Raising little children is really hard. There is no way around it, it is just tough. Does that mean it is not also wonderful? No, but it is a challenging phase of life, here are 6 reasons why: Everything is harder when you haven’t slept. Newborns do sleep a lot it’s true but never at the right time and never for particularly long. Babies and toddlers wake frequently, need comforting. I’ve spent so long holding, stroking and singing to my distressed boys in the middle of the night.