I’m so excited, I’ve been meaning to start a pile of tips on how to manage the exhaustion that goes along with being a Mum and having babies or children, but I just haven’t had a chance until now. So today is the official announcement of my weekly tips! I’ve broken them down so that they don’t exhaust me to share, and I hope that you will pass them onto your friends so that they can help as many Mums as possible.
Ages ago I wrote a post describing exhaustion. It’s not just parents who have to handle it, often there are people with particular jobs that deal with it daily. But there is a particular unpredictability and sometimes unendingness to a parent’s exhaustion and having not slept through the night in 5yrs, I reckon I’m very experienced at it!
Curly Headed boy was a particularly bad sleeper. Things improved when I co-slept from 6 months, but he didn’t actually sleep through the night until I fell pregnant with Little Dimples and had to get up every couple of hours to pee. Contrary to my belief that the universe is kind, so after a rubbish sleeper I’d get a great one; Little Dimples has actually been worse!
Just before she was born I was contacted by Channel 4 to be their ‘attachment parenting’ expert on a sleep documentary (some of you probably saw it). I was really flattered (heh, it’s TV, of course I was chuffed!), but it wasn’t doable with Little Dimples arrival. Thank goodness! Because I’m not really the expert on sleep. I’m the expert on making sure that my sleep choices work for my kids, and on keeping myself going without body parts falling off. Plus the good news is that Curly Headed Boy (5yrs now), is a brilliant sleeper now, and I actually had hardly any of the typical problems people have with their kids and sleep/bed; so I must have got something right.
I’m quite surprised at my resilience to be honest, as before kids I was rubbish without sleep. So to all parents worrying about lack of sleep, seriously don’t; you’ll deal with it, we all do and you might be one of the lucky ones!
First I’m going to introduce you to my ONE BIG RULE: I am exhausted sometimes, but I’ve not tipped over the edge into not coping. I might teeter occasionally. But I don’t go in. If I did, or was worried that I would, then I would definitely change my strategy. I’m no angel, and I wouldn’t sacrifice my health for my children. Generally, I might not be at my peak of energy levels, but I’m doing OK and it isn’t a problem for me day to day.
So, if you struggle with exhaustion, please make sure you don’t miss a tip by subscribing to my blog via email, RSS or on the kindle. Oooh and if you want to see how close you are cutting it to going over the red line of too exhausted, sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get a free Life Health Questionnaire to give you some clues.