Three five and under is hard work?

[Sparklycurtainpole]

Just wondered if anyone else with three small children (or more) is just beyond exhausted?
Mine are 5,2 and 4 months old.
5 year old is a great sleeper. 2 year old has multiple night terrors (upwards of 6-8) EVERY night and 4 month old breastfeeds every 2 hours round the clock. Partner works away for a fortnight at a time then home for a few days inbetween.
Am absolutely exhausted. Health visitor is supporting with early weaning as baby is huge and constantly starving (no probs with feeding or milk supply; he's just constantly hungry!)
Getting all three up, dressed and out the door for the school and nursery runs (25 min walk there, school starts @ 8.45) is no mean feat and organising house and general 'life' is just non stop. I literally don't sit down all day and am only getting about a total of 3 hours broken sleep per night. I've started feeling faint and dizzy lots of the time and actually bumped the car last week I was so tired. No one injured, just a scratched wing. Anyone else struggling with little ones and finding it just ruddy hard work? When not on maternity leave I have a professional and very responsible job which is very high pressure. How come I can do that so easily but having three little ones is breaking me?
I'm not in any way depressed or complaining. I do get lots of offers of support from family so im not alone in this. I just want to know I'm not the only one feeling overwhelmed by tiddlers!

*against

I have 3 under 3, without a doubt hardest thing ive ever done, the odd i feel in control but most of the time feels like im climbing everest blindfolded, it has to get easier (thats my mantra and the only thing thats keeping me going!)

I had 3 under 5 once. It was bloody awful for a while but quickly got much better when they all slept reliably.

If you have offers of help available just accept them!! In more sensible cultures women are not expected to do this alone.

I have 3 under 5 including a newborn, they are all great sleepers, DH is home around 5pm, I have a cleaner, and my mum helps me out a lot. Even so there are days I'm tearing my hair out, so in your situation I'd be an absolute mess! No doubt it's tough!!

I have 3 under 3 and they are all now decent sleepers, littlest is 10 months, but oh my god I've had two weeks of illnesses disrupting the 2 littlest ones sleep and I'm on my knees.

God love you OP with the night terrors and bf.

I had 3 under 3/12.It is hard but if you can afford help then get some help.

I was lucky i had 2 much older kids who where teens,so where quite helpful.I dont think it gets easier as such,it just difficult in a different way.Maybe somebody to help wiht the school run.

Just to add some competitive parenting

At one point I had 4 under 4. Hands down that year was the hardest I have ever had for sheer exhaustion. I didn't know whether I was coming or going at points. I did suffer with anaemia after the births of all my children and that really, really didn't help, so it is something which is worth getting checked.

But it does get easier, better, as the dc get older and can do more for themselves. Routine does help a lot. Even if it's just getting the clothes out the night before. And it is really important to get some decent sleep yourself. If that means you have to have a nap in the afternoon, bloody do it. The housework etc will still be there, and feeling grotty means it just takes twice as long.

I have children aged 1, 3 and 5 (all soon to have birthdays) and am due baby no 4 in January so will have four aged 0-6. I also work part-time and have fuck all help from the inlaws (my parents are 200 miles away).

It's really fucking hard. However, I found there was a big leap forward when the youngest started to walk. They now all play together with quite a bit of arguing (which I largely leave them to) and a small amount of physical pushing and shoving (at which point I intervene!)

My two youngest don't sleep well at all. My husband sleeps in the spare room with the three year old and I sleep in the same bed as the one-year-old, who is still feeding. He's being weaned before he's 2 although he is blissfully unaware

I think the very early years, you just have to get through. The things that have made my life easier are:

1)massively lowering my housework standards
2) not worrying about doing 'stuff' with them every day. They have to stay at home on some days and we all just potter around. It takes the pressure off having to get ready to go out.
3) getting all school stuff ready the night before. Bags packed, clothes laid out, lunches made apart from sandwiches which I do fresh in the morning .
4) bowls and cereal on the table ready for breakfast the night before.
5) prioritising pinch points like the school run. In fact, only the school run really. That's the most vital thing to get done so we leave lots of time to get shoes on and walk to school. Aim to leave 10 mins before you actually have to, .
6) lowering standards on food I give them. Fish fingers and beans aren't going to kill them.

