going from 10 to 2...i'm starting to freak

[Srse]

The last few weeks have been so lovely being PG - lots of quality time with my husband and generally we are v excited about our impending arrival...except...i just keep thinking how am i going to cope on such little sleep!!
i average 10 hours at the moment...easy..should i start weaning myself down or am i better off just banking up all the massive sleeps before then
i know it sounds stupid and is part of being a new mother but im seriously beginning to stress how i will cope!!!

[ANTagony]

Go with your body and what its telling you. Stress about how you'll cope is natural but so many go on to have more than one it really can't be that awful or we'd all stop at one. I'm 31wks with no.3. DS2 was an all night feeder but somehow I learnt to sleep feed him on his two hourly demands and we survived.

[Mammie81]

Im a bit worried about this too - Im normally a big sleeper who can manage around 12-14 hours on a weekend. However since Ive been pregnant, thats all changed. I can get by on around 4 hours now because I just cant sleep/SPD/baby kicking me around etc

I think you do get used to it, eventually! How pregnant are you?

[choufleur]

You just do. and one day your baby will sleep 6 hours solid and you'll feel like you've had the best sleep ever.

[mubm]

It is hard, but you do get used to it. As choufleur pointed out, you really appreciate it each time your baby sleeps a bit more. Plus, if you sleep when you can during the day, you can get a reasonable amount of sleep. I got 7 a day with my first including a nap in the afternoon. Not sure what I'll do the second time around though...

[sotough]

i must admit i found the sleep deprivation pretty awful with my DS. i lasted about five weeks before deciding i absolutely had to try and get him into some sort of routine to give me a longer stretch at night, as i'm not the sort who can just power nap for an hour here or there during the day and was close to going insane with exhaustion.
we were incredibly lucky in that he began sleeping through, 7pm to 7am, with just one feed at 11pm, from 11 weeks, which has led me to believe that getting them into some sort of routine early on is the key to staying sane, if you need your sleep like i do.
having said that i've no idea how much luck was involved, and whether i'll be able to repeat the routine thing with DC 2, who is due in seven weeks.
the other thing we did, which was a mega luxury but worth every penny,was get a sunday morning babysitter for a while. she used to come in at 7am and look after him till 11am. it meant we had a lie in every week and was fantastic! i think we did that for about nine months and i couldn't recommend it enough, if you can find the money and really treasure your lie ins!

[jellyhead188]

Try not to worry about it - some babies sleep really well both my kids were doing 4 - 5 hour stretches through the night early on! if this is your first you can sleep when the baby sleeps during the day too so its not as bad as it seems. as others have said a routine really helps them get settled, both mind did 8-8 from about 14/16 weeks.

Plus although people say that you'll feel worse when the baby comes, both times I've felt physically so much better, as I really struggle when I'm pregnant. If you're sleeping well now at the end of your pregnancy then your body obviously needs. just try to enjoy the here and now xxx