the worst thing I have ever done due to child induced fatigue

This thread has reinforced something for me. I was always convinced the 'baby on board' signs people have in their cars were there to warn other drivers how hazardous the sleep deprived driver might be, as it seemed the most sensible reason. It's only since I've joined MN that I've learned its to alert emergency services there might be an infant in the back if there's a crash.

I have also now remembered that sleep deprived DH managed to bend another car's open door back on its hinges reversing out of a space at the tip when DS1 was about 4mo old.

I always used to nap in the car if both DC had fallen asleep. I thought that was normal! I was slightly embarrassed though when a concerned neighbour rapped on the window to see if I'd died. My seat was upright and my mouth was wide open

I've also forgotten to turn DD's car seat around, leaving her legs jammed up against the door. I never forgot to steal her car seat into the car though; I'd learned my lesson after DS1 and insisted on getting a base.

Haven't strapped in a few times. One time I only realised when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw DD2 walking past!

Put dog food in the washer- it was scoop mix up.

Put Aptimil in the dishwasher- no excuse.

Went into a leisure centre to pick DS6 up with DD2 and newborn in tow- he was at a different location 20mins away.

But my piece de resistance has to be when DD2 slipped out of my hands when she was about 6 months old- I was shattered and full of cold lifting her out the bath when she slipped right out of my hands and slid back into the bath (in a waterboarding way) at such a speed she slid part way up the other side feet first. She was fine, I mean look, this is the same child who can walk steadily around a car doing 70 on the motorway

Reading this thread has made me broody

Oh and wen my son was around 6 weeks luckily my mum had take him for a walk, the door bell rang and I had to sign for a package I let my flat door open but it slammed behind me leaving me trapped in my house but locked out my flat as all my neighbours were at work and I was dieing to go toilet and only in a dressing gown I found an old black sack with clothes I was meaning to give to charity. So I threw on an old woolen dress with my slippers no bra, knickers or tights it was freezing I looked a state 6 weeks post birth saw everyone of my neighbours as I tryed to run round discreetly to my sisters house in the next street. That was an especially low point

I have forgotten to put ds1's car seat in properly twice. He was strapped into the seat, but it wasn't in properly. Also got it wrong when he was a toddler too. Dumped him in the back, but took me a few moments to realise what was wrong.
Not only was he not strapped in, but his seat wasn't even there! I'd taken it inside the previous day to clean it.
My second child has a hit and miss relationship with sleep. During his first few months it was a common thing to find a mug with a tea bag in, another mug of cold tea and yet another in the microwave. Don't think I managed to drink a whole one at all.
The worst thing that happened was when I was pg with ds2. I was 7 months, not sleeping and borderline anaemic so I was bloody tired. Dh decided he wanted to drive to work one day, but I needed the car that day so I had to get myself and ds1 up in about 5 minutes flat so I could drop dh off. I did not get time for breakfast - big mistake.
On the way back home, I forgot my left from right and pulled out at a roundabout when I should not have. The oncoming car missed me by about a millimetre.
I told dh about it and his unhelpful comment was "Well if you don't feel confident to drive, just say so." I told him I was sodding confident to drive just not on an empty stomach and if he couldn't cycle to work then I needed more than five minutes notice.
Still wasn't as scary as when ds2 had bad bronchiolitis with vomiting. I had pretty much no sleep for two weeks and I was paranoid and seeing things in my peripheral vision that were not there. If ds2 had been any slower getting better....
The funniest was what dh did. He was always the one to put odd stuff in the fridge and he also put his dinner plate in the bin too. One day, he walked in, picked up a tissue and proceeded to wipe my nose with it. He went to throw it away, came back in and told me that he had no idea why he did that as he'd actually intended to wipe ds2's nose, who was sat on my lap.

Ive forgot my sons name and date of birth numerous times and had to do the long mmmmmm...

Screamed at my dog to shut up calling it my sons name.

One very memerable time in a&e when my son was very young around 3 months I was in a mess as he'd been screaming for around 5 hours I wondered why the nurse doing his obs was giving me a funny look id been saying shshsh your such a brave girl over and over for about 5 mins

I remember a midwife waking me when my son had been put in transitional care after 3 weeks in the nnu because my alarm was going off for half an hour the alarm was to feed my son.

