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You know I just texted with you about this
But just this morning I asked my husband the same thing “who was an easier baby” and he said this new one for sure. We both agree.

Partly his personality. Even when he’s overtired it’s just not as intense as DS1 was. He’s more easy going (even though we still try to implement the same structure as we did with DS1, if we veer off track at all he’s mostly fine).

Partly because we have perspective and experience now, I’m sure. We don’t get as rattled. There’s less “omg what do we do???” Right now we’re in the car and he’s starting to fuss and he woke up early, but there’s nothing I can do so 🤷‍♀️ Whereas with my first I would be yelling to pull over so I could crawl back there.

We’ll talk more when I see you tomorrow, but we also have allowed way more crying and fussing from an earlier age, including for naps, which I think has made him an even better/easier baby to sleep train when the time came. We knew what NOT to do this time around so we never created a single bad habit and if we saw one forming we knew that we needed to end it early. Like not that a paci is a bad habit, but we know now that it’s easier to take away early vs late so we stopped it at like 2/3 months and now there’s no waking from naps or night time to replace a paci. It’s been heavenly. That was a cycle till at least 6/7 months with DS1.

See you soon!

@LCTBQE: Take this with a grain of salt as my daughter is only 12 days old, but.....we definitely think she is/this time is "easier" than the last. Our son, who was (and IS) very outgoing, stimulated by his environment, etc., was a very fussy newborn. On the plus side he ate like a champ and slept pretty well from the get-go, but naps during the day were nearly an impossibility, and his witching "hour" was 3-8 P.M. So far (fingers, toes, eyes, ears crossed), our daughter is a whole different ball game. She has her moments of fussing, but it's nothing like our son was, even at this young age. She doesn't sleep the long stretches he did, but she's a totally different baby. Everyone told me, too, it was way easier the second time, and I think (in addition to her personality) I chalk it up to having survived the first time. We knew (roughly) what to expect this time, and therefore it isn't as daunting. I might only be sleeping in 2-hour increments currently, but I know it's a phase that'll pass. As a new mom with my son I knew, in theory, it'd get better, but having survived it last time is really helping this time. Of course having a 3.5 year old in addition to a newborn is a new set of challenges, but we are finding our way. Best wishes as you welcome your daughter!

I think parenting has been the one thing I’m pretty confident about. I’m like the mom in the Luvs commercial that throws Cheerios in her purse and calls it a day, even though it was my first baby. That said: I totally think personalities are a huge part. My first daughter was easier than my middle child and my third is the easiest by far. People say it’s because my middle child is a boy, but if it wasn’t because he were a boy it would be because he’s a middle child or second born or something else.

I’m short, my oldest was easier that my second, by a lot.

My 2nd was definitely easier than my 1st, and my first wasn’t even that hard! DS2 was super easy going, slept through the night at 6 weeks without any training on my part, and is still a fantastic sleeper. However, as a 15 month old, he’s harder than DS1 was at this age. I couldn’t say what is personality and what is parenting. Everything seems like so much a mix of both.

@LCTBQE: our 3rd is such an easy baby we’re now considering a 4th! 🤷‍♀️ Haha.

Actually I think it was mixed for us. I found the whole thing much easier based on experience (like it was totally doable to have a baby plus a 3yo) but he was actually a more difficult baby in terms of sleep and overall neediness. I just knew how to handle it better and let more stuff go.

My second was easier but he had a shorter, easier birth, was beautifully chubby and big and my milk came in faster so he was just more comfortable all around! In contrast, his older sister had a long and traumatic birth, a delay in getting my milk in and I was a nervous first time mum... I’d say they were quite similar in temperament but had different levels of stress as babies.

Number three, however, has definitely not been an easy newborn and we’re just starting to come out of the fog at three months old. Eloise has just started to self settle and nap independently but still only does a 3-5 hour stretch at night and doesn’t go to bed until after 10pm. Having said that I’m not worried about her sleeping and am just going with the flow so I feel quite unstressed about the whole thing!

