Seeing things - sleep deprivation - new mum

[OohBabyBabeh]

Hi all. Today I've noticed I've started seeing things and hearing things that aren't there. I'm not talking full on hallucinating but more like thinking I saw something in my peripheral vision or hearing a buzzing noise while having a shower that wasn't there.

I am doing all of the night feeds so not getting more than 4 hours sleep in total. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and got any tips (obviously some sleep would be great but not gonna happen anytime soon)

How old is your little one? In the first three months I had this. I would wake in fits of panic thinking the baby was in the bed. One time I ran into the front room to say the baby was on the ceiling! I felt like I was going a little crazy and it's down to sleep deprivation!!

It's awful. I then slept in the day and changed my plans so I could sleep when baby sleeps. She's 8 months now and when she has her afternoon nap I try and nap then too if possible.
Hope this helps a bit x

I did all the night feeds, with a baby who stayed in a newborn feeding pattern for 6 months , and must have averaged more than 4 hours broken sleep per night as otherwise I would have gone completely insane.

How old is your baby, and is it healthy and gaining weight well? Are you otherwise well? If you ff can someone else take over for a bit of the night, if you bf can you co-sleep safely if you aren't already?

Yes I had this. Saw things, stuff moved around the room whilst I was awake. I also woke up in the night on the rare occasions I actually got sleep (!) to a baby crying, I’d get half way along the landing (wide awake and still hearing the baby crying) and realise the baby was an auditory hallucination and my actual baby was asleep (for once!). This happened over and over again, both visual and auditory. It did eventually stop. My theory is youget so sleep deprived your brain is actually dreaming whilst you’re awake.

Also happened to me. Need to prioritise sleeping when baby sleeps over everything else. Fuck going out, fuck cooking, fuck cleaning and definitely fuck hosting anyone. Anyone who enters your home needs to wait on you

Yes, another who is or was doing this. With me it's the carpet moving in swirls and me moving to step over the dog who isn't even there. I've also lost the dog but been in the wrong room and just very disorientated. I was on about two hours a night for first three weeks.

We are now in ridiculous situation where I have to get two hours when dh comes in and then hope to get another two to three broken over the night. I haven't had a conversation with him for weeks.

Baby just will not sleep.

Wow thank you for your responses!! I thought I was the only one, and I didn't want to tell my gp on my 6 week check up incase they raised eyebrows about it. My LO is just over 3 weeks old but he's very needy and is awake every 2-3 hours, which I guess is normal atm, but he needs constant cuddling to sleep etc so I'm up for almost 2 hours then get an hour or so sleep, then up again!

At least I'm not crazy haha thank you all I will try sleep if I can

exactly the same thing here, and this isn´t my first (or second, or third). I also have the things moving in peripheral vision (with me it´s ants/insects unfortunately, no imaginary dog).
I function nine hours at work, then do the evening routine for a further three and then I have if I´m lucky a whole hour of me time. Right before a night in which baby asks for food three times (if I´m lucky) or six times (mostly). It is just surviving I´m afraid. I cannot recall the last time I slept more than two hours straight. If I close my eyes, I fear I´m falling over. And my baby is 8 months old by now, so I´m sure that the GP/health visitor will raise some eyebrows if i say he still wakes up this much. With three weeks, your still safe!

Sleep deprivation and stress can be cruel and do crazy things to your perception of reality. But I would definitely mention this to your GP and your HV and also to your partner. I have two friends who ended up experiencing postnatal psychosis, which is a horrible thing to do through. It’s very likely it’s a transient thing (I’ve had the same actually when under a lot of stress, not even related to having my dc, and was hearing creepy music playing that definitely wasn’t there!). But do keep an eye on it.

I did this. Please get support! There's nothing wrong with having one partner do all the night feeds (it works best for us), but then you need to have a few hours in the morning or evening when you can sleep and your partner (or family or friend or paid help) takes the baby. If you feed first, the baby may cry a little but they will be safe and ok and you will all be better for the rest.
It's also not for everyone but I have breastfed all 4 of mine and wish I'd coslept with my first instead of half killing myself with tiredness. cosleeping.nd.edu/safe-co-sleeping-guidelines/

Hope you can get some rest.

he needs constant cuddling to sleep etc so I'm up for almost 2 hours then get an hour or so sleep

Do look into co-sleeping if you haven't already, so that you can sleep whilst the baby cuddles (and whilst he feeds, if you bf). It's not for everyone as there can be some risks, but it can make a huge difference.

Oops, I should have read Stuckforthefourthtime's post more carefully. I second trying to sleep during the day whilst someone else looks after the baby. You need to make sure your health is ok, including no hallucinations.

I had this too, mostly in the middle of the night, with panic and thinking the baby was in the bed, under duvet, on sofa, somewhere else. Very scary. It was about the 3-6 week mark too.
A sign that something needs to change for you to find some sleep I think. For me it was in the spare room with ear phones and music, while the baby was with Dad (who woke me at agreed points) and then took the baby out for as long as possible early morning eg 6-9am (I slept much better when the baby was out of the house although I still felt I could hear him!). Harder if you’re only BF I know x

Yes, I had this with sleep deprivation in the early weeks.
Can your dh help with some night feeds (at the weekend? Or by taking dc into a different room between feeds and doing the cuddles so you get longer than a 2 hour stretch?)
Do ask for help if you find yourself struggling. Even with bf, the risks of something to help you sleep could be less than the risk of this developing into full-blown psychosis.

My theory is youget so sleep deprived your brain is actually dreaming whilst you’re awake

It's theorised that our penial glands secrete a substance called dimethyltryptamine which makes us dream. So it's possible that this is what's happening when we're sleep deprived. Causing us to actually dream and trip out. It's actually a 'drug' aka DMT and it's found in all living things.

Did they check your bloods?
I was hallucinating demon monkeys in the sky and skulls in the blanket folds! It was horrific. Knew they were hallucinations thankfully. I hadn't slept for about 3 days and they hadn't noticed I had lost so much blood. Nap & transfusion and the skulls went away!

Absolutely relentless op. Just try and take it easy, famous last words eh.

Sleep deprivation for newborn mums is seriously evil. I think people and HCP's underestimate how awful it is.