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Original poster

the worst thing I have ever done due to child induced fatigue

210 replies

80schild · 08/09/2015 12:44

I feel awful about this. DS had me up a lot last night as a result I got a maximum of 4 hour sleep, as a result I am bordering on exhausted, particularly with the other one just back at school.

Anyway we went out for a walk this morning to a park which is a good 15 minutes by car. I got home, went to get him out and realised I hadn't strapped him - I had been driving down an A road at 50 and he wasn't strapped him. I still feel awful about it. I think it is probably the worst thing I have ever done. We are snuggling up on the sofa now and resting. Has anyone else ever done similar? Also, how is it people manage to not be dopy when they are so tired?

OP posts:
Lindt70Percent · 09/09/2015 11:51

I've driven without strapping the car seat into the car - more than once.

I also put the cat's eye drops in the baby's eyes once. They both had eye drops at the same time and DH (yes, I'm blaming him) handed me the wrong bottle. We phoned the pharmaceutical company who told us they were actually the same product so it would be fine although they wouldn't recommend sharing medicines with animals. Yes, yes, we hadn't intended to!

I'm sure there were many, many other things I did in a sleep-deprived fog.

TheGirlAtTheRockShow · 09/09/2015 12:49

My worst was leaving the front door open all day. DH came home from work to find it, luckily nothing stolen. He was less than impressed!
Many other little things. I was sure I was seeing to DD but couldn't understand why she was still crying. Then I woke up....

AdoraBell · 09/09/2015 16:56

I tried to move food that was stuck in the blade of the food processor with a knife. I forgot to the machine off though.

That was the day I decided that if I am tired cheese and crackers, or anything else doesn't involve sharp implements or heat, is a decent dinner.

summerdreams · 09/09/2015 17:07

Ive forgot my sons name and date of birth numerous times and had to do the long mmmmmm...

Screamed at my dog to shut up calling it my sons name.

One very memerable time in a&e when my son was very young around 3 months I was in a mess as he'd been screaming for around 5 hours I wondered why the nurse doing his obs was giving me a funny look id been saying shshsh your such a brave girl over and over for about 5 mins

I remember a midwife waking me when my son had been put in transitional care after 3 weeks in the nnu because my alarm was going off for half an hour Blush the alarm was to feed my son.

Once my mum managed to come in my bedroom take my baby in with her and I woke up not even wondering were he was and only when I saw them did I realised my baby was missing, that really upset me that I didnt know someone had taken him because i didnt wake to his cries

CigarsofthePharoahs · 09/09/2015 17:12

I have forgotten to put ds1's car seat in properly twice. He was strapped into the seat, but it wasn't in properly. Also got it wrong when he was a toddler too. Dumped him in the back, but took me a few moments to realise what was wrong.
Not only was he not strapped in, but his seat wasn't even there! I'd taken it inside the previous day to clean it.
My second child has a hit and miss relationship with sleep. During his first few months it was a common thing to find a mug with a tea bag in, another mug of cold tea and yet another in the microwave. Don't think I managed to drink a whole one at all.
The worst thing that happened was when I was pg with ds2. I was 7 months, not sleeping and borderline anaemic so I was bloody tired. Dh decided he wanted to drive to work one day, but I needed the car that day so I had to get myself and ds1 up in about 5 minutes flat so I could drop dh off. I did not get time for breakfast - big mistake.
On the way back home, I forgot my left from right and pulled out at a roundabout when I should not have. The oncoming car missed me by about a millimetre.
I told dh about it and his unhelpful comment was "Well if you don't feel confident to drive, just say so." I told him I was sodding confident to drive just not on an empty stomach and if he couldn't cycle to work then I needed more than five minutes notice.
Still wasn't as scary as when ds2 had bad bronchiolitis with vomiting. I had pretty much no sleep for two weeks and I was paranoid and seeing things in my peripheral vision that were not there. If ds2 had been any slower getting better....
The funniest was what dh did. He was always the one to put odd stuff in the fridge and he also put his dinner plate in the bin too. One day, he walked in, picked up a tissue and proceeded to wipe my nose with it. He went to throw it away, came back in and told me that he had no idea why he did that as he'd actually intended to wipe ds2's nose, who was sat on my lap.

