1 year mark

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ericguitarman

New member
A lot of people say things get much easier after their baby turns one. My son will be one in a few weeks. What did you find became easier after your child turned one?? I'm looking for some reassurance here because my 11 month old is a lot right now lol. I would love to hear different thoughts and experiences on this.
Thank you!!
 
@ericguitarman Walking! Being able to walk meant he was way more independent even though it made other things slow. And lately as he is about to turn 2 talking! Communicating has made dealing with tantrums sooooo much easier. He can understand things and also communicate his wants. Sleep also improved for us and now if he has a 10 minute nap all day it isn’t make or break the same way it was before. By far I have prefer 1-2 over 0-1. Especially 1.5-2.
 
@ericguitarman I have learned that “easier” is very subjective, lol. I actually found ~15-21 months to be a very difficult period. At that age they’re no longer babies, but they still don’t have the much better communication and comprehension skills of older toddlers.

As others have said, walking makes things easier in some ways. But IMO, walking also makes things much harder in some ways. Again, they’re not great at communicating so they’ll just run off or throw a tantrum when you try and divert them. For example, taking my kid to the grocery store or restaurant at that age was a nightmare because they just want to run around and they don’t listen.

YMMV, but the 2 year mark was a magical milestone where things actually started to get easier.
 
@plentyofpaper Same except I'm about to hit 3 and think it might finally be getting easier. TBD. (Boy, wild AF, and I am a very girl, very proper mama so it's been a journeyyyyy).
 
@ericguitarman Every day has become easier because they build on each other. Major milestones for us were 14 months when she started walking confidently, about 17 months when she had a huge increase in vocabulary, 20 months when she stated playing with others, 27 months when she potty trained, 30 months when she really started being able to participate in activities like baking and 36 months when she started playing independently for more than a few minutes. It does get better and I've enjoyed every stage more than the last.
 
@hija410 How did potty training improve things? Genuinely curious. Because my fear is just dealing with lots of accidents and also public toilets will make it less fun than just whipping a nappy on and off 🫠
 
@nancyfromsc In many ways actually! She really saw herself as a 'big girl' and was more willing to try things herself. It helped her become more independent. It also made my life a lot easier as I didn't have to pack a changing bag and haul it everywhere (she learnt very quickly and only had a couple of accidents so stopped needing to carry spare clothes pretty quickly). This made me more willing to take trips just the two of us as I was less encumbered.
 
@nancyfromsc I was so worried about this before potty training too but my kid trained over a year ago and has only had one or two accidents, and very few instances where it's an emergency and we have to find a potty NOW. Like, I can count them on one hand. Now he goes to the bathroom without my help and I only have to be involved when he's pooped and needs help wiping.
 
@ericguitarman Ok I love her to death but I really didn’t enjoy my child until she was about 16 months old 😂 she was soooo high needs, never slept (still doesn’t), and just so much work. She is 20 months now and I’m enjoying time with her significantly more. For me, what really flipped it was seeing who we were to her—her saying mommy, bringing us things to show us, running to us when she is scared. You start to see their personality emerge and learn they love spiders and airplanes. You’re taking care of your family as opposed to an angry little gnome hell-bent on destroying you.

Things do get better. His communication skills will start to explode soon and that clears up a whole lot of crying.
 
@kayizzi All three of these for us as well! Especially the cows milk. We had a lot of solid food issues and were unable to supplement formula (even though we desperately tried!). My body and mental state were oh so thankful for the year mark
 
@ericguitarman I actually had a breakdown shortly after his first birthday because I always heard it got better after one and I was still struggling so hard. So don’t feel bad if you still don’t feel like it’s hard.

I felt like it got better when he started walking (late walker at 20 months), and when he started eating more independently (we had a lot of trouble with that as well).
 
@ericguitarman I wouldn’t say things get easier, just different. My son will be 18 months next week and he is an absolute joy, he is happy and loves to play and gives hugs and kisses but and there are still so many hard moments. He never sits still, he has so many big feelings and doesn’t know how to express them. He understands what we say but can’t talk to us with more than a handful of words. We are working on night weaning which is a whole new challenge.
 
@ericguitarman Honestly at 1 year old I found things got a bit dicey… he was a lot more mobile and opinionated and shortly thereafter his tantrums started. We are at 14 months now and I feel that things have improved a LOT. My son is able to communicate a lot better and is independent, wants to walk on his own and make his own choices so I do my best to let him make choices. His sleep improved a lot around a year, he no longer needs to drink formula, he recently started short bouts of independent play which has been monumental in helping me get things done around the house, and he’s pretty good with his nap and bedtime routine now.

Edit: grammar
 
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