11 Reasons Newborns are easier than Toddlers

January 01, 2019

11 Reasons Newborns are easier than Toddlers

As a first time mum the newborn phase was tough! Then one day that newborn was a toddler and the newborn phase suddenly felt like a breeze! When I became pregnant with my second child earlier in the year I was worried that I was looking back with rose-tinted glasses. I was not! The newborn phase (at least with my second child vs my tornado of a toddler), is, in many ways, far easier. Please don't panic if you are currently struggling through those early days, things may not necessarily get 'easier', but we grow and adapt as parents and learn to cope better with the new challenges we face. Also every child is different - some are more challenging as a new born and far more relaxed as toddlers.

From my experience as a mum of 2 over the last two months, here are my reasons why newborns are easier than toddlers...

They require less feeding - A newborn will feed around 8-10 times a day (supposedly anyway, mine feeds every 15 minutes!), whereas toddlers should only need 3 meals a day with a snack in between. But anyone with a toddler will know they ask for snacks approximately 328 times a day (regardless of whether or not they actually want them)!

They only eat one thing - MILK! That's all they need and all they want. Toddlers on the other hand require far more organisation and effort when it comes to food! They will ask for one thing and refuse it as soon as it is made. They'll decide they no longer like their fav foods once you've stocked up on it. They'll demand you buy cereal because of the character on the box and then decide they don't actually like the cereal (just as you explained in the shop whilst they were laid on the floor screaming they want it).

You can watch what you want - Toddlers will make you watch hours of their favourite show. You'll end up hating films you once loved as you watch them over and over and over. With a newborn you get full control of the remote! Relish it while it lasts

Soft play - They've not yet discovered soft play, avoid it for as long as possible! Its full of germs, unspecified 'stickiness' and overpriced mediocre food!

The Park - They won’t make you go to the park and stand around in the freezing cold for hours.

Bedtime - The benefit of toddler bedtime is a few hours of adult time each night. The downside, however, is up to an hour (sometimes more) of negotiating, arguing, tantrums, and re-reading the same book you've already read 16,000 times! Instead of this night-time battleground you just get newborn snuggles on the sofa.

Sleepless nights - The majority of toddlers will, for the most, be sleeping through the night. Mine is not! Still! And never has! One expects to be kept up by a newborn and when they wake they are usually pretty easy to settle there are usually very few things they need - food, change, cuddle. When a toddler wakes in the night there are a thousand and one things they 'think' they need! Some of my recent requests include – a sandwich, a drink, mummy's bed, medicine, light on, light off, story, YouTube, NetFlix, her sister...

They don't talk back - If they cant talk - they cant argue! Its frustrating having a tiny version of yourself telling you you are wrong when you know you are right!

They are portable - And what's more, they don't make a fuss about it! Pop them in the sling, pram, car and away you go! Yes they may scream, but in my experience majority of the time once you're on the move they chill out! No arguments or pining their rigid body in the car seat because they are adamant they are not going home! No chasing them around a supermarket. No worrying they'll stroll in to the nearest pond/river/lake...

Bath time - Pop them in, quick wash and dry, then you are done. Not 30 minutes supervising elaborate bath time games with a hundred plastic toys you will then need to drain and store.

Toys - Newborns don't need toys, and when they do they are soft and minimal. Toddlers scatter the entire house (and car) with tiny toys you will trip over or stand on at least once a day without fail!

There are a few reasons toddlers surpass a newborn. You need to cart about less stuff (and they start to carry their own things!), no more leaky nipples, less worrying, more interactive, they make you laugh, they can walk places...