In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Just because there seem to be so many newborns on the board lately, it's gotten me thinking back to DD's newborn stage.

Ways she was difficult:
COLIC Never happy when put down, ALWAYS needed to be held Always fussy, and for no diagnosed reason other than she was colicy

Colic lead to the witching hours, the fussiest hours ever, every single day-- her time was 2am-4am I believe!!
Took her a LONG time to nurse, each and every time! At some points, by the time she was done eating, it was only like an hour until the next feeding session began!

Ways she was easy:
No reflux or gas issues
Took to breastfeeding like a champ
Did well on regular formula, never had to switch
Never took a pacifier, one less bad habit to break

Message edited 2/19/2009 2:27:08 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Difficult:
gas/reflux issues
colicky
always needed to be held
didn't nap in her crib til she was about 1
HATED the carseat and stroller

Easy:
Breastfed like a champ
always a good sleeper regardless of where
awesome traveler

Looking back, after we hit about the 3-4 month mark she was great all around.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Ok--don't hate me--but Christopher was wonderful.

His only two things were that he had to be switched to Gentlease and he didn't through the night til he was 1.

But honestly, allll the other great things about him made up for those two things

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Easy: You could put her anywhere and she was content.

She was in her crib from the 2nd day we were home and she was fine.

From the very beginning she would sleep a good stretch from about 7am-11am.

Difficult: Had trouble with the formula and was very gassy for the first 2 weeks. Once we switched though, she was ok.

She never took to a pacifier, so it was hard to soothe her sometimes.

Besides the one good stretch she was a cat napper during the day and would only sleep like 20-30 mins at a time.

ETA: She hated her car seat and would scream bloody murder every time she was put in there.

Message edited 2/19/2009 2:33:31 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

I'll play:
Hard:
He needed to be rocked asleep for every nap/bedtime until he was 6 months old. My back and arms were killing me all the time.

He would cry and nothing would calm him down, he wasn't coliky just tired and refused to give in for naps (which led to the above)

Hardly ever fell asleep when we were out - would stay awake and therefore get overtired. He needs to be in his crib to sleep - even to this day that's still true.

Easy:
He has a pretty easy going personality. He would go to anyone who wanted to hold him. He is also a very cautious kid and he was this way as a baby too. Not a big risk taker. I never had to worry about him climbing out of the PNP or really getting hurt with his toys bc of this

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

I hardly remember - not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing.

Honestly, aside from taking his time sleeping through the night (up every 2-3 hrs for the first 6 months) I have no complaints. And even that, now it doesn't seem so bad.

He nursed well - although he was slow in the beginning. Now he's on and off in 5-minutes.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

difficult:

Did not latch I had to pump
colic
reflux and gas problems
always crying
terrible Napper!
Still wakes up 2 x's night to feed


easy:

at 2 weeks knew night time vs day time
Always a great eater
mid of night feeds, went right back to sleep after bottle
Loved diaper changes, no crying!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

I have to say I was really lucky with DS as a newborn. He had some gassiness, but other than that was really easy. Made motherhood an easy transition.

I am totally afraid to ever have another one in case they are not so easy..LOL!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

difficult:
* hated the car seat which made for a very hard time to get out and about. Plus the winter bundling made it all the worse. We really didn't come out of our cocoon until it was March and he was 6-months (that really s*cked)
* hated the swing too for that matter
* never took in more than 5 oz per feeding up until I switched him to whole milk at almost 11 months. It was so stressful to feel like he never got enough oz's per day

easy:
* went to everyone, never had seperation anxiety (still doesn't)
* went to bed easily for anyone who put him down (still does)
* slept at night and took 3 long naps every day (godsend) then it went to 2 long naps and now we are down to 1 long nap (3-4 hours per nap)
* never had to adhere to a strict schedule because he was such an easy going baby (still is pretty much easy going in that sense)

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

For my DS
easy:
-a GREAT night sleeper, was sleeping through the night (8-10 hours) within 6-8 weeks old-(although i do think the miracle blanket helped LOL)
-happy and laid back-went anywhere and with anyone
-always did great in the car and the stroller- he was as a baby and still is as a toddler my shopping buddy


Difficult:
-didn't start consistent naps til he was around 6 months (napped around 3 times a day for 30-90 minutes before he was 6 months)-oh and he had to be rocked for naps until that time too
-we had to switch his formula as he would get a little gassy (not fussy or upset-just farting/burping LOL)

Message edited 2/19/2009 3:12:13 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Difficult:
-needed to be bounced or rocked to sleep for naps until we did CIO around 5 1/2 months.
-HATED (and still hates mind you) being in the infant car seat or stroller (just hates being restrained all around).
-switched formula's 4 times
-ds has reflux.
-HATED having his diaper changed for the first 3 months i think it was.
-HATED being changed (clothes)... i think it was more of him being cold than anything
-HATED baths for the first 4 months
-Until 5 1/2 months, he was getting up five times a night. Even now his sleeping still stinks.
-he still does not do well around large groups of people
-breaking the swaddling habit s*cked.
-so cranky when he doesn't sleep well and is still this way.

*when i say HATED... i mean would scream bloody murder the whole time!

Easy:
-never had a problem putting him down for the night, even after middle of the night feedings.
-is not a light sleeper (we kind of made sure of that).

So basically... ds was a diffult baby and is still never needy.

And even more surprisingly... i still want more!

Message edited 2/19/2009 3:20:52 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

I've been blessed.....Emerson is a wonderful baby!!

