Avoiding burn out

That sounds so hard, you’re doing amazingly to do all that on your own. Do you have any friends you could call on for a bit of support?

There’s nothing wrong with you, we’ve all felt that way!

Please know that you’re not a bad mum, you ARE good enough and your little boy thinks the absolute world of you! What you are experiencing is all normal but it doesn’t make it easy. When my little boy was very small we gave him small bursts of screen time (which I know is controversial) but the dancing fruit on YouTube were a godsend when I needed just two minutes to myself and to free myself of feeling so overstimulated! He also had a little Nemo playmat that he liked to lie under and look at the colours. But if baby doesn’t want to be put down then this might not work for you. Have you tried reaching out to your health visitor for advice? It could be that baby is experiencing something like reflux which is making them feel uncomfortable when lying down?

5 months here (and a 5 year old too), I promise it gets better. Sounds really tough circumstances.

My advice is plenty of tummy time for baby - the more they get used to it the sooner he will be happy on his tummy looking around (not yet, but you’d be surprised how quickly). Find a comfy spot on the floor, put a blanket down and lay with him, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

Cut corners, have beans on toast for tea, or whatever is mega easy. It’s such early days, you don’t need added pressure of a perfect meal.

And last bit of advice is just know it gets easier and just don’t put pressure on yourself right now. You’ve got this, in a few months time it will feel completely different I promise.