[BlueWolf]

How do all you parents combat getting burned out?<br><br>
I'm there... fried to a crisp. And I'm not sure how to find my feet again.<br><br>
I feel like my 10 month old sucks the life out of me some days. She's definitely high needs. And DH travels M-F.

 

[rightkindofme]

Uhm, I cry and spend time in the bathtub. The first year with my daughter was really really rough. It got better though. Partially because after a year my daughter started actually liking my husband so they hung out more. With your husband traveling it seems like you need to find some kind of support network. Maybe look for single moms in your area and trade childcare one or two nights a week? You do need help. Humans are not meant to raise their young completely isolated. I don't have many people I can ask for help beyond my husband and without him I don't know how I would have managed. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
Good luck

 

[Subhuti]

It happens. I never got into an enduring burn out, but I would have a feeling of burn out in each day when my little ones were around the age of yours. My first child was a high needs child.<br><br>
What I did was make sure we spent some of each day OUT of the house (easier when you only have one child). I had a mom's group -- we met once a week. A total lifesaver from the boredom burnout feeling. We'd meet at other times too in a park or whatever. Just driving and listening to lectures while I did so was helpful.<br><br>
I also felt that I had to get out on the weekends when my DH was home. Weekends was my time for sanity.<br><br>
I tried to do things that replenished me. Away from the house. Either getting together w/girls friends, meditating, or hiking w/my dogs. I just insisted that I got time away from the kids. Because it was how I survived.<br><br>
I think when I really was at the end of my rope and had no where to go simply putting the child in the car and popping in a dharma talk (my fav thing)... that was my mental relief. An hour of driving,baby sleeping and having my mind/heart stimulated.<br><br>
Also going to cute little coffee shops or libraries where others can coo over your baby and you can have a random pleasant conversation w/a stranger ... I highly recommend that. My local library was my life boat.... I sometimes would say "How would I have gotten thru this day w/o the library?"<br><br>
Liz

 

[Grace and Granola]

When I'm burned out, I need sleep and time out of the house alone. If it's possible, I would suggest asking your dh to let you sleep in on a sunday morning. If you have to nurse first thing, do that and then pass your baby off to daddy for a couple hours so you can sleep. And then maybe later in the day when babe is napping, get her down and then hit a bookstore, park, or shopping or whatever floats your boat!<br><br>
I don't have alot of support other than my dh, but my ILs do take my boys overnight sometimes and I just sleep as much as I need to and enjoy the silence. You have to find what fuels you. What do you crave? Whatever it is, get someone to help for a few hours and do THAT!<br><br>
Oh! And once you figure out what works, don't wait til you get burned out to do it! Make it a regular occurrence so you can refresh yourself before getting burned out. It took me a long time, my boys were probably 1 and 2 before I figured this out. I started having dh put the boys to bed on friday nights and I would head out to Borders for a few hours. I did it every week! Eventually I didn't feel like I needed to every week, but I definitely notice if I stop planning for "me time."

 

[newbiemama09]

it made SUCH a difference for my mental-state to get OUT of the house, even if it meant with kids in toe. now that summer is approaching, go on walks, go to parks, or lay in the backyard, ANYTHING to get outside, get some sun, and replenish. if your babe is high needs, i really recommend taking a walk (the movement and view will hopefully keep them quite). we often have to drive a ways to find a park with trees and wooded areas, but it's worth it, especially when DD falls asleep in the car on the way home.<br><br>
i also cry, yell at DH, slam things around in the house, or demand that DH take the kid while i cook. not that those are good outlets, but i do it. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment">