Which ages have been the most difficult?

[Momling]

I've seen several posts recently from parents asking if other 8 yr olds (or 6 yr olds or X yr olds) are equally difficult. There seems to be some agreement that two is a terrible age. And early puberty is notorious too. Anyway... I'm curious if there is any consistency in difficult ages or if it is pretty individual.

[amyable]

I couldn't answer, because it has been different with each child. And I think it is also different for each parent! I personally do not do well during the whole baby/toddler years. Even though I find the pre-teen thing hard, I'd much rather be doing that - arguing with someone that can speak English :lol: - than wrestling with a totally out of control 2 or 3yo who can't answer a simple question.

 

My youngest is only two, so that has been his hardest year so far, although he is not bad as far as two year olds go. #4's worst year was 3yo by a long shot. #3 has always been pretty good - I guess 2yo and 6 were sort of obnoxious. #2's worst year was definitely when she was 9. And my oldest has been a challenge from 0-12. :lol: But again, I'd much rather deal with the hormones and dramatics of her age now (almost 13) than deal with the 2 hour long screaming tantrums she had at 2.

[Carrie12345]

I've found each of my children to be difficult at every age :tongue_smilie:. But I definitely choose 2 as the MOST difficult, overall. There just isn't much leverage, other than cookies, and cookies only last so long!

[athena1277]

I don't have a certain difficult age, but rather a difficult stage: POTTY TRAINING! I hate, hate potty training. Surely the teen years cannot be worse?! :001_unsure:

[Audrey]

You don't have infant on the list. I didn't like infant-stage at all. Ds was a pretty easy baby all things considered and compared -- no colic, no weird ailments or anything, but IMO, it is the most draining of any of the stages. Potty training was no big deal, the terrible twos -- not at all terrible, pre-school age was great and all the time since then. I would do it all over again, if I could start at about 18 months or a little older, but babies?? No way.

[Perry]

Huh. I found between 2 and 12 to be the easiest times. I had 2 colicky babies, so for me the first 6 months were easily the most challenging. Ages 15-16 are a close second. :crying:

[Closeacademy]

Three was difficult for tantrums and unreasonableness.

 

Seven was difficult because the kids go through some sort of 4-6 month transition that leads into them being able to learn but during the transition they are so very difficult. I did notice that making sure they got plenty of love, that they were comfortable and felt safe at night and that they knew we were there for them helped a lot. This is the age when they realize that they are mortal and that no one really has control over anything in the world so they sort of freak out and bad behaviors are a symptom of this freak-out.

 

Ten had a bad period but we got through it. She needed plenty of long division and multiplication to help her to focus and realize that there is order in the world. Again the bad behaviors were a symptom of deeper stuff going on inside of her.

[patchfire]

I am a firm believer in the "terrible threes." That said, I have talked to many people who agree with me that six is difficult, and it's even worse because it sort of sneaks up on you! You don't expect it.

 

Eight was a hard year w/ dd, but part of that could have been having another baby in that time.

[WarriorMama]

Infancy with my now-toddler was by far the hardest thing I've dealt with. He never slept. He never let me sit down (unless nursing). He needed ALL of my attention, ALL of the time. His most common noise was an ear piercing shriek. It was utterly exhausting and I barely felt human.

 

He's still a lot like that, lol. But he finally sleeps through the night, and he's started talking, which cuts down on the shrieking at least a little. ;)

 

My older one developed a bit of a diva attitude around 5 that I found extremely unpleasant, but she's been overall a piece of cake.

[KidsHappen]

All my girls went through a difficult period around 8 to 9 years old. Many of their friends did as well. I think it is the transition from being a little kid to being an older kid but not quite tween that is rough. It's like they really don't fit in with either age group. So you have babies, toddlers, preschoolers, little kids, the weird transition age, the tweens and finally teens. For me personally I found babies and toddlers easy to handle and then tweens and teens but the stage between those two groups were harder.

[dm379]

where's the "all of them" choice??

[Anke]

I think every age has its challenges. Maybe the reason the younger ages (2-3) get labeled terrible is because we, as parents, just need a break. The first year we are excited over everything they accomplish. By age 2 their accomplishments (getting into everything) get a bit tiring. My just turned 7 DS tires me out when it comes to getting him to do anything. I am NOT looking forward to this school year. He doesn't like anything that involves writing, so I will be spending this school year trying to find new ways to motivate him.

[rookie]

12! Definitely 12 with DD.

For DS it's been 1-7 and he's 7 now.

[Wheres Toto]

I couldn't answer, because it has been different with each child. And I think it is also different for each parent! I personally do not do well during the whole baby/toddler years. Even though I find the pre-teen thing hard, I'd much rather be doing that - arguing with someone that can speak English :lol: - than wrestling with a totally out of control 2 or 3yo who can't answer a simple question.

:iagree:

I have a teenager and to me the 2 and 3 years are the worst. My youngest can be so frustrating and contrary. She'll spend 15 minutes screaming in the car because we turned left instead of right at an intersection. :confused: Or she'll ask for her drink, throw it on the floor and then scream because she "WANT MY DRINK!!". We are definitely working on this, not giving in to the screaming, making her ask politely but it is still a daily (hourly??) occurance. Add in trying to potty train a kid who won't sit still for 2 minutes and changing diapers while running and.....:banghead:

[Guest Cindie2dds]

You don't have infant on the list. I didn't like infant-stage at all. Ds was a pretty easy baby all things considered and compared -- no colic, no weird ailments or anything, but IMO, it is the most draining of any of the stages. Potty training was no big deal, the terrible twos -- not at all terrible, pre-school age was great and all the time since then. I would do it all over again, if I could start at about 18 months or a little older, but babies?? No way.

 

I couldn't agree more. I did not like the newborn/baby stage at all! No sleep, tons of gear, etc. Once my girls were about 18 months, it was much, much better. I'll take a two-year old over a baby any day. :D

[TravelingChris]

You don't have the right choices. For oldest, it was 18-19 year. For middle, it was 15 year. For youngest, it was 12-13 year. She is now 13.5 and getting better.

[Ginevra]

4 years old always drove me *batty!*. I prefer 13 over 4. I don't know what it was about 4, but each of my kids acted insane when they were 4.

 

13 is only annoying once a month. Then I wish we had those biblical "unclean tents" in the back yard, so she could just be alone. :lol:

[angela in ohio]

My son was the most difficult (so far) from 2 1/2 -4.

 

My girls both went through a period of... ummm... difficulty at about age 9.

[kalanamak]

We had no terrible twos, we had the terrible threes. Bigger, faster, louder, independent, and adamantly girl-crazy. My son actually bit hubby on the chest when a girl he was flirting with left with her father. WOW.

[Catherine]

4--definitely, for all three of my boys. It was the height of irrational stubbornness, with enough age to really stick with it. 5, OTOH, was my favorite. I love 5 year olds!

[MissKNG]

Both girls are very difficult RIGHT NOW!!!

[Crissy]

Years 8 and 9 were difficult for both of my boys. They were incredibly sensitive and cried over EVERYTHING.

[Paige]

My oldest is 9 so I don't have a lot of perspective but my vote is for 5-7yr olds. The littles are so cute, sweet, and loving that they don't ever bother me much. So far, 8 and 9 has been much more reasonable. The early school age years seem hard to me because they aren't so sweet and cute, they all the sudden get a lot of attitude, and they still can't be reasoned with.

[NanceXToo]

This does vary from kid to kid. But I've always said that "the terrible twos" are just practice for having a three year old. Three is tough! LOL.

 

With that said, my son was a tough baby, too. He never (and I mean never) napped for anything longer than just moments of dozing, he never (and I mean never) slept through the night til past his first birthday, and even that first time was just a fluke (I probably cursed myself with the "Ben Slept Through The Night!" cake I ordered. Yes. Really. I did!), because at 15 months of age, he was still waking up (and wanting to nurse back to sleep) anywhere from 7 to 10 times a night. He was frequently cranky, except when he was nursing. He was a seriously grumpy baby lol. God, I was so exhausted back then!

[hsbaby]

My son is 7 and seems to have lost his mind. So, I'm going with that. I may have to change my answer to 8 after his bday:)

[Rebel]

17, but that is not one of the choices.

[Mom22ns]

I think the worst age was from 2.5-3.5. The first half of two wasn't that bad and by the last half of three they were working out of it. I've thought they were great at all the other ages.

[lisamarie]

I don't have a certain difficult age, but rather a difficult stage: POTTY TRAINING! I hate, hate potty training. Surely the teen years cannot be worse?! :001_unsure:

 

Amen, sista! :iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

For me it would be age 4-5. My DS was a real nightmare for about a year going into age 5 and now my DD is on the same path of making her momma go crazy. This is the main reason we are most likely sending DD to school for a year. Gives her a chance to get over this stage and gives me a break from wanting to lock myself in my room for a year long time out.

[Sandy in Indy]

None of the above.

 

18-21

[AngieW in Texas]

You didn't go high enough. My kids range from 12yo-17yo. The hardest years so far have been 8-9yo, 11-12yo (right up until the period starts), and 16yo.

 

8yo and 9yo were the crying years.

 

11yo and 12yo were the raging years, but that stopped for my girls as soon as the first period happened.

 

16yo wasn't as bad as 8/9/11/12, but it was worst than the other years. It was fairly ragey too.

[Dawn in OH]

I've had three 2 year olds now, and none of the "terrible two's" were that bad. However, the two older children were both fairly unpleasant at age 6. My son was difficult on every front, and my daughter had drama, screaming, whining, and face making. She turns 8 next month and is still this way, but I don't think it's as bad as it was at 6.

 

My oldest is only 9, so for right now, the worst I've dealt with was 6.

[MamaT]

Huh. I found between 2 and 12 to be the easiest times. I had 2 colicky babies, so for me the first 6 months were easily the most challenging. Ages 15-16 are a close second. :crying:

 

:iagree: This - even the two colicky babies. Four were angels as babies. My hardest time was having toddlers and young teenagers AT THE SAME TIME.