My first was wayyy easier than lo2. First was a girl, second is a boy. Everyone just tells me the old theory "girls are easier than boys ...until the teen years "

@Mama Bird: yes!!! Same for ds

My God I've never seen a post so astutely take the words out of my mouth (substituting #2 is a boy instead of girl). I can never decide if my son was an easy baby. But people kind of tell me no and I was miserable so... I am hoping so much the second one will be easier. I would just like a smile before 6 months. Or a nap before a year. I was so hoping for a girl for some snuggles. Maybe this baby will actually seem like he likes me? I feel like anecdotally the second one can be a little bit of a wild card. Like literally wild. I was a Savage as #2, my husband was an angel after his difficult brother. And we and our siblings are exactly the same- nature more than nurture in our cases!

Some things were harder, some things were easier.

The best part about the second baby was that I felt so much more able to enjoy it, and relax. Instead of always looking ahead to the next milestone, worrying about when it would happen, second guessing everything- I just enjoyed him in all his sweet baby-ness. I remember being surprised when he hit milestones (like: "Oh! Wow! You can do that now!") where as with my daughter I was always anticipating them. I had already gone through the identity exploration you do as a mom- figuring out that at some point you have to choose your choice and be done with the internet research.
I also had a better sense that everything is a phase- so when he was in a tough spot I didn't freak out and immediately try to change a million things, I just kind of accepted that this was how it was but soon it would be something different.

I’ve been lucky to have two pretty easy babies. My second is easier though because she takes a bottle and learned how to put herself to sleep earlier on. She also naps well where my older one didn’t.

I would say my first was average, not super easy but not super difficult. I kept hearing about the easy second baby..... But NOPE. Parenting is easier but our second had colic, still has intense seperation anxiety at 15mo so can NEVER be left, generally fussy etc. She was a difficult baby and is now a difficult toddler.

I think it's a total crap shoot.

Our first was super duper easy, is 5 now and still is. Slept through the night right away, napped like a champ, happy all the time, easy going. Our second has been the complete opposite. Didn't sleep through the night until 18 months, fussy 24/7, hated everything, extremely sensitive... he's two now and is still a challenge!

But then I know plenty of people that have had super easy second babies, I think you just get what you get.

Neither of my LOs really slept the first year of their lives, but LO2 (girl) was definitely an easier baby minus the sleep. She basically never cried and slept quite a lot the first 3 months of her life. She did a little crying around the witching hour, but never all day fussiness like LO1 (boy). She was also a very sweet and cuddly baby, whereas LO1 would pull away to get to something more interesting. As toddlers though, and now as children, it's the reverse. Once LO1 hit about 1, he became very easy, with an easygoing personality, and he's very amenable to listening (even as a very young toddler) and overall had very few tantrums. LO2 was and is still much more mischievous and stubborn. She went through a tantrum phase around 2 that we never saw with our older one.

Good luck! My first baby was really easy, although at the time I didn't realize it.... but he was a great sleeper/eater, etc. He started getting more challenging as the toddler/preschool years came around.

Our second was very chill, but not a great sleeper, and wouldn't take a bottle at all until he was about 8 months old, so that was challenging, especially considering I had to go back to work full time when he was 4 months old.

I never banked on my 2nd being easy. Of course, we all dream of having an angel of a baby! My 1st was not the most difficult, but def not the easiest, and I like to be realistic when it comes to my expectations. So our 2nd was definitely easier the first year of her life (then she totally grew into her personality and now much more wild & opinionated haha). She wasn't STTN, and also had a hard time switching from boobs to bottles, etc. But I think A) she was almost forced to be easier b/c we wouldn't pay attention to her all the time and B) I was much more relaxed and experienced and I think that rubs off

I guess I would say that my second is easier, but just barely. They're just hard in different ways. My first was colicky/reflux-y and had an hours long crying fit every late afternoon for months. But she slept well pretty early and napped great. Still sleeps great at 2.25 and needs her long nap! She was (and still is) crazy high energy, and high emotion, so has been a difficult toddler. My second is the sweetest, most easy-going baby and is amazing - while awake. She has always been a bad sleeper and super-short napper (7 months now). They've both had their challenges, but I think I would say the second is "easier". I'm getting used to the sleep deprivation...

My second was not easier! My first was laid back. Decent sleeper (didn’t nap longer then 30 minutes though). Hebate well. Was very happy always.

My second.. she ate well. Was sleepy. But regressions hit her hard. She LOVED to be held (usually only by me) and did not like being put down in any kind of baby device. She also spit up a lot. She is now 2 and still quite the little diva, haha.

My third is 10 days old and so far he’s super chill and sleepy. Hoping he naps like his sister and has the attitude of his brother, lol