Are you always shattered?

[Swirls346]

I'm always tired, like there's never a relief from it. Have one son who is 2 and doesn't sleep great and recently decided he doesn't want to nap. Hes the type that's up at 530am and sometimes doesn't go to bed till 10pm. Very high energy but generally a joy to look after.
I'm just so tired all of the time. I do work but only 19 hours a week so it's manageable. I just need an answer to this extreme tiredness. Had bloods done and all normal.
Is everyone else the same?

Same. I’m assuming it’s just life with small kids.

We were. It’s much better now DSs sleep through the night and can take themselves downstairs on a weekend morning.

Yes! I have a 2 year old who doesn't sleep well and I work 19 hours a week... I'm so tired! Feel exhausted most of the time.

Thanks for the responses. Because when I say to my parents about being tired they seem to make out I'm abnormal and say that they were never that tired when they had me and my brother.
I get a lot of comments like I moan a lot and should be enjoying him. I enjoy every bit of my son and he's honestly such a pleasure and we have such fun. But I can't help being exhausted all the time.
I think it would help if I had a child that slept 12 hours at night. He's never done that and never will. He needs very little sleep for a young child- which is normal for him. Just frustrating I guess!

Mine is 10. I am always shattered

Same here. Constantly tired. Baby asleep at 10 and awake between 5.30am and 6.30am. I'm permanently tired. I work a 40 hour week but mostly from home which helps greatly.

Yep. I work 22.5 hours plus am heavily pregnant. I do feel much better since starting to drink an Actimel and take a multivitamin though. Don’t know if it’s placebo or coincidence but I just don’t seem to be catching every tiny little bug which then wipes me out more.

Yes, I think so. Seems to be just life with young kids. My husband and I are permanently shattered.

Yes I thought it was just having young kids but my youngest is now 10 and it's the same.

For me personally I actually think it's stress and not always eating healthily enough. I am always coming down with colds etc and can't get rid of for ages.

There are some long term underlying things too that GP can't get to the bottom of.

I can relate to this. I have a 15 month old, he has never been a good sleeper. I work 24 hours a week. I also feel permanently tired. Keep trying to think of ways to make it better, I think I might just have to wait until he’s bigger!

Yes. We have a 2 year old, both work full time, knackered doesn't cover it. Think it just is how it is. She actually sleeps okay on the whole but is full on when awake and it feels like down time is hard to find. Solidarity!

It gets much much better. DS is 4 and sleeps normal hours. I'm a usual level of tiredness these days - tired after a busy week at work or when I've had a run of insomnia but not that deep exhaustion of the baby/toddler years. He's probably been like this for the last year/18 months.

Yes. It resets when they become teenagers but, by then, you have lost the ability to lie in!

I was in my early twenties when I had dd. Aside from the first few months I was never tired and I worked a fifty hour week with a toddler and a baby. (Mat leave was 16 wk back then)

I had ds at 37 I have been continuously exhausted since pregnancy. He's 8 now. He does have Sen so is more challenging but I do think my age is a factor.

Were your parents younger when they had you?

I feel like since I’ve had kids I’m a shadow of my former self. The relentlessness of parenting has reduced me to a tired, boring, unkempt version of the energetic, smart person I used to be. I love them but I didn’t expect to be utterly destroyed by the experience. Mine are 2 and 5 and I’m praying it gets better.

This is exactly how I feel. It does get better as they get older but then you are also older so feel more tired from that.
Just wish I'd known all this prior to having children so I could have planned my life accordingly!

Yep... pretty much.

Mine sleep through too so it's not even that I'm up in the night. I think it's just mentally and physically hard having a 7yo and a toddler and working full time. All the things to remember, bags that constantly need packing and checking, appointments, clubs, routines, bedtimes that go wrong, washing to be done, cleaning and tidying, drop offs and pick ups. I can't remember the last time I managed to find time to exercise properly myself as I'm either at my desk working or parenting loud boisterous young boys.

I feel like I'm tired all the time. And doing a bit of a crap job at my job, at my role as a parent and my role as a wife!

Yep. One that’s 2 and ones that’s 5. Work full time and husband often travelling with work. I often fall asleep as soon as they are in bed.

Yep pretty much every day.

I was until my youngest was 4 and in preschool 5 days a week. Now I’m just somewhat tired all the time

All
The
Time
3 DCs. Teen girl is by far easiest. The boys laugh in the face of sleep.

Not just young kids. I've 3 DC, 12, 14 & 16, a really busy job, they play sports to a high level so we are out at multiple training sessions every evening, and I'm up at 515 to exercise myself.

I manage but I'm shattered. Single parent. I sometimes pull into collect / wait for a child & fall fast asleep in the car.

People seem amazed that parenting older DC can also be exhausting.

Yes, now that they are older they also stay up later; oldest teen is responsible enough to go to bed, younger two aren't so even heading up early is not practical. I'm sometimes nearly in tears before they are in bed.

I love this thread! I have a child of a similar age and thought it was just me. I can barely manage an 8pm bedtime and I am absolutely shattered all the time. I eat well and drink plenty of water so I’m not sure there’s much else I can do