Exhausted with 10 month old - any tips?

[dopeydonkeyuk]

First time mum with 10 month old DD. I feel exhausted ALL the time.

She's very active, crawling about & I spend her entire waking time following her round trying to catch her when she falls off things she's climbed up.

During naps, I rush to make up bottles, do her lunch, tidy up the mess she's created.

I feel guilty that I'm so shattered all of the time as she generally sleeps alright and my husband works all day in a difficult job. I hardly have the energy to stay awake in the evening when he's home & find it an almost insurmountable challenge to organise everything to leave the house!

I'm also a big worrier which I think adds to my exhaustion.

Just wondering when/if this gets any less exhausting & any tips?

[albertcampionscat]

Mine was like that. It was knackering. It'll probably get better when she starts walking. In the meantime:

1. Is your DH giving you a break at weekends? If not, why not?
   
2. Soft play. Museums (clean floors she can crawl over). Generally doing stuff and getting out of the house. The old line about boys being like dogs and needing to be walked twice day works for plenty of girls too.
   
3. If you can afford it sod the cooking and go for pouches/jars/ fresh fruit/ bread and cheese.
   
4. If you're shattered when your husband gets home, hand the baby over and go to sleep.

[ANiceSliceOfCake]

How about a travel cot in the living room to act as a play pen,
Let her play with a few toys in there. Just so you don't have to be on duty all the time and can get a brew.

[dopeydonkeyuk]

Good tip - I did try that a while back actually but she hates to be confined and just shrieks until I take her out. Particularly if I leave the room. She likes to follow me about!

Could try it again....

[dopeydonkeyuk]

Thanks ANiceSliceofCake. We do soft play sometimes but a museum is a good one. Might try a trip into London if I can face planning & packing for it!! Hopefully interesting for me too. 🙂

[iemma321q]

Have you tried her in a walker? That way she can move about and follow you reasonably safely.

[minipie]

It is exhausting when they're mobile but without any sense of danger. But it is a fairly short phase so it's a question of making it as easy as you can.

Here are my tips:

• Remove anything you can that could be dangerous. Obviously some things you can't remove but at least you could remove the number of things. For example, we have taped up the drawers on our side tables as DD kept trapping fingers in them... removed a little chair she kept climbing on/knocking over... we have stairgates everywhere and padding on corners. Some people will say you don't need to do all this, just supervise but if the supervising is exhausting you then changing your house is the only option!
  

• Somewhere safe you can pop her when you need to go answer the door/get the washing out etc. Just for 2 minutes. Highchair perhaps? Invest in a couple of toys that clip or sucker onto the chair so she can't lose them.
  

• It's worth trying a walker, but only if you can borrow one first to see if she likes it - DD1 loved it, DD2 had no interest. BUT they are not safe to be left alone in them. Also too much time in the walker is a bad idea developmentally.
  

• Also, get your own health checked out. Are you eating enough (esp if BF)? Iron levels? Vitamin D? It's possible that you're tired for a health reason rather than because of DD.

[Tippytoes13]

I was the same as you dopeydonkeyuk. I used to follow my son everywhere, he was so physical too, he just didn't stop. I re-designed our house to make it as baby-proof as possible and sat down more, as I was constantly up on my feet before, which is why I was always so tired. I was and still am a worrier to a degree.

[LiquorsOnDeck]

We had success with a jumperoo

[TeaBelle]

Have a bag packed each evening with the necessities so that you can pop out without a fuss. Ours just has nappies and spare clothes and I just add a drink and a peice of fruit. Anything else can be purchased when out

[loztredders]

I feel like this sometimes.

Baby is 10 months too. Crawling at speed all over the place and standing on everything!

What really helps is trying to get out as much as possible.

Tuesday we go softplay with friends and Thursday is playgroup. The other days we either go softplay or the park and we always get out for a walk with the dog.

We then are home usually for lunch at 1. Then she'll take a long nap where I do a few chores and then have a break with a cuppa tea etc.
It's really important that you aren't just rushing around when baby sleeps trying to get everything done. We all need a quick break!

I don't know if you're little one can get a back down after she stands up but once ella could do that it became easier as I wouldn't have to go help her down. She's pretty steady on her feet now too so I don't hover behind her at all I just sit and watch unless she's in danger of course.
Yes she has a little bump every now and then when she falls but nothing a kiss and cuddle can't sort out, and we've got wooden floors so of you've got carpet your little one will be much more padded if she bumps herself.

[frazzled24]

My MIL gave me a tip. She had three dc. Never clean, cook or whatever when they're asleep. You can do all that whilst they're awake - put them in the high chair in the kitchen with something to play with. Or on the floor of the kitchen with some bricks or something. Use that time to rest yourself. They don't care if you're making up bottles whilst they're awake. As long as they've got something to do and you're talking to them.

I found it easier to go out every morning so that they were less boisterous in the afternoon. Playgroup or just to feed the ducks or something.

Limit the number of toys out - so the mess is less. You can rotate them and see which ones they're playing with more.

And just try and make one gated off room relatively safe so that you can relax with them pottering about. Then sit down, put your feet up and chat whilst they're doing things.

It's an exhausting phase though really. It definitely does get easier - particularly when they start pre school and come home worn out.

[dopeydonkeyuk]

Thanks for all the tips everyone - some great ones in there!

I'd love to be able to sit her in the highchair with a toy or two whilst I get on with jobs but she gets upset if she's not next to me & when I give her toys, they all end up on the floor within 10 seconds so I spend the entire time picking them up. I have one toy which sticks to the high chair but think I need more! Any suggestions??

[albertcampionscat]

This (and the others in the series) were the first books to keep DS busy - though he was a little older by then.

www.panmacmillan.com/authors/marion-billet/busy-bookshop

More generally, any books with flaps and things to turn worked. I hear you on the high chair and playpen ideas. I'm sure they work for lots of children, but DS just EXPLODED with fury if I tried to confine him.

[minipie]

Sassy makes good suction cup highchair toys (they can double up as bath toys once she's past this stage)

[polkadotdelight]

There are lots of high chair activities you can rotate through, suction cup toys, plastic/metal kitchen utensils that she can bang/throw on the floor/messy play with jelly or cooked spaghetti etc/squishy bags - home made if you like but I bought one from mothercare.

I also used to sit him on the kitchen floor with a tray of dry porrige oats or uncooked pasta and let him throw it about - sweeps up easily enough.

I agree with the make one room safe post, we did that with the lounge then put some baby gates on and some foam mats down. Our house layout meant that I could still see him from the kitchen if I needed to nip in there.