Can mummies get overtired too?

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

You know what they say about babies being too tired to sleep? I've got it too. Ds is up at 2am and 5am and I have lost the ability to fall asleep in between. It is getting worse and I am exhausted.

Please help.

[ches]

The cure for overtiredness is more sleep. Start napping if you can't go to bed earlier.

[pinkmunkee]

I've had the same problem- I find sudokus really help. They're suitably boring and seem to sooth my brain. Also stops me lying there thinking 'Aaaah! Why aren't I asleep!!!'

[ChirpyGirl]

DH can always tell when I am overtired as I start gabbling and get hysterical (as in giggly and over the top) and also quite petulant
His foolproof method of checking is to tell me to go to bed, if my response is
'I don't want to, I'm not tired'
then I am overtired, adn at that point I realise it too.

[Mumlikeu]

In response to the OP Yes we can get overtired too. i should know! All i can say is try and get some rest whenever pos. Easier said than done i know!

[Jun]

I used to have this problem when pregnant and a friend advised me to hoild each finger in turn. You should be able to feel your pulse and when you feel it might be slowing down move to the next finger.

It sometimes works!

[babyOcho]

I am also knackered but finding it increasingly hard to fall back to sleep after DD wakes in the middle of the night. It's driving me crazy.

[ChirpyGirl]

How old is your DS? I find that when I am really exhausted I get the DD's to nap together and have a kip myself, and then go to bed at 8 once I know they are going to sleep for a good few hours, sad I know but it only takes a decent night to get back on track.
(by decent I mean 8 until 3am which is when DD2 wakes up)

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

I tried napping today and lay there for 30mins awake - aargh. Thanks for all your replies. You are all v. wise. I will try the finger pinching / su dukos tonight and an early night as soon as I can.

[pudding25]

I had exactlyhe same problem (always been a bad sleeper). I ended up at the drs and got prescribed a very mild dose of a certain anti -depressant which is used to help relax. They are amazing. I don't take them ever night now but when I am feeling really stressed out, I do. I was at the stage where I was not sleeping at all, just lying awake waiting for dd to wake up and then not going back to sleep again once she had been fed. You can take them while bf too.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Thanks pudding - nice to know there is a "get out of jail free" card if needed.

I had a really big cry last night over hunkermunker's breast feeding thread. It was incredibly carthartic and after a glass of wine I slept really well and ds didn't wake til 4.45am - whooppee.

[BroccoliSpears]

Try holding your tongue in the middle of your mouth, not letting it touch your teeth or the roof of your mouth. Really works for some people.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Lol brocolli. I know you mean it but still LOL.

[BlueChampagne]

You betcha - Mummies need a bedtime routine too. Try Dr Stuart's valerian tea (but take advice if you're BFing). Or what about a baby/toddler yoga class to get some relaxation techniques? Much sympathy.

[pudding25]

Oh, maybe a big bottle of wine is the way to go [grin}

[Pinkjenny]

I feel your pain . Dd went to sleep after a two hour battle last night at 9pm, and was awake between 11.50pm and 1.45pm. I'm shagged.

And so much more inclined to lose my patience, which makes me .

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Pinkjenny - I feel for you. It's hard to be the mother you want to be when you have been sapped of all your energy. I highly recommend having a good cry about something - I feel like a new woman now.

[Pinkjenny]

Funnily enough, I was just walking around Asda talking to my mum on the phone, when I realised I have the most enormous lump in my throat.

I just want to do what's best for all of us, and 18 months of bedtime battles are starting to take it out of me.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Oh Pinkjenny. You're bound to be at breaking point if you've been struggling that long. Have you sort any professional help? I have friends who did after 18 months and never looked back. They just wished they had done earlier.

[Pinkjenny]

I have spoken to the Health Visitor, who told me to do CC. Also I spoke to a service called Sleep Nannies, who also told me to do CC, and said they would come and help me for £750.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Oh - that's not great is it.
I actually have done cc but there is no way I could do it with an 18mo - It'd really upset me.

I think my friends were advised to do one of the gradual withdrawal methods. The main thing that helped them though was changing the bedtime routine. They were told to get really strict as it was dragging on for ages with endless stories. I think they were allowed one hour from getting in the bath to having the light out and dc in bed. (It might have been even quicker). They are forever teasing us about doing too many stories but we never had the problems they had with our eldest. They went privately but I think it cost the £200 not £750. I could find out more if you're interested.

[Pinkjenny]

That would be great, but is it a London based service? I'm in the North West. It has (as my mum predicted) become harder and harder as she has gotten older, as now she's in the cot, begging me to take her out.

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Afraid tis indeed London.

What has changed? Did you used to co-sleep. or breastfeed at night?

Our dd2 is 18mo and we have just come through (I hope) a really difficult patch with her sleep since ds arrived. We ended up going in every few mins and telling her "it's bed time go to sleep." It was really hard but we got there and the problems had never got too ingrained.

[slim22]

why did you think there is always someone here at ungodly hours?

[Pinkjenny]

Nothing has changed except a couple of nights where I allowed her to have her bottle in our bedroom, as opposed to her own. Now she won't entertain going back in her own room and as soon as we venture towards the door she starts going beserk.

Why, oh why, did I do it!!

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Just another idea - is she warm enough?