Running on coffee… anyone else?

[USleepDeprived]

Last night was another marathon of night wakings—three times up, three times back down, and I honestly feel like a zombie today. It’s like my brain is running on autopilot, and even coffee isn’t cutting it anymore.
How do you all survive this stage? Do you just power through, or are there any little tricks that helped you cope when sleep was a rare luxury? Would love to hear how others got through these endless nights.

My daughter is 17 months old now (and still a rubbish sleeper) but my little tricks for the really early days were:

During the night:

1. Have everything ready and beside you so minimal effort needed
2. I read loads of books on my Kindle during the nights, find some that really suck you in, I actually sometimes looked forward to her waking up so I could read😂 (could also swap this out for a good series on Netflix if you’re not a big reader)

In the morning:

1. Wash face with cold water first thing, I had a very very basic skincare routine but it did help wake me up
2. Have a good easy coffee machine where with just the push of a button you have a fabulous coffee waiting for you
3. Get out ASAP for a walk, even if it’s 10 minutes- the fresh air honestly makes all the difference!
4. Maybe this one is just me, but keep busy-ish. I found that I coped a lot better with the tiredness when I was distracted so I used to make plans even if just me & baby, go for lunch/coffee, have a wander round the shops, baby groups even just to chat to another exhausted mum, see family/friends etc. I found myself struggling far more with tiredness when I was at home all day personally!

It can be brutal but it really doesn’t last forever, it will pass and you just have to get through it however you can. For what it’s worth I’m now 7 months pregnant with my second so you clearly do forget how bad it was😂

How old is your LO USleep?

Get out of the house early.

Keep busy, don't linger on the sofa.

Afternoon treat. I became an expert in microwave mug cakes.

It's shit. I've been working full time since baby was 7 months.

I remember once on a Wednesday morning adding up... "wow I've had a total of 6 hours of sleep since Sunday". Didn't achieve anything that day. Except turn up to the office and stare at a screen, can't remember if I even wrote an email.

What helped me a bit was trying shifts with my partner—even just one stretch of 4–5 hours of uninterrupted sleep makes a difference. It’s not perfect, but it kept me from feeling like a total zombie.

I only allow myself 11 cups of coffee on a daily, I swapped the 12th cup for pure Methamphetamine. Been great since.

This is so helpful! I love the idea of having a Kindle ready—might make those wake-ups feel a bit less endless. And I totally agree about getting outside; even 10 minutes helps clear the head.