Can’t cope with 6 month old

[Ellee72]

I love him very much but my god he doesn’t half drain me. He cries all day everyday. I try everything yet he still cries. He barely sleeps through the day anymore, and when he does he wakes up after 10 minutes. I have a great supportive partner but he leaves the house at 6:30 and doesn’t get home until 4:30. I count down the hours everyday. My family are great. My mum helps me a lot when she can as she works full time too and I don’t always like asking. I hardly have friends. And the few I have work too. Luckily, he doesn’t have any feeds through the night but he has me up every half an hour because his dummy has fallen out and he kicks off. I don’t drive so I can’t go anywhere as I don’t really live close to anything. I do take him on walks but it gets boring. I wake up every morning dreading the day as I know how it’s going to go. Then to top it off I have a difficult 5 year old who is a nightmare to get ready for school in the morning. Every morning is a battle. I know there is no solution. I guess this is just an offload.

Does your 6mo wake your 5yo? If he does, I’m not surprised your 5yo is a nightmare to get ready for school.
Being woken every half hour isn’t sustainable. If I were you, I’d do away with the dummy and your 6mo can learn to fall asleep without one. It will be murder for the first few nights, but push through it. If your 6mo really needs the comfort, he can always thumb suck.

The big thing for me would be not being near to anything and being alone with him all day. Are you having driving lessons or is there a very regular bus route nearby?

As for the crying, could he just be overtired? Have you tried the No Cry Nap Solution?

That sounds tough. I found 6 months hard, you’ve got over the tiny newborn age but then you have food to introduce and milk and sitting and and and and. It felt like a big change.
Dummy wise, has he learnt to put it back in his mouth yet? This is a key skill to work on (hand him the dummy to find his own mouth) and then put every dummy you can lay your hands on in the cot. Fingers crossed he’ll find one himself in the night!
Are there any ways you can meet mums of similar ages? I shudder to suggest baby groups because I went to some shockers, but I met a few mates and even if everyone is bonkers you can come away feeling normal in comparison!