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felt like a bad mum...

Had a world swallow me up moment yesterday at the post natal group I go to.

Marcus had been feed, had a nappy change and a play just before and during the group. I noticed he was starting to yawn so went to put him down in his pram in the hope he would sleep for the last 15 mins or so of the group.

( Now as I think I have mentioned on here he fights sleep during the day and the only way I get him to sleep is to take him for a walk or a drive in the car. He isn't fooled by just being pushed backwards and forwards in the pram but sometimes he only needs two minutes outside of walking and he is asleep. )

Anyway there he was in the pram with it not moving and getting tired and grizzly so he then starts to wail and wail and wail. so I end up bundling him into his snow suit turning on his musical bear and trying to leave which was hard to do as several other prams in the way.

I felt like everyone was watching and thinking I was crap at this mothering lark as he sounded so pitiful.
What made it worse was we had spent the majority of the session talking about sleep problems and opinion was divided on did you let them cry or did you pick them up. If it hadn't been me it had happened to I would of thought how ironic it was. the health visitor followed me out to see how I and he was and by the time I had pushed him about 10 meters to a chair he was asleep and I just burst into tears! She is due to see me tomorrow to finish of his 6-8 week check and she will think I am lying if I say my mood is fine and my post natal depression score isn't elevated.

So I guess my question is would you guys of felt/ thought similar ie everyone thinks I am crap, or what would you have thought if you had witnessed this? Or was i just being mad and silly due to tiredness as had a bad night with him the night before.

Jillycat

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    dya know what jillycat,one of the hardest things to do is cope when u r being watched or feel like ur being watched. i HATE it when people look at me trying to settle my crying baby and i do feel inadequate and rubbish but i think f**k u and ignore them
    its hard but time is great on the old confidence

    big hugs
    xxxxx
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    thanks Holly.
    I think because we had been talking about sleep and there he was fighting it and getting upset that made it worse. Normally if I am out walking him or in the shop I can think stuff you about people looking because 9 times out of 10 I don't know them. But there it was other people I will see again and the bloody HV, Too late now but it is what he does when he gets tired and he wants is walk to settle him its his way of say "mummy take me out for some fresh air I need to sleep".

    Jillycat
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    u no ur child and i bet half of them were anxious of their los doin somethin while there too, i bet they all jus thought well at least it aint just my baby that cries ... i bet some if em have right monsters and were jealous that a quick stroll is all ur bubs needs

    its just sods law, cleverly timed on marcus' part, he was just testin to see if u were listening..OR he dont like the mummies ther and was telling em so!!

    HVs make u paranoid dont they. mine made me question if i had pnd, in the end i stopped tellin her 2 much cos i knew i was fine. iv never had a baby before, body been thru the mill, hormones, cut, stitches, not pg anymore....all really got to me and i now no i wasnt alone.remember to vent on here if ur down, its so lovely to realise everything we go through is normal

    xxxx
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    You are so not alone Jillycat! I have felt like this on several occasions! Once when Bren started crying when I was out at a shop with him and I couldn't settle him by just jiggling the pram I had to put the stuff down I was going to buy and walk out with the check out assistants watching me! Think I was bright red as I walked past - so embarrassing, and as you say within a few metres he stopped crying!!
    I would bet that the others in the group go through exactly the same things and were probably looking at you feeling sorry for you so try not to beat yourself up about it.

    As for your health visitor if she has anything about her she will understand what it is like to be a first time mum and the pressure we feel to do our best for our los.

    You are doing a great job and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

    L xxxx
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    Hi Jillycat, you are totally not alone. I have 3 children youngest is 6 months and I still feel and have moments like yours. Most of the time I don't think about what others think but some times, just like you I'll burst in to tears because of a situation similar to yours. I know that most people are thinking 'God, I've been there' and are sympathetic and if there not, well they must be perfect.
    You are doing a brilliant job!! Keep smiling, Tracy
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    You are not alone. It's a horrible feeling. If I see anyone struggling like that I have total sympathy...so don't worry - so will anyone else with a heart! It's hard work keeping it together especially after bad nights eh? Just please let me reassure you, everybody feels like this sometimes and if they say they don't they must be lying or weird! x
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    Oh dear... typical timing there isn't it!

    I totally understand and would probably have done the same thing - Cole is a bugger for not napping in the daytime and won't have a decent sleep unless we have been on a long walk. You know what is best for Marcus, you know how to make sure he takes a much needed nap and you were attending to his needs... sod what anyone else thinks - I'm sure all the other mums have done things like that.

    Every time I walk out my front door wiht a grizzly boy crying in his pram I bet the nosy old lady across the road is watching me and thinking how awful I am but I don't bother because I know by the time I get to the end of the road Cole will be asleep!

    As for the hv.. they all seem to be obsessed with pnd.. if you know yourself you are fine and just were tired from a bad night then don't let her hassle you. I'm sure my hv thinks I have problems cause I have no interest in going to mother and baby groups .. she's not gonna be impressed when I tell her where to stick her pnd questionnaire!
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    everytime my lo starts crying and i get the watcheful eyes i feel like i'm being judged and they think they can do a better job....especially when the suggestions as to why baby is crying come rolling in. Problem is the more you stress and panic the more lo feels it and so it makes it harder to console them! Grrrr... you're fine i think we all feel like that, we just have to get ourselves to the point of knowing we are doing what we know works and everyone around us can keep their opinions to theirselves coz we just don't care.... but to be honest in this situation i would imagine the only thoughts going through the other mum's heads, was 'oh thank god it wasn't mine this time!'
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    I know how you feel too but i really don't let what other people think bother me anymore. With a stroppy 5 year old, a terrible twos toddler and Gracie, sometimes all three can 'kick off' at once and we deal with it and bugger what others think. We all know our los better than anyone else and people should respect that, especially other mothers and HVs. You're doing a grand job as you know what Marcus needs. Keep it up!
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    I'm with the others - you are doing a great job and we all have days that bring us close to tears - if the hv has children (which they all should have as far as I'm concerned) then she will understand... big hugs. Em x
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    I agree with the above - you cant help thinking people are judging you when something like that happens. Imagine how i felt when i dropped Lily's red book on her head while i was at clinic - boy she screamed!
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    Oops Jane! x
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    I have moments like that too Jillycat and just try and rise above the stares etc (I probably imagine half of them!)
    Only we know our lo's and how to settle them so b****r everyone else!
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    thanks everyone for your kind words its good to know we all have the same issue worries etc makes me feel more normal or as normal as I get anyway!

    Kia- Sounds like Marcus and Cole are very similar with the fighting sleep issue I seem to spend my day going for walks or drives to send him to sleep, but oddly have found if he doesn't sleep properly during the day then he wont on a night.

    Health Visitor was fine today when she came round not due to see her till 4 months now for this weaning visit they seem to do round here.
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    Well I ended up with Cole screaming his head off in asda today! checkout lady was very nice and packed all m y shopping so i could try calming him down. I don't think the woman behind me in the queue was too impressed at the delay but tough!! I felt really mean after though cause he polished off a 6oz bottle in the car so he must have been starving poor boy! And that was after a feed before we lleft!

    I get that too at night if he's not napped in the daytime. I think I'm gonna have to take him for a walk if he doesnt drop off soon and after asda I really cant be bothered!!
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