How to get back to sleep after night feeds? Or even during nap times?

[Bumperlicious]

DD2 is 5 days old, feeding a lot, through the night. DH is trying to take shifts but when she is sleeping, either night or day I'm struggling to get off to sleep.

Have had really bad insomnia throughout this pregnancy & used my ipod to get to sleep (harry potter - comfort listening), but thats not always practical when listening out for the baby.

When i do try & sleep Im struggling to wind down, taking half an hour to an hour to get to sleep, which is a long time when i only have a few precious hours! What can I do do get off?

You could still use your ipod - as long as it isnt on full volume you'll be able to hear your baby so try not to worry.

I have tried it when DH has the baby, tried harry potter, calming sea sounds, deep breathing. I know I am making it worse by stressing. Just wondered if anyone else had similar problems. Also am v sensitive the baby's noise, I drift of then she squeaks and I wake up again.

It does get better doesn't it. I've forgotten what it is like and not seeing an end in sight.

I always read to get me back off to sleep. Really makes my eyes heavy.
Goodluck, it does get better.

have followed a few of your other threads, about insomnia - I heavily sympathise. have to say my insomnia after DD1 was only really helped when I started taking antidepressants which also had an anti-anxiety action. Do you think you are feeling generally anxious?? I have to say I did get that impression just a little bit from some of your other posts. Hope that's not out of line, just thought I would mention it.

not out of line narmada, not anxious in general but i do get anxious about sleep, or lack of it, even when not pg of with newborn. i have rescue remedy night time, but it's run out, will have to send dh out. not sure if it helps but has been part of my routine.

reading seems to have the opposite effect on me!

I had trouble sleeping through DS's little grunts in the night so swapped sides of the bed with DH so I'm further away from him. The new problem now is getting back to sleep after the 4am feed through DH's snoring...the tired he is, the worse it gets...

I know this sounds stupid, and I know the answer, but at this age sleep during the day isn't going to affect the night time is it? I should just let her sleep when she wants shouldn't I?

Yes definitely, definitely, definitely let her sleep during the day. But I would say don't put her in a dark room to do so, and maybe try very gently to differentiate night and day - e.g., daytimes are noisier, have the hoover on etc, while night feeds are dark, quiet and over as quickly as possible!

I sympathise..also really struggled to get back to sleep when DS was tiny. In the end resigned myself to feeling like a zombie (found the more stressed about lack of sleep I got the less able I was to sleep) but also found Pzizz helpful (www.pzizz.com) to help me switch off. Even if you can't sleep just lying down and resting is helpful as it is refreshing.

Hope you can get off more easily soon.

This phase will pass.

I know this sounds wierd but I put ear plugs in when I go to bed - it stops me hearing every little snuffle and lying there anxiously but as soon as DD cries out I instantly wake up - it really helps me drop off as I'm not lying there on tenterhooks...x

Thanks Mae. I have in ear earphones I use as ear plugs & listen to iPod before bed. Have had an exhausting day as dh has d&v so hopefully sleep not a prob tonight.

Am crap at napping in the day too. Can never get the right window!

One very random thing - I have recently discovered that sometimes the cause of me not being able to get back to sleep when I'm awake in the night is me being hungry and, without realising it, thirsty. Biscuit and big glass of water seems to do the trick. Just an idea.

You may find that you're still coming down from the exciting pregnancy/labour hormones and that in a week or two this will improve

Also I always swear by a hot bath :)

Thanks. I think also I haven't been doing much physically the first week as still felt like I'd been hit by a truck! But yesterday had to be out all day for one thing & another on my own with dd, and felt awful but did actually sleep better. So maybe when things more settled & doing more that will help.

Oh i know exactly how you feel, I cannot nap in the day time at all, I lie there thinking I must go to sleep, i must go to sleep and then get agitated. I tend to have a bath when I have a bit of piece instead now as at least that is more relaxing than trying to force yourself to sleep. When baby was first born I found it hard to sleep as I missed my baby (i know ridiculous!) and found I could nap when he was napping if he was next to me in bad better.
Watched bbc program about sleep recently and your body resists sleep after 8 in morning and before 8 at night apart from between 1 and 4 so thats the best time to try apparently. Also they had a comedien on who couldnt get to sleep and they had him lie there and tense all the muscles in his body and then relax then one by one starting from feet. It worked for him. I also have had cranial sacral therapy done which helped relax me but it doesn't last long enough unfortunately. For me the best thing is to hand baby to dh first thing in morning and for him to take him until next feed is needed or he has to go to work and I can normally sleep really well then as I havent woken up yet. Hope it gets better and if you find anything works let me know

I had this for at least the first week, maybe longer and it would take me over an hour to get to sleep. I could never nap in the day either. It did improve with time.

I used a hypnobirthing CD which talked you through a relaxation routine a bit like the one that goodname describes. It was irritating, but often helped. I'm sure you can get that sort of thing online.

Try to aim to have some time lying down and relaxing rather than sleeping. That way, if you can't sleep, you can still feel you've had a rest and you're not stressing about the fact that you weren't able to drop off.

I also used to have a bath as the next best thing to sleeping.

Hope it improves. And congratulations on your DD.

I have the same problem! I listen to Paul McKenna's I can make you sleep on my i-pod and that sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't which is v frustrating.
Sometimes a milky drink or cereals helps as I am hungry and that keeps me awake.
Also they said you should wear socks in bed as cold feet can stop you from falling asleep.
I'd appreciate any tips too as my daughter is 5 months old and I still feed her at least once a night and whilst I can get to sleep, once I'm awake, I find it hard to switch off again...

Thanks, am mainlining rescue remedy night time!

I do have hypno cds, birth one and paul mckenna, but i loathe them.

am a bit better as mw said to just not stress & go to bed when i can and even if it is only a 10 min sleep that is better than nothing. easier said than done but working on it.

i did see that bbc docu too, it was great. i inadvertently discovered that the cure for my 3-6am insomnia while pg was to go to bed later rather than earlier which is exactly what they did on that programme.

Amorino, does she sleep in your room? Do you feed lying down? I used to struggle to get back to sleep after night feeds, but it improved when I started feeding DS lying down on a mattress next to my bed. Although it was pretty rare for me to drop off during feeds, it meant that I didn't wake up quite so much, so I found it much easier to go back to sleep again afterwards. Prior to that, when I fed him while sitting in a chair, I'd often be up for ages after he was asleep again.

Bumper, I used to find ironing very therapeutic when I couldn't sleep. Mind you, I've given up ironing now so it wouldn't be any good.

I read somewhere that doing jigsaws are good too - just the right amount of hand/eye co-ordination to help you be relaxed but not fretting about not sleeping. I've never tried it, mind you!

Glad things are improving a bit.