summerdreams · 09/09/2015 17:16

Oh and wen my son was around 6 weeks luckily my mum had take him for a walk, the door bell rang and I had to sign for a package I let my flat door open but it slammed behind me leaving me trapped in my house but locked out my flat as all my neighbours were at work and I was dieing to go toilet and only in a dressing gown I found an old black sack with clothes I was meaning to give to charity. So I threw on an old woolen dress with my slippers no bra, knickers or tights it was freezing I looked a state 6 weeks post birth saw everyone of my neighbours as I tryed to run round discreetly to my sisters house in the next street. That was an especially low point Grin

DeputyPecksBentBeak · 09/09/2015 17:24

Reading this thread has made me broody Confused

NKFell · 09/09/2015 17:32

Haven't strapped in a few times. One time I only realised when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw DD2 walking past!

Put dog food in the washer- it was scoop mix up.

Put Aptimil in the dishwasher- no excuse.

Went into a leisure centre to pick DS6 up with DD2 and newborn in tow- he was at a different location 20mins away.

But my piece de resistance has to be when DD2 slipped out of my hands when she was about 6 months old- I was shattered and full of cold lifting her out the bath when she slipped right out of my hands and slid back into the bath (in a waterboarding way) at such a speed she slid part way up the other side feet first. She was fine, I mean look, this is the same child who can walk steadily around a car doing 70 on the motorway Blush

ThomasRichard · 09/09/2015 18:27

I always used to nap in the car if both DC had fallen asleep. I thought that was normal! I was slightly embarrassed though when a concerned neighbour rapped on the window to see if I'd died. My seat was upright and my mouth was wide open Blush

I've also forgotten to turn DD's car seat around, leaving her legs jammed up against the door. I never forgot to steal her car seat into the car though; I'd learned my lesson after DS1 and insisted on getting a base.

RomComPhooey · 09/09/2015 19:12

This thread has reinforced something for me. I was always convinced the 'baby on board' signs people have in their cars were there to warn other drivers how hazardous the sleep deprived driver might be, as it seemed the most sensible reason. It's only since I've joined MN that I've learned its to alert emergency services there might be an infant in the back if there's a crash.

I have also now remembered that sleep deprived DH managed to bend another car's open door back on its hinges reversing out of a space at the tip when DS1 was about 4mo old.

PegsPigs · 09/09/2015 19:27

DH and I have left the car door of DD1 wide open 3 times after getting her out. Got back to the car and realised! Glad we only seem to go to nice places Shock

BitOutOfPractice · 09/09/2015 19:31

I bet theslow cooked dinosaur was tender though - met just fell off the bone! Grin

girlandboy · 09/09/2015 19:39

Dropped DS in the middle of the night when he was less than a week old. I tripped up a step into our bedroom and he just shot out of my arms. He rolled the full length of the bedroom! I then proceeded to try and find him in the dark and without my glasses on? Why didn't I switch the light on?

Also I drove into town, parked the car, did the shopping and then caught the bus home. I only realised when I got home and wondered where the car was. Had to catch another bus and retrieve the car.

PorcupineNecktie · 09/09/2015 20:10

Oh featherandblack thank you so much, the parking space thing is exactly the kind of trick my brain plays all the time! I feel less alone now! Grin

I was staying in a hotel (without DCs) for a work conference. Abroad and had arrived the night before so was jetlagged and also conference required an early start. Got up, did basic toiletries, did my hair, put on make-up, put on socks & shoes, opened hotel room door, thought 'Oh it's a bit breezy', looked down and realised I wasn't wearing any clothes. It was like one of those nightmares, except real. Luckily no one saw!

We'd been living in the middle of nowhere for a year and then moved to a city for ease of commute etc. Left work, automatically got on a train, got off the train at the other end, got on local country bus, got off bus, walked half-mile across fields to old house, thought 'That's not DH's car'... realised I'd gone to old house.

