Mentally drained, lack of sleep

[Babymumma01]

Hi all, i’m a ftm and I’ve just got used to the sleepless nights more or less, eventhough throughout the night i’m like a zombie and do get a bit emotional on some days. But this is what i wanted to mention... its more taking a mental toll on me. It’s making me feel like i’m a bad mother because some nights I just get so upset, I feel my baby feels how tired and sad I am and no mother wants that. I know this is all because of lack of sleep. Did any other mothers think and feel like this? Throughout the day i’m up and running and doing all the house work and catering for baby and I am fine, it’s just the nights when he wakes for hours

Ive done a little search of your posts because you don't mention how old baby is, and I see baby was born end of June so still a very little newborn.

The steep learning curve of the first 6/12 months is massive and you would be more unusual to not be overwhelmed first time around.

So what to do?

Firstly you:

Stop rushing around. Your days need be nothing more than sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and eating whatever is easy while you deal with baby. Nothing else - Nothing else - needs to be done in the daytime.

For Baby:

Look at settling methods to make it easier to put baby down to sleep. Primarily - tight swaddle and dummy. These two into natural comforting mechanisms (sucking and recreating womb conditions).

Lower your expectations.

Don't take anything personally

• all babies are difficult to settle
• all new parents find it hard to adjust