7 Reasons Why Being a Newborn is Hard
People think that being a baby is easy. All they see is that someone feeds you, bathes you, and changes your diapers. Being a baby is harder than it looks, and being a newborn is downright difficult. People don’t give us babies enough credit for the difficulties we must endure. After all we go through, we deserve some pampering. On behalf of babies everywhere, I am here to say that being little isn’t easy.
1. Being Born
The journey into this world is not an easy feat. All babies come into this world in one of two ways and each is at least extremely unpleasant. You can be squeezed into the world through an opening that is much to small, or you can be yanked out with no warning. Whichever way it happens, it’s guaranteed to be a terrifying ordeal as you make the journey from master of your very own universe, to one little fish in a school of billions.
2. Where am I? What’s that? Who are you?
Now that the horror of being born is over, you find your senses bombarded with all sorts of previously unexperienced stimuli. The sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of things touching you. Everything is new, unknown, and mostly scary. What is this place? What are all those things for? Who is this person that keeps looking at me with an expression of total bewilderment?
3. Who said that? Come closer.
Once the initial shock of being out in the world wears off, you want to take a better look at the mess you’ve found yourself in to assess the situation. Well, guess what, you can’t! Babies have poor vision and are horribly near-sighted. So there you are, brand new and vulnerable, hearing all sorts of commotion around you but not being able to see what horrors lurk just steps away.
4. So much empty space!
When you spend nine months curled up in a snug space only barely big enough for you, the sudden abundance of room to stretch out in can be unsettling. You might think that a cramped space would be uncomfortable, but it’s actually quite soothing. If being squished is all you know, the absence of squishing is not a welcome experience.
5. Hunger
For the first 9 months of existence, hunger magically resolved itself. A newborn baby comes to the sudden realization that their hunger is no longer going away on its own. They are now expected to put forth the effort required to cure their hunger by themselves.
6. The Moro Reflex
After a long day of being generally confused and trying to figure out the eating thing, you finally start to drift off for a well-earned nap. That’s when your arms decide to fly up uncontrollably startling you awake. There is also a good chance that in doing so, they smack you in the face. Great way to wake up!
7. Stop hitting yourself.
Those self-inflicted smacks across the face aren’t limited to sleep. In the early months of life, libs are unruly creatures with a mind of their own. It takes time to get them under control. Until then, they often smack, scratch, and poke their owner.
October 20, 2016
It is indeed a hard start to life being a newborn! Thanks so much for sharing at #kcacols hope to see you back next time!
It’s probably for the best that we forget that phase in our own lives. I think we might be traumatized if we had to live our lives with those early memories. Thanks for visiting.
I love this post. It’s so sweet and giving us a nice view of how it feels to be a baby. 🙂
#KCACOLS
Thank you. That’s nice to hear.
Oh it is really sad / cute when they bosh themselve in the face unexpectedly! #KCACOLS
They always seem so surprised about it too. Peachy always had this look like “Did you see the jerk that just bonked me? What gives?”. These days she has pretty good control over her own extremities and she’s well aware that they belong to her. Thanks for visiting.
I was forever thinking things like this when my little one was a newborn. It’s got to be scary for them. It’s such a big adjustment. My little one wasn’t a fan of the space she had. We had to ensure she had lots of padding around her in the form of blankets when she was kipping, and we had a warm wash cloth over her belly in the bath so she wasn’t so exposed and confused with the experience. By the way, my laptop was open at the top of the page and my little one walked over and gave your little baby picture a little kiss. #bestandworst
That’s so sweet. Little ones have such a cute way of seeing the world.
We did the wash cloth in the bath too. It really helped Peachy feel more comfortable in the tub in those early months. It also helped her keep warm since she was born in the winter and those early baths were very uncomfortable for her.
Aww love this as I have a newborn. I know that hunger one – she’s currently attached to my boob! It’s a good thing they don’t remember it all eh? Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst xx
That’s probably for the best 🙂
Congratulations on the arrival of your tiny one. I’ve been following your journey on your blog and I’m very happy it all turned out so well. Your birth story was fabulous. Made me a little jealous. Enjoy your precious little one and take care of yourself.
Nice to think about it from their perspective although it’s probably just as well we don’t remember it ourselves! #KCACOLS
You’re probably right. Thanks for reading.
Oh so true! The confusion on their little faces when they poke at their own eye or land a punch on their own nose! Love them! Xx #KCACOLS
So adorable. Thanks for reading.
I think parents forget that it’s just as much of an adjustment for the baby as it is for them. We expect them to not cry too much and sleep well after they’re just experienced such an ordeal! #brilliantbloggerposts
I would think it’s even more off an adjustment for them. At least we have nine months to come to terms with what’s about to happen. It’s a total surprise to them. They have no idea that they’re about to make their entrance into the world and they have no clue what that world is about. Thanks for visiting.
I remember trying to put myself in my newborns shoes when she was driving me nuts with her crying! You’re right, it must be scary and confusing for them. Brought back lots of nice memories 🙂 #coolmumsclub
It’s easy to forget that when you’re a new parent and stressed out about a crying baby. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I take a deep breath and try to see the world from Peachy’s perspective. It calms me down and a lot of blog posts start that way. Thanks for reading.
Aw this has brought back memories x
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Haha love this! Although this really made me chuckle it’s also very true poor little babies. Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub lovely x
I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for reading.
Ahh this is so true! I always thought newborns had it easy just sleeping and eating all day but there is so much more to it! #fortheloveofBLOG
Eating and sleeping can be hard if you don’t know what the purpose of it is. Newborns have no sense of cause and effect so they don’t really know why they’re eating and sleeping. They just know to cry when they are uncomfortable. Thanks for visiting.
awww I never thought about it that way, I always assumed it is only hard being a newborn’s parent but sure our little ones have to do a lot of adjusting to the big world #fortheloveofBLOG
It must be scary. I imagine it would be like waking up on another planet. Thanks for reading.
I can only imagine how hard it must be. I had an elective cesarian and I always say he didn’t know what was coming, he was napping and then suddenly he was being removed. Hard way to start your life in my opinion. #fortheloveofBLOG
Whatever way they come into the world must be hard. The c-section route is probably more of a surprise, but being squeezed into the world can’t possibly be a pleasant experience. Thanks for reading.
This post bought back loads of memories of the new born days and my little squished baby. I forgot about the eye sight and how they are a bit bog eyed when born. The Moro reflex was a nightmare, and the flailing arms would always wake my daughter up. They sound grow out of it all. Thanks so much for linking up at #fortheloveofBLOG. Claire x
We’re so glad that the Moro Reflex is behind us. It was so hard to get Peachy to sleep with those flailing arms. Thanks for visiting.