[Barb_]

17, but that is not one of the choices.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Barb_]

:iagree: This - even the two colicky babies. Four were angels as babies. My hardest time was having toddlers and young teenagers AT THE SAME TIME.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree: again. What was I thinking??

[LibraryLover]

4 seems to be a challenging age here. They are not quite bigger and not quite babes. My oldest was somewhat moody at about 14 or so, but the rest seem themselves. One of mine is more of a challenge, in general, but I am finding dc is much better able to articulate frustrations, needs etc as a teen. 4 was esp hard for this dc.

Edited August 19, 2010 by LibraryLover

[LibraryLover]

:iagree::iagree::iagree: again. What was I thinking??

 

 

Which could be why my oldest was a bit moody at 14. He had a baby-toddler sister getting so much of mom.

Edited August 19, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Peela]

My kids never did the terrible twos, but I remember thinking they must be late bloomers because 3 was not fun at all.

 

Other than that...I couldnt say there has been an age any worse than the others. They all have their trials and beauties.

 

Now if you had gone up as far as teenager years.......no, not really. Its hard at times- really hard- but then it will be cruisy. And having so much more free time makes the hard times easier to handle.

[HSMom2One]

As a parent to grown children, I just want you all to know that the hardest age of all is when they are finally ready to leave the house and you have to let go of them. No one told me this in advance, and so I had to learn it the hard way. Having let go three times now, I can say with all honesty that all of the stages you are talking about here now are literally a piece of cake in comparison to the stage they will reach up ahead.

 

It still makes me nearly shed a tear as I write about it. Brace yourselves, girls. Enjoy these wonderful years of raising children. It may seem like it, but it won't last forever!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Forget-Me-Not]

This is a hard one to answer. I think it varies by kid, plus each age has it's easy things and hard things. For example, newborns are easy in the sense that they don't get into things, they stay where you put them down, you can cuddle them all day long. . . but on the other hand they eat all the time and they usually don't sleep through the night and they are completely and utterly helpless.

 

For my oldest (currently 7), I think the hardest age has been well. . . now. He's just really argumentative about every. last. thing. and he's SO bossy to his younger sisters.

 

For my middle child (currently 5), the hardest age was her infancy, HANDS DOWN. She was a terrible sleeper. We co-slept at night out of sheer desperation, and she didn't nap, even as a tiny baby. I was terrified that her development would be stunted and tried all kinds of things, but I finally just had to conclude that she needed less sleep than her peers. She became easier when she mobilized, and when she became verbal it was like I had a whole different child all of a sudden.

 

My youngest is almost 23 months. She's busy and gets into things, but she also tantrums at the drop of a hat.

[texasmama]

Three has been the worst with three of my four kids. It's like two on speed.:tongue_smilie:

[lailasmum]

With my dd it was three and currently. When she was 3 she was so opinionated and stubborn and loud, I couldn't take her anywhere. Sh is 6 1/2 now and I guess some sort of physical or mental growth spurt is going on because she is emotional and really hard work. Kinda like a todder again. She has always been quite mature for her age but all that has suddenly disappeared and she has lost her judgement.

 

My 2 yr old is really hard work at the moment.

 

I must admit I found the whole baby thing really hard. I wouldn't go through it again.

 

i havn't experienced beyond 6 so guess I have a lot of hard times to come.

[Guest floweradvisor]

Around 1-2 years old when they are learning to walk.

I have to keep my eyes on them to not hit or fall haha.

[Melissa in Australia]

12-13 for me have been the absolutely worst.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Well, working daycare, I can tell you that 4 is generally THE worst age.

 

By 6 or 8, my experience has been that well-disciplined kids, even if they are challenging or difficult overall, are a joy. They've been taught well, given life skills to practice, can use them consistently (though not perfectly, of course), etc. And even those who haven't had those advantages (unfortunately, a LOT of kids), can behave well for teachers and such who have clear boundaries and consistent discipline.

 

Of course, kids are all different. They develop differently and have different circusmtances. So though I *generally* believe that kids still having major behavioral issues on a consistent basis just haven't been taught well, I would never judge any SINGLE situation because who knows what THEIR story is.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

Well, DD is only 4.5, so I'm picking from a very limited range here but... I'd say 3. That is when DD wanted to start being independent and doing things on her own, but before she really had the skills to do so, which brought a lot of frustration on both of our parts. Add in the fact that we moved 5 times the year she was 3, I started a new school and she spent 16 hours a week with a babysitter (the first time she had ever been away from me for big chucks of time), a couple of ailments on my part, and it was a pretty tough year for us.

 

OTOH, 3 was also one of my favorite years with DD, because she really blossomed into her own person that year. It was so much fun watching her make the transition from baby to child.

[newbie]

14 plus

[amys]

Birth through 13 1/2. :001_huh: It's all been rough, but in different ways. Then again, my kids have issues, so they're not really typical.