Does it get easier?

First time mom here, my partner just returned to work this week and it’s my first time solo parenting. We used to split the nights so we could each get 4-5 hours of sleep but I’m now doing nights alone so he can sleep before he goes to work, and also alone with the baby all day as well. Only 3 days into it and I feel like I’m constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown. My baby (3 months old) is not a great sleeper and wakes every 1-3 hours throughout the night. I’m not really sleeping at all and don’t have time to nap during the day. Baby also isn’t at the stage where he can entertain himself and gets very fussy/upset if I’m not constantly entertaining him during his wake windows which is getting exhausting. On top of all of that I’m finding it super hard to find time to pump and as a result have been pumping way less and my period returned today 😭 please tell me this gets easier?

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Honestly it feels hard because it is so so fricking hard! It does get easier, you are in the thick of post partum hormones drops, sleep deprivation and new motherhood. You completely lose any sense of normality and it can be so hard to adjust to. It'll get easier, just try to make it through the days and find joy in the moments you can find joy in. Take the pressure off yourself, you are doing an amazing job and finding it hard is not a negative reflection on yourself. Sending love and kindness your way, motherhood is the absolute best but the first year is a crazy crazy adjustment. I found it just gets better and better ❤️

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It does get easier! I was terrified when my partner went back to work after two weeks. Got so emotional that after dropping him at the train station I cried in the car. But after a while and lots of trial and error with the baby it seemed to get more manageable and finding support groups is what helped me a lot. Especially if you’re breastfeeding or pumping. They are golden ladies with so much knowledge to share. Best of luck!

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Yup my husband went back to work when baby was 3 weeks old it was hard and I cried. A lot. But he came home and was so supportive and just doing everything for baby until he had to go to bed. It was rough but I got into a rhythm and he still comes home and immediately clocks in as dad and takes over.

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Thank you all, I needed to hear some positivity this morning 🤍🤍

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It's hard, it's the hardest thing I've ever done, but it does get easier. Eventually you find a rhythm and establish a routine.
What works for me is I feed my baby on a schedule, so I warm up the bottle while I'm pumping then feed my baby right after, that way I'm never dealing with a fussy baby due to hunger.
If sleep is still an issue, I don't know what your partners schedule is like, but if you can still sleep in shifts on their days off that might help. That really helped me when my husband went back to work.

Take heart and stay strong, it will get easier

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No judgement, just curious. Why are you pumping? I found it a lot more work than breastfeeding. Also know some women get their period back quickly even under more ideal circumstances.

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If you're doing nights AND with the baby all day, I hope your husband is helping when he comes home and giving you a break. If he isn't, he should be. He gets a break when he comes home. You get none.

If he pulls the "I have to be awake and alert for work because that's our income" card, remind him that you have to be awake and alert to care for your child and that's just as important if not moreso. Keeping a baby alive and tending to their needs requires mental acuity and good judgement, both of which fall substantially when exhausted.

Make your husband give you at least one break every day. He can make dinner or something. It won't kill him (he'd have to do it even after a long work day if he was living alone, anyway).

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My baby prefers the bottle over breast, he’s very impatient and gets frustrated easily with breastfeeding. He’s also had issues with his latch sometimes. I do breastfeed him in the morning when he first wakes up and he’s sleepy and calm, but the rest of the day he takes bottles

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It’s definitely a lot more work 😭

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It gets easier! You’ll find a rhythm and a routine that works for all 3 of you. Just be patient with yourself. I always had a really hard time when I would make plans and try and get things done, and then instead I would spend the whole day with a baby attached to me and nothing got done. My best advice would be to find a way to be okay with spending your days being “unproductive” (in quotations because it isn’t unproductive to spend the day taking care of your baby). If you have a rough night and you don’t sleep enough, take a nap with baby. Take it day by day, and make time to do something for yourself. We’ve pretty much always done a trade off. Once my husband gets home, he’s on baby duty and I take 20-30 minutes by myself to reset from the day and that has helped so much.
The first year is hard. You’re all learning. It does get easier I promise ❤️

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I hope everything gets better. Going through motherhood has me appreciating mother's way more! Sending an early Happy Mother's Day ❤

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It gets easier somedays & some days are rough .. I’m home with 3 kids one goes to school then I have my 3 year old & 6 week old…. I’ve accepted my house will be abit of a mess for now & it’s only temporary. I tidy up when I can when my husband is home & that’s when I pump aswell I try to squeeze one in in the morning, lunch & evening but doesn’t always happen. My husband didn’t get much time off for each baby maybe less then a week because it’s his own business. I’ve just accepted I’m tired & now I go to bed at 8/9pm feed baby then & then I get woken at 2am

Have u tried wrapping baby? & some white noise? Also feed right when you go to bed I express & give a bottle right when I go to bed even if he’s already sleeping I give him a dream feed so his tummy is full & will sleep longer
Also during the daytime put baby in stroller & head out for a walk it’ll be good for bub & for you!!!

Hang in there!

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Sleep is so important! I never realized this until I had my first newborn. My husband went back to work as well. He always did the early morning feedings to give me extra sleep. He also would stay up later than me so he would do the last one and the early morning one. I would do it throughout the night. At that age my first child was easily entertained watching Peppa pig 😂 she did not like to lay down so I always had to try to prop her up. Every time she was laying back or down she was fussy. She liked to sit up. My second was not easily entertained LOL. She had to be with me. It was easier to get things done if I wore her. Even taking a bath she would be in there in her little chair. I remember being exhausted. But for me taking a bath before bed really relaxed me. So that was my one treat for myself I would try to do everyday.

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Every day a new challenge pops up with kids, within days you’ll see you’re no longer complaining about one thing but a new thing will start. It doesn’t get easier but you become better at coping. Also when kids grow they are no longer a noodle and become so much easier to manage but then they move a lot so there’s that. Personally my life took a 180 once my kid hit 3.5 month mark. It was a blessing. Try these things: baby wearing, don’t feel compelled to entertain your baby but make him part of your day. Also create a nighttime schedule for him, bath lotion bottle reading and then sleep. As for pumping tbh I stopped and my life became easier. But you do what works best for you. More than anything remember it’s not permanent and secondly that you’re doing amazing

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It does get easier you’ll be amazed at the difference you feel in 3 months and again in 6 months, and again in 9 months, also no one warns you about your hormones going wacko during weaning so if you’re pumping less it can really throw off your mental health, just went through it and the hormones can make you so anxious and depressed

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If breastfeeding/pumping gets way too hard or fruitless, just ditch them and use formula! That way the baby sleeps longer too. The number 1 thing every baby needs is a sane mother and ideally one with a good mood. Help yourself in every way you can to achieve that without feeling remorse.

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Yes it gets easier babies are so hard it's crazy hard but once they hit 6 to 17 months somewhere in there all of a sudden it's easy and the kid starts being enjoyable even

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I’m glad I found this group/app, reading all this positive comments give me some hope. I’m also loosing my mind with the sleep deprivation and I just have one week left of my maternity leave. I work from home so I think it would be crazy the first weeks.

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I think Motherhood has made me more bitter than I realized…

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