Where do you find the energy!

[Powelly]

Well, it's just past midday and I feel like I need to go to bed and sleep! This has been me for the last couple of months. I have a bounding 19 month old DS who doesn't stop (except to have perhaps a one hour sleep all day). I have been sleeping so well at night but feel continually buggered! And we are contemplating having another baby in a couple of months. I don't know how I'll manage a pregnancy with a toddler, let alone having another baby! So am I the only exhausted parent out there? I'm not depressed, have a supportive hubby, and do have a very busy life but argh, I just want to feel like a 30 year old, not an 80 year old!

Anyone else out there felt this way and how do people manage having more than one bub.

[my-three-monkeys]

I won't lie: I have a nanna nap nearly everyday or I wouldn't survive!

And Yes, the washing does pile up, and the toys are spread from one end of the house to the other, I can't even remember where the vaccume lives these days.......

But at the moment it gets me through.

[C~Q]

For me its if i'm busy or not...days when i'm teaching or I have loads to do then i'm on fire, but if there's a day where nothing is pressing and I can laze around the house then i'm exhausted.

Thats not to say it might not be a health problem though...might be best to go to the Drs and get some blood tests done to rule a few things out.

Also exercise and fresh air help boost me up...do you get outside much?

[Lulu]

I just keep moving, get everything done and remind myself I can sleep when I'm dead......

Seriously, I do keep on my toes all day so there is not much time to be tired, I sometimes have 20 mins sleep on the couch during playschool (any more than that and I feel worse) - but if I keep moving I feel fine.

[Lolli]

I'm a nanna napper too. I nap every day when the kids do, then saty up later atnight while they're asleep to get things done.

It's actually not that much more work, having two. What you do for one (like bum changes) you might as well do for two while there, kwim?

[Cassius2]

20 mins sleep on the couch during playschool (any more than that and I feel worse) - but if I keep moving I feel fine.

this is what i do! i find if i sleep any longer then i wake up a real grump bear and no one can come near me lol! but the little nanna nap on the couch while DD potters around with playschool on just does the trick of taking the edge of tiredness.

i also recommend getting your iron levels checked. it's really common for girls to have low iron and a simple supplement can make all the difference!

[girlonamission]

I'm a fan of the nanna nap HOWEVER my DS1 has decided he really no longer needs day sleeps, so I can't remember the last time I had a nanna nap.

Even when DS2 came along I found they very rarely were asleep at the same time as each other, so for the first 6 months or more of DS2's life, I was like a zombie. I don't know how I survived looking back, but I did. And you will too!

I think I found that as time wore on, I gradually became slowly used to surviving on less sleep, and even now, although I feel tired, I reckon if I did have the chance to lie down for a snooze, I probably wouldn't be able to anyway. I was only commenting to DH the other day how even though I get tired, I seem to be coping a lot better than I used to. DS1 is such a full on kid, he always has to be on the go, and is so hard to keep up to. But like I said, you slowly learn to adjust, you just have to give it time. I agree with Lulu, sometimes you just have to keep on moving

And until then, take advantage of the odd nanna nap whenever you can!

[ladybird11]

I swapped my nana nap for exercise and it gives me tonnes more energy!

[Lolli]

I swapped my nana nap for exercise and it gives me tonnes more energy!

I do both we go for a half hour walk each morning and it works wonders. Using energy creates energy and fresh air, sunshine and exercise are guarenteed to wake you up

[Sopdet]

Firstly I would go and get a physical, bloodtest etc to check that there is nothing physically wrong.

I agree with the exercise comment. When I'm not doing any exercise, I am a gluggy all day.

Maybe you could take your DS for a walk mid-morning, to a park or something like that, so you both get out and get some exercise together.

[fionas]

Yep, get your iron checked. I'm a zombie if I don't take iron tablets but on fiiiiiiiire with them

[Powelly]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies! It's nice to not feel alone in the "always tired" stakes! To answer your questions, I have had all blood/sugar etc tests and apart from having lowish iron all is ok. I was almost anaemic for 7 months following DS's birth and was subsequently on iron tables for 9 months. My level a month ago was down from 95 to 60 again so maybe I should just take a supplement again for awhile.

I do two hours of walking each day, even if I'm working (work 3 days a week). I love my walks and feel crap if I don't do it and sometimes it perks me up, other days I feel like I want to roll home asleep! haha

All of you have a good point! Think I just have to keep on rolling. I am a hopeless daytime sleeper and my beautiful DS doesn't sleep long enough to allow for one. I can't wait to have another bub and know there will be a time (probably many years down the track) when we won't all be exhausted! haha

Thanks again!!

[Cassius2]

yeah with the iron thing my GP reckons that if you had some significant iron issues then you should be on extra supplements for at least 12 months...iron is a really tricky one to get back in reserve because our bodies only use miniscule amounts from the tablets we take. and taking with vit c helps to get more iron from them too...so swallow back with some OJ!