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'Team toddler': Why I'm happy we're leaving the baby stage behind

By Naomi White|

My second and, 98 per cent certain, last baby just turned one.

And while part of me already misses the newborn cuddles and the chance to see all those 'firsts' again, I'm mostly relieved to be leaving the baby stage behind.

Truth be told, I'm kind of crap at the baby stage. If there were report cards for the first year I'd get a B for effort, but it would be a downward slide from there.

While mum friends plan their activities around the morning nap and somehow managed to establish routines they were able to successfully follow every day, the only naps I managed were on me. I'd read up on the sleep cues, follow these, and still we'd do the same dance of him fighting sleep and me ending up (happily, I may add) nap trapped.

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Sydney mum and writer Naomi White
Sydney mum and writer Naomi White (Supplied)

I realised just how bad I was at this when he recently started daycare.

Arriving for his first day they asked about his sleep routine and I sheepishly explained he didn't have much of one, adding he never managed long stretches in the cot. Only to pick him up later that day to hear how well he'd slept - a solid two hours, with minimal assistance.

He celebrated his own birthday by sleeping through the night of his birthday eve for the first time, four months ahead of his brother. I put the first down to my eldest's temperament, but I've come to accept I'm the common denominator in this.

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There has been a *lot* of baby wearing the last year for all those naps on the run. (Supplied)

Lamenting this to one friend asking when it got easier after bringing her second baby home from hospital, I admitted I wasn't well-placed to answer, saying simply that I was just 'crap at the baby stage'.

It was like a green light for unloading, each of us accepting we just weren't baby people. Not because we weren't soaking up each moment, we just weren't... great at it.

I'm not alone in this. As Chrissy Teigen once said, there are baby people and toddler people. And while I love the baby stage, I'm definitely team toddler.

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We're both happier now the little guy is able to move around independently. (Supplied)

"Some people are baby people, some, toddlers. I am a happy toddler mum," Teigen posted alongside a video of her son Miles, now four, contentedly feeding himself to mark his transition from baby to toddler. Though I'm sure she was far better with babies than I.

Give me a toddler spurting demands any day - at least I know what they want. And tantrums? I've never been phased. I'll happily take these over trying to decipher if it's teething or overtiredness at 3am.

It's only now, as we approach all the milestones like being able to share a bath with his older brother, happily feeding himself breakfast and being able to actually engage with his toys that I'm able to truly appreciate this stage. Those tiny nuggets of independence are reminders it will go quick - as it did with our eldest.

But I'm also able to slow down a little myself with each one, and make space for his (not so) little personality to make itself known. And hopefully, eventually, we'll manage the midday nap.

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