I also regularly shampoo my hair several times (I think) as I can never remember if I've already done it.

And whilst typing this I thought "Something smells like it's burning" and realised I put parsnips in the oven a long time ago. Bit scared to go and look.

Pleaaase can this one go in Classics? It's making me feel much less alone! Wink Grin

Squishyeyeballs · 09/09/2015 20:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OffTheCoffee · 09/09/2015 20:54

I signed for a parcel with one boob hanging out. I was so tired that when I noticed (mid-signature), I decided to style it out, finish the parcel transaction and exchange pleasantries. Poor old postie never looked me in the eye again!

Burnshersmurfs · 09/09/2015 21:58

I used to drive to work with one eye shut at a time, in the hope that it would allow each half of my brain to sleep in turn.I did this because I had seen a documentary which told me that was how sharks slept, and I was desperate enough to try it.
I also used to boil dd's bottle to sterilise it, and ended up boiling the pan dry and melting the bottle AT LEAST once a week for 4 months. I was just too tired to think that I should probably buy a proper steriliser.
I love her to bits, but she didn't half put me through it....

tumbletumble · 09/09/2015 22:12

I remember crawling around our bed looking for the DC1 in the middle of the night. DH woke up and asked what I was doing, I said 'where's the baby?' and he said 'er, in his cot'.

But the worst thing, the absolute worst thing, was when I put DC3 in his car seat down on the road (country road with no pavement) in front of the car while I got DC1 and DC2 into the car, then switched on the engine and so nearly drove off over DC3 Shock Blush

hornetgirl · 09/09/2015 22:34

I once fell asleep feeding my baby and woke up as she dropped off the edge of the chair onto the floor. She was fine thankfully.

Fuckitfay · 09/09/2015 22:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsHathaway · 09/09/2015 23:05

So many minor things I scarcely give them a thought.

We coslept with DC2 and DC3 as tinies because the sleep deprivation with DC1 had been so horrific. For the first month or so he had all his feeds expressed, and fed round the clock every 2 hours. I'd feed and settle him (an hour) then express the next feed (another half hour) and snatch maybe thirty minutes before the cycle started again.

As I say, we didn't cosleep with DC1 because of the terror of SIDS. But several times I half-woke thinking I'd fallen asleep feeding him, and he'd rolled on to his stomach. So I would desperately try to roll "him" on to his back, panicking that he had suffocated.

DH was unimpressed. He is 6'7" and at the time was probably 18st. Being mistaken for a newborn wasn't good for his image.

DogWalker75 · 09/09/2015 23:17

I've forgotten to strap DS into the car seat twice. I also drove to the supermarket, walked home and wondered who had stolen my car off the drive!!

SistersOfPercy · 09/09/2015 23:19

I also call dd by the dogs name.
I type 1471 into the burglar alarm.
I froze my purse.
I poured orange juice onto my weetabix and milk into the glass.
I put the dogs food out and licked the spoon.

Ladies, these are all recent. I'm 41 and dd is 18. If you think it's going to get better I'm here to tell you it ain't. Grab a glass of wine and laugh about it, assuming you remember where you left the corkscrew.... Blush

DogWalker75 · 09/09/2015 23:20

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and panic that DS had fallen out of bed/wriggled under the duvet. I once mistook a soft toy at the bottom of the bed for DS, and felt awful that he had nearly fallen out of the bed. I never co slept and he was fast asleep in his Moses basket on all of these occasions Blush

OfficeGirl1969 · 09/09/2015 23:33

Variously.......

Tried to make a phone call using the tv remote control.........
Put my contact lenses in, then put another pair in because I'd forgotten putting the first pair in....then been confused as to why I couldn't see......
Put a plastic basket of ironing on top of the cooker and switched the hob on......melted plastic everywhere, smouldering clothes, cooker ruined.......Shock
The car keys were once discovered in the freezer. I never did find out if that was me (permanently sleep deprived) or XH (permanently pissed) Confused