What are the hardest things about being a mum to a newborn?

[BellyBelly]

Let's all put together a list of what we think are the hardest things about being a new mum to a newborn for the very first time. I will start.

1. Realising that instinct / hidden knowledge doesn't kick in magically - being a mum is a learned thing and we are not born knowing everything about babies. (So we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves!!).

[Astrolady]

I agree with the feeling isolated bit

3 - the post natal mood swings

I still remember yelling at a 5yr old on my doorstep for banging on the door on Halloween with trick or treat. Kameron was only 4 days old and i had only come out of hospital the day before. After I yelled at the kid, I then sat on the bed and cried.

Love

[Rouge]

4. The pain you feel when you think your baby is sick for the first time, and the fact that even though YOU know. Everyone treats you like a paranoid first time mother who hasn't got a clue, and then when someone finally does listen to you, you are even more annoyed that your child has had to suffer this long in the first place. So any MTB's out there remember always listen to your instinct no matter what, if you don't feel comfortable with the diagnosis then get a second opinion. And just because your nurse tells you something...doesn't mean its always right.

*hugs*
Cailin

[Astrolady]

5. How tired you feel for those first few weeks, but you know you have to keep going for your baby

Love

[barbie-up]

Everyone tells you about the sleep deprivation, but I never thought that it would only take one night of non-sleep to turn into a monster ! And if I couldn't catch it up the following day ... how many episodes of that richard wilkins music show did i watch ...

And taking six weeks for breast feeding to kick in properly. I am so glad I kept at it.

Barb.

[katanya]

those grazed nipples from bad breastfeeding placements...
feeling like you can't finish one task to the end!

[mitch4now]

Not knowing what your baby wants eg they have been fed, changed and burped but are still crying.

Feeling guilty about not being able to breast feed, but really not wanting to do it.

Realising that there really is crap on TV in the middle of the night unless you have pay tv and then you can what some great movie, or start to before you fall asleep feeding.

Cheers Michelle

[JOJA]

1. Feeling guilty about everything from, still being in your pj's at 2pm to
not having dinner on the table when hubby comes home etc..

2. Having to listen to EVERYONES opinions on how to do anything, even
people you don't even know.

3. All that conflicting advice from midwives in the hospital re:
breastfeeding....do it this way....no do it my way....too confusing!

Jo

[christy]

ok... I'm all with the not knowing what to do after bf, changing, bath, burp etc... and STILL crying! Speaking of....


Christy

[SilverMoon]

listening to your baby cry for an hour while dad burps him and changes nappy, and you are cooking tea, only to come in and find baby laying down alone while dad plays xbox.

(after we had tea, I picked him up and sang to him for 30 seconds, and he was out like a light)

So I guess my point was having to let dad make his own mistakes when you kniw you can do it better/quicker/easier/stop the crying.

[mouse_9_2001]

for me it was the broken sleep, i dont mind getting up early but when its broken, i get grumpy, but know i have to do it for my baby's well being..

and yep totally agree when there crying in the middle of the night and youve done everything and still crying!! for joshua though he just needed a dummy, after he got that he was fine

[Ambah]

The arguments I would have with DP in the middle of the night because he was incapable of getting up even ONCE to tend to crying DS - even though I had gotten up the previous 5 times!!!

feeling anxious, depressed and alone, and not knowing how to feel better... (I now know that the answer is SLEEP!!!)

[poodleowner]

I would have to say Christian has been as close to perfect as you can get so the only hard things would be the way you seem to not exist anymore and the way your family uses them as an excuse to butt in to your everyday lives.

[Phteven]

the sore boobs when your milk comes in and for the first week or so of breast feeding. OUCHIE!!!
the fatigue, I never knew I could be so tired!!!
family butting in just when you want to go to sleep
when they cry and nothing seems to cheer them up, those unsettled days can be killer.

[Lulu]

Not being having time to sit at the table for a meal. When Mitchell was about 4 or 5 months old I let him home to have lunch with the girls. I couldn't believe I was actually sitting down to eat with a knife AND a fork at the same time. I think we just lived on toast for that long!!

[nicole mckay]

definantly the lack of sleep.
and the packing everything and taking ages to run in and grab bread and milk with a small baby in tow.
nikki

[enigma]

EVERYONE telling you how to raise your baby ( or trying to raise it for you ).. and getting very offended when you dont follow their advice.
Next time i'll get a t-shirt saying " DONT FORGET - I AM THE MOTHER "

[Jackie]

Feeling absolutely helpless when baby has been crying for such a long time and nothing you do will settle him...