Once my mum managed to come in my bedroom take my baby in with her and I woke up not even wondering were he was and only when I saw them did I realised my baby was missing, that really upset me that I didnt know someone had taken him because i didnt wake to his cries

I tried to move food that was stuck in the blade of the food processor with a knife. I forgot to the machine off though.

That was the day I decided that if I am tired cheese and crackers, or anything else doesn't involve sharp implements or heat, is a decent dinner.

My worst was leaving the front door open all day. DH came home from work to find it, luckily nothing stolen. He was less than impressed!
Many other little things. I was sure I was seeing to DD but couldn't understand why she was still crying. Then I woke up....

I've driven without strapping the car seat into the car - more than once.

I also put the cat's eye drops in the baby's eyes once. They both had eye drops at the same time and DH (yes, I'm blaming him) handed me the wrong bottle. We phoned the pharmaceutical company who told us they were actually the same product so it would be fine although they wouldn't recommend sharing medicines with animals. Yes, yes, we hadn't intended to!

I'm sure there were many, many other things I did in a sleep-deprived fog.

I left my front door open twice, for full days. Like 9 until 5. In central London. Luckily the door wasn't visible from the road but it wouldn't have taken much for an opportunist to spot. Nothing happened thankfully. Another time I left the keys in the front door, although it was shut at least.

DS would only sleep in the pram and I used to walk for miles and miles to ensure he got the sleep he needed so often spent days outside in all weathers. I once accidentally nodded off (sat upright) next to some tennis courts in the park while the pram was parked up next to me, and was woken up by an inquisitive dog sniffing my shoes deciding whether to wee on me or not

I've driven off without strapping the baby in the car too.

I've also put the car into first gear instead of reverse when I was on the driveway and drove into the front door of the house (very minimal damage luckily). Then burst into tears and phoned DP (who was in the house) asking him to come out because I'd driven into the house. He couldn't get out of the door because obviously the car was in the way, so I just sat there in the car crying into the phone because I couldn't work out what to do.

I've also got into the passenger seat of the car and couldn't work out where the steering wheel had gone.

I stopped driving during the worse stages of sleepless nights because I realised I wasn't safe.

When my oldest was a baby and I was similarly foggy in the brain. I bought a baby outfit in Tesco and thought on the way home that I'd like to have a look at the clothes selection in Asda. When I got home, I realised that my debit card was missing. My dutiful husband established that I'd left it at the till. 'Great, I thought,' this is my opportunity to go to Asda! So I turned up at Asda (having gone through the pantomime of buggys etc.) and requested my debit card from customer services. Eventually I realised that my debit card had not miraculously moved to the shop I wished to visit and sidled out.

Last week I took my children to have a treat in an ice-cream parlour and was pleased to be able to park outside. When we returned to the car, I was dismayed to find that a car had parked so close behind me that I was unable to open the boot to put the buggy in. It's a large, modern chassis and I didn't know if I was able to squash it in the backseat, and didn't want to either, for safety reasons. I walked around the car, muttering, took a photo, tried several times to squeeze the boot up and fruitlessly searched for a pen to leave a cross notice on the windscreen. Eventually, I managed to fit the chassis in the backseat and drove home. It wasn't until the following day that I remembered quite clearly clocking at least a metre of space IN FRONT of the car. I must have looked stark raving mad.

I haven't done the carseat thing, as I have isofix but I can see how easily that could happen!

I have left my card in the card machine and had to go back and get it, I have also left my purse at the tills before.

I have put on a load of laundry and not used detergent!

I use to delay telling people DS birthdate as I was trying to remember what date it was, tbf he was born 6 weeks early so his due date was the first thing I remembered!

Have left keys in the front door and front door open a few times too.

I have a variation on not strapping baby into car seat (which I also did when DD was 10 weeks old). Not rotating the 360 rotating car seat round to face the front or back, instead she is facing the side window. Have done this a few times and only realise when I can hear the happy giggles as DD like the view

Have switched off the baby monitor in my sleep.

Have arrived in car to a place where I hadnt intended on going - supermarket instead of doctors.

Reversed out of the drive to pop to corner shop and remembered I had a baby asleep in the house on her own. Was so used to doing this in my pregnancy.

Always do the wrong wording between DD and dog so DD is a good boy and male dog is a good girl. DD also gets a lot of pats on the head etc.

