggest Challenges:

– Not knowing what to do the first time around. The first time around, I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing. There’s a real struggle in trying to settle in as a new parent when you’re constantly worried that everything you’re doing is wrong. I felt like I was second guessing everything and, unfortunately, Google was not my friend. It seems like there is so much contradicting parenting advice out there! Don’t hold your baby too much or he’ll be too co-dependent. But if you don’t hold your baby, he’ll feel abandoned and insecure. Don’t let your baby sleep too much during the day or he won’t sleep at night. Sleep begets sleep. It’s super confusing and it takes time to get into the groove of parenting (though, of course, I’m still learning every day how to be a parent).

– Colic. Oh my goodness, with Lion, I dreaded the days where nothing seemed to soothe him. He cried for an hour at a time or more and we could only hope that his next bottle would press a reset button. We took him out on walks at 3 a.m. in hopes that he’d fall asleep. And then, miraculously, by about 8 weeks, he was over it (thankfully).

– Lack of sleep. Lion was not a good sleeper, in part because we were waking him up every two hours to feed him and it took a long time to get him to sleep in more than two hour chunks. Panda slept pretty well from the start, but even with a good sleeper, it’s still not a normal night of sleep. The lack of sleep can be tough, especially if you’re not able to “sleep when the baby sleeps.”

– Need to carry a baby everywhere. Babies this age are completely immobile so you need to carry them everywhere, especially if you have one like Lion who wanted to be held all the time, particularly when he was colicky. I can’t believe I thought this at the time, but I got tired of carrying him all the time and complained about how heavy he was.

– Worry about SIDS. The age that babies are most at risk of SIDS is in the first six months. While we loosened up a bit with the rules on what you are or are not supposed to do with our second baby, I still worried a lot about SIDS. I breathed a sigh of relief when both our kids turned six-months, then again when they turned one.

– Breastfeeding. Nursing was challenging for me and I didn’t make it more than a few months with either child. It takes forever, pumping is neither fun nor fast, and I just didn’t feel like it was much of a bonding moment the way it is for some mothers. While I enjoyed it more the second time around, it was still challenging and frustrating for me because of my low milk supply and, at times, the pain that it caused.

– Entertaining a young infant. Because young infants aren’t particularly good communicators, it was often difficult to figure out the best way to entertain a baby under the age of six months. They have short attention spans, so you can run through your toys pretty quickly. With Lion, we were lucky in that he loved books and had a really long attention span for it, but other toys often got five minutes of attention before he would move on.

– So much stuff in the diaper bag. I think at the 3-6 month stage was when our diaper bag was the most full with both kids. At this age, both kids were still eating quite frequently, so I had to make sure we had enough bottles and nipples. They’re also starting solids, so I would pack freeze dried fruit or other snacks. They go through lots of diapers, so I had to make sure we would have enough to last the length of our outing, plus extras just in case. We brought diaper wipes and hand sanitizer. We brought pacifier wipes (to wipe down surfaces) and pacifiers. We brought toys because at 3-6 months they don’t sleep every minute anymore and might want a toy or teether. A change of clothes in case of a blow out. So. Much. Stuff. I was very thankful that past 6 months our diaper bag seemed to gradually get lighter.

Sleepy little guy!

Things I Loved:

– Cuddles. Little newborn babies are so tiny and cuddly. While I didn’t love the newborn stage the first time around, looking back, I realized how awesome those sweet little baby cuddles were. At this age, babies are immobile and are content just to spend time in your arms. I regret not cherishing those moments enough the first time, but I definitely made up for it with Panda!

– Having a baby fall asleep on your chest. Related to the above, my favorite thing ever about the newborn stage is when Lion or Panda would fall asleep on my chest. At one year, Panda’s still technically small enough to fall asleep on my shoulder (in fact, he did it today while we were out to lunch), but those days of him regularly curling up in a tiny ball on my chest are just a memory.

– How tiny they are. I remember holding Panda when he was first born and being shocked at how tiny he was! Although he was not that much smaller than Lion was at birth, and despite the fact that we have a relatively small age gap between the two, you really do forget how tiny a newborn is. You can cradle them with one arm, put them in a basket, and just admire how tiny their little toes and fingers are.

– They sleep. A lot. Although I complained above about lack of sleep, when I was in the middle of sleepless nights with Lion, I didn’t realize until much later how much a baby really does sleep. While some don’t sleep through the night, preferring to sleep in smaller chunks, they do sleep quite a bit as a whole. I was lucky the second time around with a baby who slept 20 to 22 hours a day (seriously) for three months, but even with Lion, he took two or three naps a day consistently at this age. I know that babies this age need those naps to recharge but, to be honest, I think I needed them to nap more to allow me to recharge.

– They’re not mobile. I didn’t fully appreciate how great it is when a baby isn’t mobile and can’t get into mischief. At 0-6 months, I could put the baby on a playmat and go make myself a cup of tea without worrying that he would try to climb the stairs or find a penny on the floor and try to eat it. There’s something comforting knowing that they’re safe because you’ve put them in a safe spot and they can’t crawl/climb/walk into danger.

– Ability to use a travel system. With both kids, we had a travel system allowing us to use the infant car seat with the stroller. It was so nice to be able to pop them in and out of the stroller with ease, without waking them up if they happened to fall asleep while in the car.

– First smiles. While all the milestones the little ones hit are awesome and fun, does anything beat those first social smiles? Those first little laughs? I loved watching the kids hit all of their milestones — rolling, crawling, walking talking — but they didn’t make my heart melt like the smiles!

.  .  .  .  .

Although the newborn (and 3-6 month) phase wasn’t my favorite, there was still plenty to love. I get a little nostalgic for those cuddly moments with our infants!

What were you favorite and least favorite things about the age 0-6 months?