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Parenting

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Original poster

Finding newborn stage really hard.....does it get easier??

36 replies

crispaddict76 · 01/02/2018 16:42

I love my 6 week old boy but I am finding this newborn stage so hard. I feel as though my life is just feeding, nappy changing and sleeping. I spend my days anxious about whether there is going on to be an unsettled evening as he gets a bit colicky some evenings. I don’t seem to have any sort of routine. I’m just anxious all of the time. Please tell me it gets easier? Don’t get me wrong I love him and love sitting and staring at him and cuddling him. I’m just finding it a bit lonely anxiety ridden and relentless at the moment. Is this normal and when does it start to get easier? He is 6 weeks tomorrow xxxx

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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waterrat · 01/02/2018 19:25

Op it seems like you will never sleep again but remember newborn babies turn into toddlers in a year or so...then children! Its all very short in the span of your life....just adjust expectations for this phase and it will all pass....

CauliflowerBalti · 01/02/2018 19:27

It definitely gets easier. I could have written all your posts on this thread. I found it very overwhelming and it triggered anxiety. It gets easier. Promise.

sympatico1 · 01/02/2018 19:29

The first 6 -10 weeks are hard, and if I admit it, not very enjoyable, but then it gets much, much better and far easier. I didn't have family to help me and my husband worked away 4 days a week, so I found out if there were any 'Mums n Tots' groups in my area and went to all of them (found 4, one each day of the week, bar Friday) it was the best thing I did; you get to meet other mothers with babies and toddlers and and can talk baby talk (or not!) to your heart's content. It helped pass the time and gave structure to my week, plus you make new friends. I made life-long friends, and now that I look after my granddaughter 1 day a week and take her to the local Mums n Tots, I have met up with those same friends who are there with their grandchildren!

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chocolateorangeowls · 01/02/2018 19:33

I was exactly the same, I remember messaging my friend saying I felt bad I wasn't enjoying it. That was at 5 weeks. It does get so much better though. My LO is now 9 months and I love it. She is brilliant.

ruleshelpcontrolthefun · 01/02/2018 19:39

The first 6-8 weeks with your first baby is the hardest imo. Your life has been turned upside down. I have a 4yo and a 16mo and it is tough at times but those first few months with DD were awful. It gets easier....sort of. There are new struggles and challenges ahead but you get better at dealing with them so it will always seem easier. Having a newborn and a 2yo wasn't as hard as having one newborn.

GinIsIn · 01/02/2018 19:48

@callmybabybalonz Right. OK. Not sure why you felt the need to try and piss on my chips. I wasn’t saying that’s how every day is, for fuck’s sake, merely that there are nicer days ahead.

Today was actually a treat day for my son because he has a heart condition and had hospital tests yesterday. Didn’t think OP needed to know that part, but clearly you do.

GinIsIn · 01/02/2018 19:52

Oh I see @callmybabybalonz - you just jump from thread to thread being unpleasant to people. Advance search is a marvellous tool.

Have you considered getting a hobby...?

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 01/02/2018 20:07

Ignore Balonz, Fenella. I think she/he is just after some attention.

Your day sounds lovely

Original poster

crispaddict76 · 01/02/2018 20:25

@FenellaMaxwellsPony don’t worry I understood what you were saying by your post and it fills me with hope that in 6 months time I will have had a lovely fun packed day soon. I hope that your son is ok. Sounds like he deserved a treat day xxx

OP posts:

GinIsIn · 01/02/2018 21:02

Honestly - so many good days await you! I felt like I wanted to just run away so often in the first weeks - like I wasn’t doing any of it right and I should just leave so he could be brought up by someone better than me.

Don’t get me wrong - there are still days which require crying into a large gin and tonic, but soon you will have a good day. And then another one. And then before you know it, the good days will start outnumbering the bad.

bmachine · 02/02/2018 00:15

newborn weeks were the WORST. i hated it. i felt totally trapped and got 'the dread' everytime it approached night time as I knew i'd be up for hours on my own with her crunching and crying or desperately trying to put her down in her basket only to have her wake instantly...and in the downtime the monotony of your life just hits you in the face eat. poo.sleep.repeat

During the day when she was having a colicky fit id cry with her thinking i was the worst mum in the world for not being able to make it better.

all that is a distant memory now (16 weeks)....as soon as that first smile came at 5.5 weeks and her gut matured (8 weeks) it got a million times better ...hang in there!

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