Support (or lack of)

Bit of a long story but please bare with… I am struggling at the moment with my 1 month old… hes fighting colic or reflux and i end up very overwhelmed and tired due to lack of sleep. Im breastfeeding which is also pretty hard. After a trip to the drs regarding little ones reflux the drs voiced their concern more for me than little one as i look very tired and potentially end up struggling with post natal depression. When asking about support i said i have my other half but not really my mum. My mum makes it a competition. Im tired with a messy house with one child… she ran a house, helped on a farm, raised myself and my brother and had a full time job. ‘On her own’. When i told her that the drs were worried about PND she told me i wasnt depressed and theyre wrong. The last time she failed to believe me on the depression front, i was horrendously depressed and my OH had to drag her to a drs appointment where the drs had to tell her everything regarding my issues and SH. She was still adamant i was ‘fine’ and she knows me better than the drs. I ask for help and she goes on about how she ‘never had help’ and ‘she had to do all these things’ but my nan did help her when my brother and i were babies. I just dont know why she makes little comments about how ‘having a messy house is fine BUT she never had one with 2 kids’. My nan did it all. But ive just got to ‘get on with it’. Just feel at a loss for help and suport as my OH is at work and does his best and my friends have their own kids to deal with. Sorry for the rant. Just needed to get it out of my system.
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Your mum sounds a lot like my mum she didn't believe I was depressed until the doctors practically forced her to understand she just used to say I had 4 kids you just got to get on with it. I have since had another baby and she isn't around much to help although we live together it's a hard one. I hope you get some help with babies colic/reflux I've been struggling with my little one he has reflux and it's hard to get him to settle after a feed our doctors have just prescribed us gaviscon so I will let you know how it goes. If you ever need a chat about how your feeling or just a rant to get stuff off your chest please drop me a message your not alone xx

Sleep deprivation is aweful. And breastfeeding is hard at the beginning. Sounds like your mum is creating more anxiety than being helpful. Focus on you, baby and your husband. Find the routine that works for the three of you. I am happy to char if you need to. I have no support either as family live far so I get it.

You are not your mum and we all cope differently. The fact that she is disregarding how you feel just because she didn’t get help back then is absolutely not fair on you. Please know you’re not alone and the doctor can prescribe meds for your baby to help with the reflux too. If it was me I’d see my mum the bare minimum and let her know that her comments are super unhelpful during this intense difficult phase of navigating breastfeeding and sleep deprivation with a new baby.

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