Fatigue

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but can't find an active thread and don't like to dredge up old ones!
I'm 5 and a half weeks, and the fatigue is hitting me hard. The fact that insomnia has also hit isn't helping! I have a 2 year old DD who has never liked sleep, and only settles for me in the middle of the night. We've been working on that issue since birth and made no progress! So with all that I'm only getting a few hours broken sleep each night.
I'm working extra hours at the moment, and will do until I start a course in September.
Basically i have a lot on and it won't end until about 7 weeks before due date!
Any tips on coping with the tiredness? DH is really helpful and picking up a lot of the slack housework wise. I just need more sleep!

[LynseyH5]

Have you anyone that can take your little one for a few hrs? Even if it's once or twice a week it could help... I read having cooler showers may help too!
I've wanted to sleep for the past 6 weeks and do zero else but now the school holidays are here, it's hard to get a minute to pee let alone sleep!

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

We live miles from family, and not been where we are for long so don't feel I can put upon people to take her off my hands. DH works shifts so he does give me a break when he can, but when he's working we barely see him for 4 days! Will try cooler showers, thank you! Never would have thought of that.

[Whatsername17]

You need to address your dd's sleep issue again. Easier said than done, I know, but your dd needs to be able to be resettled by your dh or you could find yourself up all night when your baby is born. My dd didn't sleep through the night until she was 2.5 but once she cracked it, she was brilliant. I gave her milk when she woke in a dark room and only changed her nappy if itabsolutely needed changing. DH and I alternated going to her. She dropped the feeds by herself and I do nor regret feeding her to sleep at all. Do whatever works, but share it with your dh xx

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

DD doesn't wake for milk any more, hasn't since she was about a year. She does often sleep through till 5am, just not recently. She wakes if she's lost her dummy or a noise has woken her, and wakes stupidly early with the sun/birds despite black out blinds and curtain! She takes a while to settle even with me. Every time it happens DH tries to settle her, every time she screams blue murder till she can find me. We've tried everything. I think getting rid of the dummy altogether is the next step and we'll try that soon.
If you have any suggestions for getting her used to DH settling her I'm open to them, but we have tried a lot. I physically cannot leave her to cry it out, I'm not that type of person.

[LynseyH5]

The dummy going is a good idea, we used to get woken up with that problem with youngest. Ended up putting lots in his bed so he could always find one!

To get rid of it, we had a tea party with a few people round, found every possible dummy and gave them to little one, said "your a big boy now, you don't need these!" And let him chuck them away. This way he knew they'd gone. I've done this with 3 kids now and barely a tear afterwards, just kept saying how big they are now.

Cooler showers will hopefully make your body feel a bit more awake, rather than warm and cosy. Not cold tho as that's just torture lol.
Bedtime routine is a big thing for lots of kids, we say at 6 it's calm down time, upstairs at half past, bath if needed, pjs, teeth and then into bed for nursery rhymes (we watch 3 on YouTube, try searching little baby bum, their nursery rhymes are lovely) and then I just sit there quietly for a little while. Do this consistently and hopefully it'll become part of a happier bedtime for you all.
Hope this helps even a little

[GuruDal]

I took Pregnacare vitamins & realised they were the culprit for me.
I was much better after stopping them.

[Dutchcourage]

Watching with intrest. I'm 26 weeks and waiting for my energy to come back

I could sleep standing up. This has been the most tiring pregnancy I've had and I'm showing my age now! 😟

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

lynsey we've had the same bedtime routine since she was 6 weeks old! The times change, but the process is the same. Bath, then milk and stories and into bed. It works to a certain extent. Sadly she has my sleeping inability! Takes ages to go to sleep, wakes easily then takes ages to resettle. Since she moved into a bed and then realised she could get out (took a surprisingly long time to realise that) she's been even worse.

[LynseyH5]

Oh dear :-/ I was hoping I could help in some way. I hope it didn't come across as patronising as I certainly didn't mean it that way.
My middle son was perfect at settling himself from very early on but youngest was awful to start with, hated his cot for no reason when we bought 'big boy' beds, he went in and started sleeping through all night. How strange little things make a difference.
I wish I could help more but the only other thing I could suggest is looking up a lady called Jo Tantum. She's quite well known for helping young ones sleep, not sure if she has a book or anything but I saw her on twitter and she's become very popular over the last few years?!