Please give me some advice/handhold for lone parenting…

[sodoffbeforemycupofcoff]

I am parenting my DS alone. His dad is not involved, no payments, no contact, nothing. I cut unofficial contact due to DA and asked him to proceed via courts. While I am glad he hasn’t because he is inhumane, I’m struggling parenting on my own.

DS is 3, I am in the thick of it.

My social life has rapidly declined, I’m constantly saying “no” I do not get listened to. He laughs when I tell him no, so I resort to the “naughty step” which I will continue to use because it is one of the few things he does listen to.

I don’t feel like I get a break, at all. I love my DC but I feel exhausted. I can’t help but wish I had someone to share the load with. This is so hard and I fear like my MH might be declining some days. Do I resort to tablets? I can’t afford to go under. Is there something else I can try? as I say, I love DC but it’s the 24/7, waking up to going to sleep every day of just feeling exhausted and full on extreme overstimulation mode.

Do you work? I was completely on my own with my DC until she was 4.5 and honestly work was a break. It gave me some of 'me' back and also helped her being at nursery.

Do you have friends and family?

Hold in there though, 1-4 is just a period of time you survive not thrive, once they are little people it gets so much easier. I wouldn't choose to do anything over spend time with her now and she's 5 x

Does DS go to nursery? He’ll be entitled to a minimum of 15 hours, which might just give you some breathing space.

Join a gym with creche for me time and find other single mums to do days out with and them maybe eventually sleepovers - are family close by? You could ask parents to do every other Saturday night with him?

Thanks everyone. I do work and he does go to nursery. It is weekends that I struggle with, if I’m honest.

im going through it at the moment too all my trauma has flared with his dad and I don’t ever connect him with his father but it makes me feel worse that he has him as a father and I can’t process my grief and or trauma when I’m dealing with being a mum 24/7. That sounds awful because I’m a mum and they come first which they do but I think im just going through it right now. I have no one to talk to so usually resort to MN about this kind of stuff.