Worried about going back to sleep deprivation

[ByGreatPeachCrab]

I have kids already and been through the sleep deprivation before. It has taken until my youngest was about 3 I started feeling better.
i am now pregnant again and worried about going back to the feeling.
my mood is so affected by not having a perfect night sleep. These days I have good days where I sleep well and I get feelings of happiness, excited to being having a baby. Then I will have a day where I have woken In the night and then I feel unhappy and anxious the next day, even if it’s an exciting day. my motivation for anything goes out the window.
i was wondering how you cope with tiredness, if there is anything I can do which will make me feel happy when baby is here

The good thing is that having older kids you know that the sleep deprivation doesn’t last forever! And you also know that back when your kids were babies you survived it! So you know from experience that it WILL be ok and you will survive.
Another benefit of having done this all before and having older children is that they can help entertain the baby. Obviously supervised if they’re still young, but you’ll have other little people around to help you have fun.
You also might be lucky and have a baby who naturally sleeps pretty well :)
I’m also dreading the sleepless nights again. My son started sleeping through at 6 months which was a massive blessing. I remember feeling like a whole new woman and hadn’t realised how affected I was by the sleep deprivation.
I don’t have much advice on how to cope with the tiredness, except just remembering it truly won’t last forever and you will have a good nights sleep again!

I am feeling the same as you, due my second baby April. I feel like poor sleep over this past almost 3 years has resulted on my poor mood. I look forward to having another baby but at the same time that back to lack of sleep will make me even worse

Thanks guys. I know it doesn’t last forever but I also know it isn’t just the newborn stage. I feel like my mood is just as affected by small amounts of sleep deprivation and that’s why it took years till I sometimes started to feel happy. When I see babies I feel excited to have one but kind of know I won’t feel excited and happy when he’s here as I will likely be exhausted

I'm pregnant with our second and also worried about this!

Our first is now 4 5 and a great sleeper getting 11/12 hours in her own room every night but it hasn't always been like that - the idea of going back to sleepless nights (especially as I'll be breastfeeding and will be doing all the night feeds myself) is filling me with absolute dread.

I think it's hardest thinking about it when you're pregnant as youre already feeling pretty crap and you've just gotten used to it 🫠 so good to remember you won't be pregnant when you're also sleep deprived. Practically, I'd nap (or just rest) whenever possible and also never count how often you're waking or how much you've slept, it absolutely will make you feel worse. Also getting outside for a walk every day, ideally in the morning to reset both of your body clocks. Currently pregnant for the fifth time (have mostly terrible sleepers) and not looking forward to it but as pp said, older kids help practically and also to remind me it's all a phase. I have had one who literally never slept through til he was 3 and not reliably for years after but usually they do go through better sleeping phases which helps too.