first time parent in shock

[Ettenna]

OK I know that it's naive and laughable but I truly had NO idea just how utterly knackering having a new baby is!!! I feel like the walking dead and I can't believe that there's months to go before it gets easier! My little boy is absolutely gorgeous and I love him to bits (born March 19th) but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the 24/7 nature of caring for him. Did/does anyone else feel this way? Has anyone got any pearls of wisdom about coping on almost no sleep for weeks on end? I have this awful fear that I'm going to just literally conk out one day and DS will be left screaming with a comatose mummy next to him!

(Those of you with twins or more - respect!)

thanks all..I guess my raging hormones aren't making it easier at the minute. he is adorable though. another question: did you LOs feed all the time? Mine doesn't do big sessions, just constant snacking, ALL day sometimes it seems. And he seems to think that napping is for wimps!!

Yes, my first was like that. It was quite hard work and exhausting. It got easier though, I think (it was 5 years ago and I have pg brain again) I simply had to make him go longer between feeds - I think I took him for a lot of walks!

When it got too much I attempted to take control and get him in a routine about 8 weeks I think it was (had a lot to do with me feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope) - but that's not for everyone.

I promise whatever you do, it will come good!!

Ettenna, maybe it's March babies, DD (3 on 18th March) was nicknamed 'Snackmonster' at that age (amongst other things) and never really got the hang of naps. I now realise that she was stocking up on calories for her second and third (and maybe fourth) years when she would eat only under extreme sufferance ... but more seriously I now realise that my belief that babies are supposed to have 'formal' naps at that age was completely misplaced. So many seem to go through really random sleeping habits before settling into nice napping patterns towards a year, and after. I wish I'd realised in those early weeks that survival was the only goal, and that naps and feeding routines and leaving the house were just niceties that could WAIT.