How to cope with lack of sleep?

[CathyandHeathcliff]

I know it’s inevitable with a newborn but I didn’t realise how debilitating this would be.
My baby boy is 5 days old and me and my partner are really struggling. I’m breastfeeding, but because I had a c section, my OH is doing lots of other bits.
When I do fall asleep, I wake up panicking whether he’s breathing etc.
He does sleep in his next 2 me overnight, for a few hours at a time, then up for a feed. Occasionally he won’t settle unless he’s in the bed with us/on me or my OH. I have woken up a couple of times with him in the bed laying right next to me. It’s so scary in those few seconds when I wake up and make sure he’s okay.

Any tips please? Feel so exhausted, I’m near tears a lot of the time.

Sleep when he sleeps, forget about the housework, cancel any unnecessary activities. Don't make any plans, this phase will pass.

@joopy79 I just find it so dfficult to sleep during the daytime.
Also the Midwife keeps making me appointments. Today I had to go to my local town to see her at the GP surgery, on Friday she wants to me attend a breast feeding clinic and on Wednesday I have another midwife coming round. So I feel like there’s no rest! In between making food etc for ourselves too.

Congratulations!

Firstly only accept MW appointments you need. Do you need to attend all those appointments?

Work as a tag team with your OH. Sleep is the absolute priority. OH can deal with food, shopping & housework.

Your absolute priority is resting & feeding your dc.

It will get easier. I have 6 dc & remember how overwhelmed i felt due to sleep deprivation.

I feel exactly the same OP. My baby is 8 days old and won't sleep at all at night unless she's in mine or my partner's arms. I'm exhausted and overwhelmed with it all. I've done a lot of reading and I think it's normal to feel like this at first x

TELL the mw you’re knackered and need to move these spots so they’re all on one day.

Rest when they do. Learn to feed lying down.

It’s really tough. To an extent you get used to it. I’m on my second non sleeper. This week I’ve had two nights of zero sleep, two where he’s slept two separate one hour naps and the rest I’ve had maybe 2-3 hours broken up into half hour bursts. He doesn’t sleep in the day

You get used to it to an extent. Hopefully yours will start to sleep a bit better soon - the first week or two they don’t really have a body clock. Try to get out in the daylight in the mornings to help them set their circadian rhythms.

It goes without saying that your partner should be helping as much as they can, and the housework can be left.

I found that as long as I had a three hour block once a week I survived. Below that I started to get ill.

I'm the same! My dd is now 3 weeks and while I am getting some good chunks of sleep through the night when she's in her bassinet during the day she will only sleep on me or oh so struggling to get anything during the day. I still panic about every murmur through the night too! I'm exclusively bf and therefor demand feeding, had a few moments where I think it could all just be easier to bottle feed. Would it? I had a c section too and feel so lazy when my oh is running around doing everything!

I had the same problem, I was breastfeed but it ended up being too much, I switch to formula (he wasn't putting on enough weight) and what a difference, I don't feel mad when he wakes up because both me and my partner can take shifts without me having to wake up every shift to feed him.
Don't feel guilty, ypu don't realise how hard it is until.yoy do it yourself

For sleeping we would let him lie on us until is eyes started rolling then we put him in his moses basket with his ewan the dream sheep (a white noise maker) so he now associates his bed with sleep, 5 weeks later he now sleeps every time he gets put to his bed and feeds every 4 hours and sometimes sleeps for 6 hour stretches at night!