Was so engrossed in MN I forgot about DD (just turned one) and lost her in the house. Found her eventually upstairs pulling loo roll off the loo roll holder and eating it.

I saw Elvis!!
Seriously, I was sitting up in bed feeding DD in the middle of the night and I saw him walk through the door out of the corner of my eye. Obviously she I turned to look properly he had gone. Really weird.

Sleeping parked up in the car while both dc are asleep isn't a "bad thing you've done due to tiredness", it's a good idea. In fact I would go so far as to make it a recommendation to new parents!

Going to work, forgot to put my pass into my bag so I got there, couldn't get in and had to go home.

Next day, double and triple checked I had packed everything: uniform, dinner. Pass in my jacket pocket Got into work, went to get changed, discovered I had lifted the baby changing bag instead of my work bag.

I have left the house without shoes more than once. I have got the wheels of the pram stuck underneath a train as I was getting off (terrifying) then got back to the car to find I'd forgot to display in the pay and display so I had a ticket, then got home to discover I had locked myself out and I badly needed a poo. Drove to DH's work, got keys used toilet drove home, found my own keys in bottom of bag. I had forgotten about that day until just now, it was hideous, it started off with me trying to visit a friend on the other side of London but when I got to London Bridge station there were no trains running and I couldn't get the pram on the tube so I turned around and went home. I sobbed a lot that day.

I also crashed the car when I was massively pregnant; moving off at a junction and the car in front stalled, it just didn't register that I needed to stop and I went into the back of it. When they got out (unhurt, undamaged, it was a very slow speed crash) I discovered that the poor driver was doing her driving test :(

Fallen asleep at red lights, and had to be woken by the irate drivers behind me when they turned green. This has happened more than once.

Fallen asleep and forgotten to pick up ds1 from nursery whilst newborn ds2 napped.

Pushed the drivers seat back and gone to sleep on the driveway/supermarket car park/ random lay-bys when both ds1 and ds2 fell asleep in the car at the same time, because that was the only time they ever synchronised their sleeping.

Many many more, will need to think.

I could have sworn that I put on the handbrake as I parked in TESCO but no, my sleep-refusing toddler and I were called to the front of the shop by tannoy to find a large group of rubberneckers staring at my car that had rolled across the car park and hit 2 cars and narrowly avoided hitting an old lady (her husband pushed her out of the path of the car - I honestly feel sick at the thought of what could have happened) I was so apologetic. I felt awful. I got home and cried and cried. Sleep deprivation is the worst - it can turn you into a monster, a wreck, it's awful.

Also, in early baby days I needed a tick list to stop me overdosing accidently. I couldn't remember when I'd taken any meds. On one occasion I took ibuprofen, walked out the room, walked back in and went to take it again, husband stopped me but I had no memory of taking anything.

Good thread - one for classics I think. I love upside down feeding baby and babyless babysitter

Oh so many of these also;

Forgot DS birthday - he was 6 weeks old and the doctor asked when I had him and I replied "I don't know a few weeks ago I think"

Left DS2 in the hallway in his car seat and almost drove off until older DS asked if baby was big enough to to stay home alone

Fell asleep walking down the stairs. I stopped halfway down as couldn't walk anymore and rested my head on the bannister

Walked into a wall in the middle of the night when pacing trying to quiet crying baby

Driven to my DMs house before realising that DS was supposed to be at nursery today rather than her house

Chucked remote control in my bag instead of my phone

Tried to put the cat in the jumperoo instead of DS

Pushed a dummy into the mouth of a surprised 3 year old DS instead of the baby. Older DS never took a dummy even as a baby and just said to me "mummy what ARE you doing to me ?!"

Baby DS is still 8 months and waking every 2 hours plus I'm back at work in a week so I'm sure I'll have plenty more .....

Well not really due to tiredness, but certainly distraction and having a load of things to remember to take with me, I have also left the front door wide open - more than once.

I have also not strapped in a child when a baby. He was in the hall in the car seat and I'd undone the straps but they were still in position; we went back out and I just plonked the seat in the base. Once they get to 3 years or so they tell you, or at least mine do. It doesn't happen much though that I'll forget.

I've also done the "baby strapped into car seat but car seat not strapped into car" and driven a junction down the M6 until I realised.
I left the car keys in the ignition, car parked on the street overnight a couple of times.

Never told DH either of these!