Ah, the newborn stage! Baby snuggles, cute little noises, and… can’t sleep! Some people fondly recall this part of parenting when their children were tiny babies (who didn’t ask for treats or talk back), slept 18 hours a day, and were the cutest little balls of love. However, some recall the newborn stage as a not-so-wonderful time, sleep-deprived, spitting on every piece of clothing, and essentially lifeless.
One mom took to the Parenting subreddit to ask veteran parents if they missed the newborn stage because she was counting down the days until it was over. Now, she wonders if she was wrong for feeling this way and not enjoying every minute of her baby’s snuggles. (Why does everyone say that?!)
She actually prefers the baby stage, when they giggle and coo and give parents that little validation and approval they sometimes need to get through the day.
“Can I ask this question for parents with older kids…are you really going to miss the newborn stage if you don’t like it?” she wrote.
“I’m a mom of two and I love my kids, but I definitely can’t wait for the newborn period to be over. When my first was 5-6 months old, I felt like I had a better understanding of what she was trying to say. . But I went back here again with my 10 week old and he was actually much colder than my first time but I still didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
“Is it okay to just not enjoy the stage? I feel like a lot of people just tell me ‘you’re going to miss it…’ I always tend to gush when I see pictures on my phone of my first baby being born Talk about the 5-6 month stage, not the newborn stage. Does anyone else feel the same way?
After her post gained some traction, several Reddit users validated the OP’s feelings.
“My kids are 8 and 6. I’m so excited to be done with the newborn phase. It’s not a great stage for me or any of them. But watching them grow and develop themselves Such cool personalities. They get cooler every day,” one user wrote.
Another chimed in: “Do I miss having my LO so young? Yes. Do I miss that stage? Absolutely not.
“Not even for a second. I was 11 years old, independent, and had the ability to tell me what was wrong and what she needed. Watching her personality blossom and watching her grow as a person did more to me than being a freshman Childhood was much better,” one user responded.
One user pointed out that they actually did miss the newborn stage, but that doesn’t mean they want to go back and start over.
They wrote: “I miss it but I just want to visit. Like, I want to hug my little, warm, soft baby. Want to pinch her cute pudding cheeks. I want to marvel at her tiny corns Sugar fingers and comparing her little forearm to my index finger I wanted to hum to her and rock her to see if my experience raising her over the years had made me better able to handle her infancy. But I thought. Would I want to turn back time again? Absolutely not.
One user said they might want to go back and reminisce more about the newborn stage, noting that it all went by in a flash.
“I miss the memory I lost from that time. It’s such a hazy fog. I miss her as a child. I don’t remember how hard it was…” they said.
Another joked: “Kind of. Now they’re walking and talking terrorists asking for treats and paw patrol. Gone are the days of sleepy cuddles and lying around like potatoes.”
There has to be a middle ground here, right? It seems like most parents miss the snuggles of their newborns, their sweet nature while sleeping, and the smell of their newborn heads (what) yes That smell?
