why am i so tired?

[tinks27]

I seem to be constantly exhausted.
My LO is a good sleeper at 20 weeks.goes down at 6.30 and sleeps until 5.30/6. and has been like this since about 11 weeks.
is it the early starts?
or is it just months of broken sleep and early starts?
some nights i do give her a top up in the night, like last night, as she is teething and didn't eat well in the day, so expect to be tired today! But not every day!

i try and sleep when she naps in the day, but its the only time when i can get stuff done properly. sooo crave a lie in!! even when dh does some mornings, i end up getting up cause we are in a flat and can hear everything.

pleeeease tell me you start feeling less tired.my mum joked that you feel tired until they are about 8!!

p.s am vvv grateful she sleeps so well! just wondered if you ever feel less knackered??!

Check your iron levels. I was shockingly exhausted and despite anaemia always having been an issue for me over the years, for some reason, last year I totally forgot this could be the cause. I have two very young ones (both under 2.5) and a 9 year old, but I kept thinking, 'surely I shouldn't feel THIS bad'. I went to dr's had my bloods checked and my iron was down to 60!!! That's blood transfusion time! Luckily, 2 iron tabs a day have made a big difference. I think it got so bad because my periods have been super heavy since my third. That and the fact I was over doing it and renovating the house as well... Fool.

HTH.

I agree with Slickbird - I had exhaustion due to low iron levels too, for months without realising why. Ask your GP to send you for the blood tests. Even if your levels aren't that low (mine were at the low end of the normal range) it can have a huge effect on how tired you are.

IME repeated early starts do wear you down a bit, though.

Hell, yes. I wonder if I'll ever NOT feel tired again! Early starts, late nights, middle of the nights.....aaaarrrggghhh!

:-( thanks ladies. will get iron levels checked. and will just get on with it i guess

Hmm, any other symptoms tinks? I too put my extreme tiredness down to having a 3 year old and a baby whom I was feeding and who was a terrible sleeper, but tests showed that I had coeliac disease, of which tiredness is a symptom. Any weight loss? bloating? nausea? loss of appetite? preganancy/childbirth is a classic trigger apparently.

Also an under active thyroid is a potential cause of extreme tiredness and can be triggered by pregnancy.

Gp can do a bloodtest to check and it is easily treated.

You're tired because of your kids! They'll have to go ;-)

Hi there

Know exactly how you feel - I was still feeling exhausted at the end of each day with my 6 month year old despite getting a good amount of sleep at night and not having anaemia (I got it checked out as per the other advice). I then twigged that I just wasn't eating enough during the day and so by 6pm my body was knackered due to lack of calories and by the time I ate dinner at 8pm it was all too late.

I under estimated the physical toll having a baby would have on me - particulary once you get over the initial post pregnancy period and hell of the the first 8 weeks where you expect to feel rubbish. But remember you are lugging a hefty weight around all day, pushing a pram, constantly bending down etc and if you are like me, this is a lot more physical exercise than I have EVER done!!

My DD is now a year old and there are still days when I feel unusually tired but normally I can pin point why (usually the food thing). I hope you feel better soon and do get a blood test. But also be kind to yourself if you are still feeling knackered - it is a knackering physical job looking after babies and it takes more than 6 weeks to feel normal again......

i knowwwwwwwww i will feel tired [wink} - alouisleg, just was puzzled why,soooooo crackered, when she doesn't sleep badly at night.

food it could very well be, just never seem to get the time in the day much.

god i love these little faces on here

I know, I wish I had these faces on my mobile. Esp these ones; and

I still feel tired 3 years on and DS has slept since he was 6 months old through the night. I am in constant state of tiredness due to hypothyroidism. Getting family help makes all the difference and if you are able to do this then take advantage of it.

I am pg with no2 and already dreading sleepless nights - no way am I having any more DC!!

Hi there,
i am totally exhausted all the time and my little one is nearly 2! It's due to lack of sleep - endless broken nights due to illness, teething, hunger or whatever plus ust having to keep on going each day. However I am much better now than I used to be - due to:

1. At 13 months my baby stopped waking up between 2-4am and changed to 5.30-6 am. It's now more like 7 am (this changed at about 20 months)
2. My standards have slipped - no, my house is not always spotless, i'ts never tidy but so what?
3. I got my iron levels checked and I was OK but like someone else above I was simply not eating enough for pushing a buggy, lifting and carrying constantly and trying to maintain some sort of like as well.
4. i try to catch up in the day time if it's been particularly bad.

It does get easier, it's not this hard forever - your still have a very young child and you're also learning a lot each day. I found that, at 9 months when they can sit up and feed themselves with a spoon it's a step change - the first of many in the right direction!