Are parents just absolutely exhausted all the time?

[Englishrose223]

Might be a stupid question but when I look after my neices (6 and 3) I literally feel like a bus has hit me.

All. The. Time. Yes 😂

Yes. It just becomes your state of being (mine are 7 and 4)

Yep. Mine are primary school age and I'm permanently knackered!

At the moment yes, but not permanently. I am pregnant though and I strongly suspect I may have an iron or vit D deficiency (or both) as I feel absolutely awful these past few weeks. Seeing the midwife in a few weeks and pretty sure they repeat the iron bloods then anyway though so will leave it til then.

Yep and mine are now teens

I am!

I think yes it’s tiring but not in the same way you describe. Other people’s kids are 10x harder and more annoying than your own- always

I love being a parent and only have one, but yeah, I’ve been tired for the past 4 years 😂

I haven’t slept beyond 7:30 for longer than I can remember. Even if I get some time away with work or me and DH have a weekend away, I seem incapable of sleeping beyond that time, regardless of when I went to bed!

Yes. And you don't even get peace at night.

Yes. I had 7 years of permanent mild nausea from exhaustion and sleep deprivation and I put on so much from just keeping myself going with sugar.

Yes, bedtime is my favourite part of the day! Though I will admit it’s always harder looking after someone else’s children even nieces and nephews!

Yep.
i love them sooo much but i wish I hadn’t been so old (38 & 40) when I had them

No not always. I have a 2 and 5 year old.

I sleep quite well now they’re a little
older. They wake me most nights but it’s usually a quick thing - not like when they were babies. I don’t sleep as well as pre kids. But I get enough sleep by and large. Sometimes everything gets on top of me and I get burnt out and exhausted. Mines more
mental exhaustion, not physical.

Yeah they are. But it sort of becomes the norm tbh.

Not always.

Some days are harder than others but at least I can put them to bed at 7 and know they will sleep all night.

Yup my eldest is 23 I’ve been knackered since I was pregnant with her 😭

Yes, I underestimated how physical motherhood is. Constant lifting, pushing prams, carrying car seats, carrying bags, endless park trips, following them around when they’re very little and want to walk everywhere but have no sense of danger, bending to bath them, bending over the cot, lots of cleaning/washing/cooking, holding them to breastfeed, and on top of that getting out of bed multiple times a night (for most kids as babies and some as they get older).

My posture has changed, it’s awful now. And that’s not even starting on the mental load.

I am anyway.

Honestly I was alright once DD was past the toddler age but then I went and had a second 😂

All I can say is I haven’t had a full nights sleep in 6 years.

Kinda. But other people’s children are draining in a way your own aren’t. You sort of get into a little routine. We were muddling along pretty well and weren’t knackered all the time when my were 9 and 11. Then when my eldest hit 12, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and we haven’t really slept properly since. He’s 15 now 😭😭😭

Yes, with small, tiny, teeny moments of just being stupidly tired for a refreshing change

I was until my youngest was three and a bit and then it got a lot easier and more enjoyable. I didn’t find it tiring once they started school, they were pretty easy DC.

Yes. Only 1 atm and doing a Masters while working f/t. I'm silly as I don't go to bed early enough and we're in a bad sleep phase too. I'd feel loads better if I went to bed at 8/9, but then you have no personal life/social life!

We only have one (5) so no. We have tired days but not every day. 0-3 was tiring, 4+ has been much easier.