EASY
* Started sleeping through the night at 7 1/2 weeks and has never looked back!
* Took to her formula in week 1 and has never had a problem and we've never had to switch.
* Started solids like a champ.....opened her mouth, chewed, swallowed, and likes EVERYTHING so far.
* No colic, no reflux, no issues at all
* Never cries.....just maybe a bit when she is tired but as soon as she falls asleep she stops.
* She is so happy and playful and giggly.....she's a joy to be around.
* LOVES baths and always has
* LOVES getting her diapers changed and getting dressed and always has
* She is great when you take her out and about
* Easy to entertain

HARD
* Hates napping throughout the day. VERY hard to her down unless I'm out and she's being pushed around in her stroller.
* Always wants to be held when she falls asleep for naps during the day and 99% of the time only wants to be held by me

Message edited 2/19/2009 3:34:19 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Posted by lulugrrl

I have to say I was really lucky with DS as a newborn. He had some gassiness, but other than that was really easy. Made motherhood an easy transition.

I am totally afraid to ever have another one in case they are not so easy..LOL!

ditto...except my son never was gassy...the next kid will have a lot to live up to

Message edited 2/19/2009 3:55:41 PM.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Hard: Very gassy!!!

Easy: Likes to sleep a lot!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

My son was SO easy as a newborn.

Ate well
Never gassy
Slept well
napped well
easy going
content all the time

i have to say the ONLY thing that I remember as being "difficult" is the way he would scream and carry on for a bottle when he was hungry. I mean he's go from smiles to screaming in 2.2 seconds but once he had his bottle he was happy again. And even that wasn't such a big deal.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Hard: She still hasn't really given me a good stretch of sleeping for longer than 3+hours at night, the past week she started to sporadically...
Her witching hour is really early in the morning at like 4 or 5 and doesn't want to fall back asleep

Easy:
She's really really easy thank g-d!!!
She has had no real gas/reflux/colic issues
Her formula has been good since the second week when we changed it..
She's giggly and tends to be specific as to where she'll fall asleep, she can sleep in her swing, glider, bouncy seat, car seat, crib, bassinet or pack n play
She's an AMAZING eater
She's a happy baby only cries or whines when she's hungry, she doesn't even cry when she needs to be changed!!!
she looooves her baths!!!!
likes tummy time

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

easy:

- very easy-going, never fussy during the day unless tired or hungry

- could fall asleep anywhere! i miss those days

- minor gas issues which were quickly fixed when we switched formula (i supplemented occasionally)

- loved driving and being in the car

- was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old


difficult:

- sleeping issues in the very beginning (which stopped when we started swaddling and putting him to bed earlier)

- trouble latching b/c my nipples were flat. once he got the latch down, he BFed like a champ! of course then he wanted to BF every hour, on the hour




i know he is only 5 months old but i am having trouble remembering how bad it really was! i am sure once i have #2 i will remember but the good part is i feel like i know what else to try if i have issues with #2.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Posted by lulugrrl

I have to say I was really lucky with DS as a newborn. He had some gassiness, but other than that was really easy. Made motherhood an easy transition.

I am totally afraid to ever have another one in case they are not so easy..LOL!

ditto...except my son never was gassy...the next kid will have a lot to live up to

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

one word...COLIC!

the first three months were miserable...however I will say her witching hours were between 5pm and 10pm, so we were never up pacing the halls during the night, so in the perspective we were lucky.
but just colic itself stinks, she wouldn't calm down for nothing, just screamed for hours.

Other than that, she is wonderful...started sleeping thru the night at 3.5 mths, eats all her fruits and veggies, and is such a happy fun baby!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

I swear to you, I had the EASIEST infant ever.

The only thing that concerned me about her was that she didnt even like eating back then. I would have to wake her for bottles and then worry because she would never finish them. Other than that, I swear, she was SO EASY. Some nights were worse than others sleep wise but how normal is that? As a newborn, she was the absolute easiest. I remember always wondering how did I get so lucky? My family would even tell me that I was in for it when she was a toddler..oh boy..were they right!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Nothing was as difficult as people said it would be except that I didn't know how difficult it would be to leave a baby in the NICU. I knew it might happen but I did not know how hard that would be. I can still tear up thinking about it. He was and still is so easygoing and this was in spite of a milk protein allergy, severe reflux and some incidents of projectile vomiting. I guess that the most difficult part, other than the NICU, was the amount he spit up and the few nights he was uncomfortable as we were working out his treatment. His teacher just told me today that they consider him to be their easy kid!!!!

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

Difficult:
He hates the crib and will only sleep in my arms at night.
He hates being put down and only wants to be held.
He's very fussy from dinnertime on.
He tends to wake up a lot in the middle of the night.

Easy:
He's a good eater and is generally happy during the day.
He's a good napper although he usually needs to nap in my arms or lap.
He likes car rides and the stroller, which makes it a lot easier to take him out.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

DD was a very easy newborn. She was by the book of normalcy.

Now, at 6 months, I know she is playing games with me when she will be all smiles, then the SECOND her head hits the crib mattress she starts crying.

Re: In what ways was your newborn easy and what ways were they difficult?

In all honesty - Athan was such sweet, quiet newborn. Laid back, slept wonderfully, ate like a champ and was Ok with switching from breast to bottle and back, LOVES being undressed and getting dressed without fuss. He was so very easy. I guess what I would say as difficult was the gas issues he had early on that would make him wake up and cry till we switched formula on him. I am kind of nervous to have another baby because Athan has really spoiled us.