Does the burnout ever get easier to cope with?

[SlovenlyUnwedMother]

I returned to work after maternity leave a couple of months ago and I'm already just completely overwhelmed. Between the lack of sleep and the long days I just don't know how people do this long term. I'm exhausted and constantly run down.

My partner is great and does his fair share of parenting and housework but his shifts mean we are rarely at home together and I'm usually on my own with my little boy on my days off, so there isn't really an opportunity to take any time for myself. He's just turned 1 and his sleep is still horrendous. We were hoping to start thinking about baby #2 next year but I just don't know how I could possibly cope with even more responsibility.

Will it get easier? What can I do to cope in the meantime? Maybe I'm just pathetic but I don't understand how people juggle everything.

@SlovenlyUnwedMother I know you posted this a while back, I came across it tonight and couldn’t let it go unanswered. It DOES get easier and I promise you that it won’t feel this awful for ever. It’s a long period of adjustment and takes people different amounts of time to get used to it I expect.

You won’t want to hear this but…I don’t think you ever actually get over it. As in, things will never go back to being as easy as they were before but your game will rise to match the demand. Promise. You’ll look back in 5 years and be juggling 85 million times more than now and think how the fuuuuuck….. but it’s incremental. You level up bit by bit, just that this first phase of getting used to the idea of being a working parent as well as responding to a small human is somewhat of a poleaxe.

Lower your housekeeping standards/socialising expectations, don’t drive yourself to be perfect (just get through the day alive!) make sure your partner and you are kind to each other. Be honest with your trusted friends and family about how exhausted you are, because you really aren’t pathetic in the least- this shit is HARD and you deserve kind words from those that love you.

Oh and go to bed at 8.30 😂

Promise you that it will feel easier soon (ish) xxx

@SlovenlyUnwedMother how are things going?

@PaganQueen Thanks so much for thinking of me, I missed your earlier reply and really appreciate it. I'm still finding things very difficult, but what you said about "levelling up" does make sense. I think about how hard it was when my little boy was first born, that awful "what have I done?!" feeling. I thought I'd never feel okay again but of course I did and I'm so much stronger now. I'm sure I'll get through this stage too.

I've also finally realised it's not possible to keep my old standards up, so I'm trying to give myself grace and feel less guilty...and keep telling myself that one day he'll sleep and so will I!

I felt massively burnt out when I returned to work. I don’t know how much lockdown contributed but it was awful.
it does get better, especially when at 2.5 our dd started sleeping through. but don’t underestimate how long it takes to get over burnout. I felt like I should be “better” after a few months but then read an article than burnout can take between 1-2 years to get over