How is everyone else coping with three (under 5)?!

[GemmaD1]

Hi everyone, this is my first post :)

I’m not even too sure what I’m asking...I have 3 boys, aged 5, 2 & 1. The youngest two are ten months apart (the first two boys were IVF & number 3 was a big shock very soon after giving birth....!

I have managed pretty well up until recently really. I have Type 1 diabetes which is a 24/7 battle in itself for me & I just feel permanently exhausted. I can’t sleep for long at night & my quality of sleep isn’t great (my boys are great sleepers so it’s not them). My 5 year old is at school 9-3 (but the day just seems to vanish somehow!). When I have all 3 together, so weekends, holidays, after school etc, I am just finding it very hard to cope with. I’m sure there are lots of people with three young children like me which makes me feel like I am failing that I find it so hard.

I want to have lots of energy to do things with the children but I find myself exhausted (insomnia/ diabetes/ life) & I keep wondering if I have some kind of depression as lately when I wake up I just think “Oh God! Here we go again!”.

My husband is pretty good with the children but he is at work fairly long hours. At the weekends while he is great with them when the day gets going, it does always feel like it’s me who has to initially get up to sort breakfast/ nappies/ drinks etc.

Since becoming a parent I feel like I have spent 90% of my life feeling guilty that I am letting them down in some way. I guess I just want to know I am not alone?! X

You're not alone. I have a singleton (nearly 5) and 3 yr old twins and it is HARD some days. Do you have any hobbies/interests that you can do to give you a break? When my twins turned 2 I insisted I go back to my choir as, as a SAHM mum as I was then, I was going insane and just felt like I was surviving day to day and not being a great mum. It saved my sanity (as has going to work part time now that the twins are entitled to their funded hours).

Hang on in there, and make some time for you because my goodness you need it (before adding any health issues into the mix)

Thank you ButtFace, I really appreciate your reply. While mine aren’t twins it feels like they pretty much are - one is starting pre-school in April & the other in September - so I do feel like maybe this year life could get easier again. But then I feel bad that I seem to be wishing time away!

The days are just so long & monotonous at times but I know the weeks/ months/ years are short. I know I am lucky to have 3 healthy children but that doesn’t make things easier?! I’m already slumped in bed wondering how I can find the energy for the weekend! X

Hi there. I hear you. I have kids 5.5, 2.5 and 2 months. It is hard. It is hard when we go out. It is hard when we stay in. It is loud. It is messy. I am simultaneously run off my feet and bored out of my skull. I am overwhelmed. Sometimes I want to run away screaming.

We tag team when we can. We use screens more than we should, which is in itself a mixed blessing. I love school days. I love even more the days that the 2 year old goes into childcare (a blessed 5 hours a week). I love my children, but it is hard. I hope it gets easier.

I only have two but I have to say 2 toddlers at a time is really pushing me to the limits of my patience. I want another one but not until the youngest is 5.

Thank you everyone. It’s so nice to know that I’m not alone as I certainly feel it whilst we are in the daily throes of it all!

I find the hardest part where I just try and sit down for a cup of tea for 5 minutes and the 5 year old instantly wants a drink/ snack/ poo or one of the toddlers suddenly has a smelly nappy or someone knocks a drink on the floor or hits their head or two start fighting over a toy etc.....like I can feel myself almost crying! I go to the loo and everyone just follows me in. I run upstairs to take some washing up and I turn around and they’re all coming up too! All totally normal things but when it’s relentless 12/14 hours a day it can become too much to bear!!! X

Gemma no advice i’m afraid just massive respect. How do you manage your T1 with three? I have suspected LADA and have two little people so wondering what the future holds and fed up with just being told that it is fine and we will manage it. Would like to know what it actually looks like. Only if you have time and energy to reply to me. Thanks

Happy Times, I have private messaged you x