To think it's not impossible with a baby

[Shrewoodle]

Housework, hobbies, work. I have a 6 month old DS, and feel like I should be able to do more than I do. How do other mums manage? Women have been having babies for millenia and getting on with it, how?? I can't stick him in a sling anymore because he screams if I'm not walking, he'll cry if put down without undivided attention. How do I get sh*t done with this tyrant who wants my attention all day (he only catnaps, no glorious hour long naps anymore ).

@JudgeJ

One adult looking after baby on their own for most of the day is hard work

Only if you make it hard work! Many of us had our babies far from family, not everyone wanted constant support, it came as a surprise to me when I realised that some new mothers had their mothers there for weeks on end! Maybe because I was lucky enough not to have family nearby I became resiliant, our first daughter was 6 weeks old before family saw her, we were living abroad, and by then I was able to deflect any 'help' easily.

Downright ignorant comment. Highly doubt OP is making things difficult for herself. OP please don’t listen to people like this who think they are more ‘resilient’ when in reality there could be numerous reasons why they have had an easier ride than you. Have encountered 1 or 2 of these people myself who are dismissive of other mothers struggles. Simply ignore.

1. DH does the housework and we have a cleaner once a month.

2. DH and I switch out having DS at the weekends and on weekdays mornings so we can do our hobbies and get some exercise in.

3. When I went back to work, DS went to full tile childcare, so his nap dodging was someone else's problem.

So I suppose get yourself a husband or wife that pulls their weight and takes on 50% of running the household and childcare.

We don't have any day-to-day family help, but we make it work. DS also has a job with fairly bonkers hours in an investment bank, but for some reason he likes doing the washing to unwind .

Ive always had a 'good' baby, she's 18m now, she's always slept well, can entertain herself, but when she was about 9 months I started a small hobby business as I was juggling all 'OK' enough to. But my god, that didn't last long once she was walking and crawling, impossible to do anything without being grabbed at, her grabbing and climbing on anything. This last week she's been screaming if I leave the room, having proper toddler tantrums. My hobby/business is just impossible to keep up now and I'm trying to look for a job (currently Sahm) plus just about to start a career change course. Something will have to give and I think it'll have to be the house work!

I think to answer your question, is we either burn ourselves out or stuff doesn't get done. Or both!