Poor DH has had terrible insomnia for the past 3 weeks - any tips?

[BettyButterknife]

I am 40+11 with our second child, and DH really seems to have suffered the past few weeks with not being able to get off to sleep for hours.

He lies awake while I'm asleep, sometimes until 12 or 1 but occasionally until 3am. DS wakes any time between 6-7am so DH may not have more than about 3 hours sleep some nights. He tends to get up if he can't sleep, and will either come down to try to sleep on the sofa, or sit and read. And he might take some Quiet Life tablets too.

Obviously the stress of a new baby has contributed to this, but can anyone suggest anything he might do to get himself off to sleep? As soon as he's asleep he will sleep until morning, it's just getting there that's the problem.

go to the pharmacist and ask for pharmacists nytol from behing the counter. It's a strong anti histamine and could help him get back into a proper sleep pattern ask pharmacist for advice

Go for a massage. Well worth it!

hi there

It depends really on the root of the problem.

Do you think it is anxiety? He could try different relaxation techniques, such as progressive relaxation where you start from your toes and gradually work up your whole body, consciously relaxing each muscle. Deep breathing can also help some people.

We have an insomnia thread going on here and lots of us have found Paul Mckenna's book "I can make you sleep" very helpful. It comes with a CD that you can listen to as you go to bed and can help you drift off.

Do you think he might be suffering with depression? Sleep problems can be a feature of depression. If it gets worse he may need a trip to the GP to possibly talk about anti depressants or a short course of sleeping tablets.

Hope he gets better soon. I know from bitter experience the utter torture that is insomnia.

Good luck with your new baby!!