Exhausted, and need to know I'm not alone!!

[Steelojames]

Hi all, mother of a beautiful 7mo old baby boy.
Been a lone parent from my pregnancy....father of ds not around or worth the headache at the moment.
Anyways, I'm beginning to crack....
I love my son with all my heart, but starting to need a bit of space.
He sleeps with me, eats with me, does everything with me and I feel I have no life.
For the past 7 months he has not left my side literally! I'm sooo tired by the evenings that I go to bed when he does, wake when he does so I never get any "me" time.
He is breastfed (weaning not going to well) and as a result I can't ever be too far....
Just want to get it off my chest as feel like I'm starting to explode!
I have the flu at the moment which doesn't help!
My aim is to get him onto formula milk now so I can leave him with family members for a few hours....
Does it get easier??? Help

You know when is the right time to move him to a cot, and the routines of going to bed at certai times and staying in it until the sun comes out. It is early days, but don't despair, eventually you will get that precious 'me' time.

I have found that time in the past by going to sleep at seven, and waking up in the early hours to do some yoga and have a full hour to read and another one to sort the house and get ready for the day before DS awakes.

And please don't think you are alone, we are just exhausted and either asleep or dealing with stuff at home :-)

... And yes, it does get easier. Every year gets better and better.

bless you. yes I promise it gets easier. weaning will get better and once u can grab even just an hour or two it will make all the difference. is there someone who could take him for a few hours for a walk over weekend so u can just get your head down or have a quiet 5 mins?

By that age you can leave a breastfed baby for a few hours. Yes they might feed every 1.5-2hrs while you are around but if there is plenty of attention and fun from someone else they can manage for quite a while. Leave lots of yoghurt etc but he may well just prefer to wait til you get home.

Try it. Worst that can happen is you have to come back.

Yes it gets lots easier as they get older. Much less intense. Until the learn how to wield "why?" 4000 times a day!

I remember that well. I was exactly the same. You feel like they are an extra limb! I remember being really confused when a friend asked how you go to the loo without worrying about them (had to explain that I couldn't remember the last time I went to the loo alone!). You do get more used to it I promise and the baby gets far more interesting the more they can do!. You must prioritise sleep, agree with the above about getting anyone you can to take them out for a walk. I would have given a limb to have someone do this at times! Take any help you can get and don't be embarrassed to ask for help. I didn't do this and looking back I had a lot of people who would have been happy to let me have a nap while they played with her!

The lack of sleep is what makes everything worse, honestly. I felt like a zombie (and sometimes still do) and it is largely down to lack of sleep. It highlights everything and amplifies it. If you can catch up on some I bet you would feel a bit better. Time is the trouble as when you get some you just want to sleep, not do something 'interesting'! That can wait

Good luck - they do sleep for more than a few hours at a time eventually!