Postpartum insomnia? Tell me I'm not alone

[jHarls]

Hello, so I'm 6 weeks postpartum.. and I'm really struggling with sleep, I've been lay here now since my baby woke up at 2.30am for a feed..
My little one sometimes sleeps sometimes doesn't, but I think I'm struggling with a insomnia, I've always been am anxious person and not the best sleeper but it's never been this bad so I'm definitely putting it down to just having a baby and the hormonal shift.
I had a really bad week with my baby last week where she literally wasn't sleeping, in 6 nights I'd probably say I had no more than 20hrs sleep & I kinda feel like it's made me dread bed time, its triggered my anxiety when it comes to bed time I'm constantly just lay there waiting for her to wake up, she seems to be a really restless sleeping, jolts a lot, grunts, heavy breathing ect so I'm always on edge but then as soon as I realise it's getting really late I then start to panic about not sleeping which results in me not sleeping. I have another child who's in school so no matter how little sleep I get I have to be up to get her too school.
The sleep I'm getting is definitely not enough to survive on, it scsres me into thinking I won't be able to cope or what if it effects my mental health & I become depressed! Like now I've had 3hrs sleep.. my LO has just fell too sleep now & my alarm is due to go off in an hour 😭 I think the whole point of this post is I just want to know if I will survive this or is there others the same as me? I generally feel ok in myself but I'm just beyond exhausted & scared about the lack off sleep I'm getting!

I was the same. Co sleeping helped me feel more relaxed. The first 6 months were the worst then it got better. I had to take anti anxiety tablets amitriptyline for a year. I'm ok now 4 years on. It's truly awful but it will pass.

And I had a second baby who's now 2, didn't have it second time round. The thing with anxiety is it feeds off your fear. I wasn't stressing about not being able to sleep second time round as I knew it would pass and baby's sleep would improve. I was also having sleep paralysis due to lack of sleep and anxiety. Insomnia like you. I couldnt nap when he napped etc, was breastfeeding so couldnt hand them over for a feed, made myself a bit of a martyr to be honest. Mine kicked in at 4 months postnatal and improved at month 6, so 2 months of it been bad. I didnt want to go on holiday but did at 6 months as he slept slightly longer periods , did me the world of good. It will get better

I had this too. I’m not sure when it improved but DS is 5 months now and I’m sleeping fine (except for being woken every 2 hours)! It can be hormonal, same reason menopausal women get insomnia and in that case will improve as your hominem settle after birth. I did read that it can continue for as long as you breastfeed but thankfully that hasn’t been the case for me.

You are not alone. I wrote a post very similar to yours around 3 months ago! My baby is 6 months now, I had insomnia massively too for same reasons you say. What helped me is not forcing myself to go to bed early (I used to go to bed at 8pm to try and ensure I would get sleep which would have the opposite effect as I would lay there for hours and get so frustrated and annoyed and it would stop me sleeping even more). Also what helped and this is probably contraversial for some is sleeping tablets - sounds awful I know but hear me out. I got over the counter ones (so not that strong as non prescription) called sominex, and when I took them first few times my husband was there or looking after baby all night so I could see what effect they would have. I soon realised 1 whole tablet was too much and then went down to just 1/4 of a tablet. Works like a charm, it's enough to make me feel drowsy enough to sleep and go back to sleep after I've been woken by baby, yet awake enough to still easily be woken by baby and do night feeds etc . It helped me a lot

Yes, I was exactly the same. It was truly horrendous and I feel for you.

I had this too and it was terrible so you have my sympathy. It was worst for me from 3-4 months but I wasn’t breastfeeding by then. I do think there was a hormonal aspect as I was also getting night sweats at the time it was worst. I was desperate and tried various things like vitamins and magnesium supplements but I think the only thing that really helped was taking sleeping pills for a week or so while my husband did all the night wakeups. We are now at 7.5 months and I have been sleeping much better the last few months without taking the pills. I hope it will pass for you too as it truly was awful. My doctor also suggested anti-anxiety meds (citraline) but I didn’t feel it was the right thing for me and I would have needed to commit to taking them for at least 6 months but it might be the right option for others.

I was the same with both of my children. I had to get medication as I did not sleep AT ALL for weeks and it made me start hallucinating and feel really very unwell. Please make sure you seek help and PM me if you need any reassurance as it was a really difficult time for me and would never want any one to feel alone with it. I am out the other side now. You will get through this x

I was the same a d also didn't have it second time round. Things that helped me tough were avoiding all caffeine and having some valerian tea before bed. I definitely had awful anxiety with my first but I didn't seek medication. I was sleeping better by about 10 weeks with a few blips up until 6 months then I was pretty much fine.