You'll get there OP.

Mine are 13, 14, & 15 it does get easier but it's hard - get some help and enjoy what u can it doesn't last forever x

I had 3 under 4. They are now 13,12 and 9 and it is so much better. But those early years were HARD.

I had 3 under 3 and I got an au pair. More more of a mother s help. I was there but I could nap when twins were asleep. It saved me. You should look at this. My lovely girl was from UK planning to do peds nursing and it was for 6 months but broke the back of the hard times. We paid for her to fly home once a month so we had family time, and she did too. We re in Ireland. Without her I wouldn't have managed. ..

I have two under that age and I struggle. I seem to cope well and then a sickness, growth spurt or another "phase" comes and I am back to square one. Support is the best coping mechanism and having someone to talk to.

I had 3 under 2 and eldest has Special Needs. They're all at school now, and I still haven't recovered from the horror of it all.

I had a newborn, a 22 month old and a 3.9 year old and was on my knees for the first 6 months. Ds1 was an awful sleeper and infact my newborn ds2 slept through the night before ds1
It's much easier now they are older and they mainly play well together, I'm just dreading them all having GCSEs and A levels at the same time

I have have three 5 and under.
5, 3 and 1.

It is beyond exhausting. I wonder at what point it will get easier.

My oldest was a little over two and a half when my third baby was born! Hardest thing I ever did. Then when my youngest was three and finally going to nursery I got my self knocked up all over again and ended up with four in just over six years! No more. Not on your nelly. My sanity couldn't take it.

DH and I are currently debating #3 and this is kind of putting me off...!

Cozy...mine are 6 and almost 9 now and it's amazing. ..had been for 2 years.
Only because the twins didn't sleep through. ..other wise id be in bliss a lot longer. Its the best thing ever. .I'm so delighted with them and so lucky. Yup it was hard but as my daughter says "shake it off" and she's right. ..let go of stress as soon as you can focus only on the positive and you'll get through it. (My ped doc told me to walk them. ..twice a day and she was right. .even today tensions were high so we waked around the block and my lovelies were back)

YANBU. I only have two and am buggered (both shit sleepers/nappers meaning I get 3-4 hours broken sleep a night).

We don't have any support or help nearby - I'd bite someone's arm off if they offered and you should too.

Mine are now 13,11,10,9 is does get easier the bigger they get and they've always a friend in each other.

My advice is massively lower your standards too across the board. Stop organising the house, sit down as much as poss, eat with them at 5 ish and go to bed half an hour after they do.

On days you have both school and nursery, just do nothing except rest, and stay in bed - at least for baby's naps. That's what I often do.

Yes, it's exhausting. But it gets easier gradually. Funny thing is you might not notice it getting easier, but bit by bit the DC do more for themselves - one day you'll think, like I am now, 'It was soo hard when they were all little, but it's easier now'. Mine are now adults - 4 aged from 26 to 18, including 2 with special needs. It's no longer like it was last century - and hasn't been for quite some time.

In some ways it was hard still when I had 4 lots of homework to supervise - and get the dinner ready - and they were all tired & tetchy too. At one time 3 of them were all needing extra support in school. But ti wasn't like when they were all babies/toddlers.

Just focus on the essentials and let all else slide.

OP mine are exactly the same age as your 3 and I hear everything you're saying. You are amazing considering your DH is away I struggle a lot and DH works nearby, is self employed so can come home aid I really really need him to and my mum lives over the road. So please take credit for how great you're doing. I try and get out with the younger 2 when eldest at school, just the park or mother and toddler groups. I NEVER go into shops with all 3 it's too stressful I do my groceries online. I crave bedtime some days, the night terrors sound awful poor little man. I am also hoping to go back to work part time, managed full time ok with 2 but cannot see how it would work with 3! Good luck to you, hold on tight and we'll come out the other end.