have just spent four days alone with 12 month old and am tearing my hair out

[mogwai]

My husband often has to work weekends (8.30am until 8.30pm with an hour commute each way) and when he does, it means I'm looking after our daughter for four straight days.

And then he gets monday off work and I have to go in

I find it incredibly isolating and soul destroying. Although I have lots of friends, they are mainly childless and they don't live in the same town. They are always busy with their partners at weekends. Over the last four days, I've taken my daughter to the beach, to a picnic organised by our church (where I found it hard to get anyone to speak to me - and I'm really outgoing), to see her grandparents, and to an ice-cream farm where she ran amock. I then took her to a country park to feed the ducks, but she slept, so I fed them myself.

Is anyone else in this position? I haven't really had a conversation for four days and I'm beginning to think I never want to have a second child. How do you spend your weekends?

Hi mogwai - I'm not in this position but can empathise completely as I know how hard it can be when you're with a little one 24/7 with no help, and with no-one else in the same position. I find it bad enough if I have just one day when I don't go anywhere or speak to anyone.

So, can't really help I'm afraid, but didn't want your post to go un-noticed (if there is such a word!)

Hi I have had days like that with my dd and ds. I always find the weekends are the worst as everybody else is busy with family. Weekdays never seem so bad. All I can say is it gets easy my dd is narly 4 an very chatty so when her Dad is away at weekends it isn't so bad now

thanks for your replies

The work is necessary as he's a doctor so works on-call shifts.

I agree, the weekdays are better, but the weekends are deathly. This weekend was especially bad, as I would normally have taken her to a beach on the Wirral, but the Golf Open was on and the traffic would have been awful, and my other option is Tatton Park, but the RHS flower show was on.

I'm sure it will get better when she can talk, but I know exactly how the mother of the child with twins felt.