5 month old baby and can't get anything done! Is this normal?

[queenceleste]

I can't believe how little i can get done at the moment. she's not a difficult baby but I only really manage buying and prep food, clearing up meals and laundry. I sometimes even get myself washed and dressed! But the paperwork!

I keep thinking other women seem to get so much done!

Its completly normal dont worry

what paperwork does a 5 month old generate?

Thanks, I hope so, dh gets back at night and can't seem to believe why I don't get much done, he's so jealous I get to be at home all day with her! sigh....
no just the general paperwork just finishing off remortgaging and the paperwork is unbelievable! i just need hours at my desk and can't get to it.

This totally normal - welcome to the joys of motherhood !
I am not sure that it gets any better when they are older... Only joking, it DOES get better, do not let anybody tell you otherwise!!

In the meantime, what you need is a sling/baby carrier. There are a confusing number of different designs and ways of carrying babies about. I found it helpful to speak to other baby carrying mothers, both friends and random woman at the local sling meet have been v helpful. Google "sling meet" and you should hopefully come up with something not too far away from you.

Sleeping baby on your back allows for any amount of paperwork, but why would you want to...??
Enjoy baby cuddles while they last.
Good luck

thnx ! i have a baby bjorn but it 's hard to do much wearing that hurts yr back with any leaning etc

Damn, wrote a post and then lost it...
...what was I saying..oh yes - it's amazing isn't it, I have to laugh when I think back to all the 'projects' I was going to get done when I was on maternity leave..my mother very kindly didn't say a word when I told her, just nodded and smiled and then asked me a glint in her eye six months later how many I'd managed to get done
Is she a good sleeper? Because really I think evenings are the only time, a laptop in front of the tv makes it all a bit more bearable. Or, you have to be really organised and break things down into bite-sized chunks that you can squeeze in during naps (along with all the other stuff). For forms etc, aim just to complete 3 items in one session, next three in the next etc until it is finally done.

And no, real life mummies can't get much more done that you are - it's only the ones that live in your imagination that are perfectly organised and efficient.

Sounds like your DH needs a day where he looks after DD completely by himself (sitting next to you when you BF, if you are, so he can't sneak off and get himself lunch, that's cheating!) It might help with the 'so what do you do all day' questions

thanks! I do try when she sleeps, in fact I just ordered a high chair and a belated wedding present in this nap time! now have to go get dressed and attack the kitchen!
ds (8) is very longsuffering at the moment, he gets the short straw but is brilliant at entertaining himself, I'd love to spend more time with him but it ain't easy is it?!

You are managing more than I was at 5 months. I didn't manage evening meals till after 6 months. Poor DH cooked once he got home from work whilst DS cluster fed all evening. It does get better though.

It's good to hear... It's the laundry that kills me... just piles and piles and piles of it..... there's only three of us and a little baby.. how can we generate these vast piles of laundry? And it's not like I change the sheets as religiously as my stepmother (same morning, every 7 days....)!

Baby bjorns are notoriusly bad for backs - if you like the structured style, look at a wilkinet, if you want something prettier try a mei tai or a ring sling.

My DS is nearly 5 months and is lovely but very demanding at the moment. He constantly wants to be either held, with me standing up, or on the floor but being entertained constantly. I cannot get anything done - he doesn't even like sitting on my lap so it's exhausting. My sling is a lifesaver, I put him in it and go for a walk! DP has to either make dinner himself or hold DS while I make it. His daytime naps have suddenly got shorter as well.

(And queenceleste, I've been living in DP's pyjamas for the past week as I literally had one outfit left clean and had to save it for the times I actually left the house, so don't worry, your laundry can't be as bad as mine! )

Oh and if you ever get a chance to read (!) get yourself a copy of What Mothers Do - Especially when it looks like nothing

completely normal. I couldn't even manage the cooking at that stage. Getting up and dressed and bf'ing DS, changing DS, looking after DS, doing the washing - these were the things I managed on the vast majority of days. I also had to do some computer work - so housework and cooking and everything else went out the window.

Then I found MN....

Completely normal. And a Baby Bjorn will knacker your back with anything above a few minutes' use; try a proper better different carrier/sling.

that's life