Insomnia desperation

[ralv]

Hey everyone..
I'm just wondering if anyone has any foolproof tips for falling back to sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night.
It's normally between 3 and 5 am and I lie there for a good couple of hours before eventually drifting back to sleep. I'm absolutely exhausted and with only 4 weeks to due date I want to be well rested!
I know people say its good practice for when the little one arrives but I feel like a total zombie (and have for the last couple of months).
Plus I don't seem to be able to nap either so any tips will be gratefully received

I don't know I am afraid. My youngest is 3 and this still happens to me, even though she and her brother sleep soundly.

Same here. 1 year on from birth I've been up since 3am even though baby is fast asleep. Nap in the afternoon? What time do you go to bed? I go at 8pm as it's the only chance I get to get decent sleep.

Best tips:
If you don't feel near to sleep, don't be in bed. Keep bed for sleep so if you are properly awake, get up for half an hour, then do a mini bed-time routine to go back to bed.
Have a bedtime routine to get your body used to a pattern for what happens before sleep.
Thinking about how much you need to go back to sleep is very counter productive - you need to be able to let your thoughts wander so they eventually drift off. Personally I find mn helpful for this, though many experts would say that using screens while insomniac is unhelpful - I think it's ok if you avoid anything too stimulating.
And, umm, if you'll forgive the indelicacy, you can't beat a bit if personal release as a way to get a body to relax and go back to sleep.

No advice but place marking for when more advice comes.

I'm in the same boat as you, have been like this for the past 6 weeks and I only have 4 weeks 1 day left till she's here!

I've been like this since right at the start and I'm now 33+1. I used to get really upset when I couldn't sleep, especially when I had to listen to DH snoring for hours on end. I've not managed to find any solution to not being able to sleep, but DH is now in the spare room so when I wake up I just put the light on, sit up and then read something until I feel sleepy enough to go back to sleep. It's also helped me that I'm working from home a lot until I finish work in a few weeks so I don't have the same pressure to get a good nights sleep.

It has really annoyed me though, all my friends said to me that they slept so well whilst they were pregnant, I never expected this at all!!!

Good luck!

I used to watch Big Bang Theory episodes on my phone to fall asleep, and if I woke at 3/4 am id stick a fresh one on to fall asleep to.

Bad sleep habit, but it was the only thing that worked.

Baby is seven weeks now and Im even more tired. I need a full nights sleep.

I've used half a melatonin tablet to help in those situations. They're natural and do the job along with steady mindful breathing! Good luck!