Baby Sleeping Through - Mummy Not!

[ClumsyMumsy1]

I have 3 DC (the youngest is 4 months and ironically has just started sleeping through ? having been very unsettled in the early hours every night for the first 3 months with lots of crying ? perhaps part of the problem?
I have been sleeping terribly (lying awake until about 3am, tossing and turning, clock watching, going to the loo, etc) for a week so, I got so desparate went to the GP and she gave me some sleeping tablets Fluctoine or something, I took 2 the first night and of course slept well but felt guilty for being so pathetic then tried again last night without any. Again I tossed and turned until at 3am I gave up and took one ? feeling stupid and weak.

I have no underlying anxiety at all ? except fear of not sleeping and am getting increasingly weepy and anxious as a result ? a good old vicious cycle.

I have done lots of web research and read self help guides for advice; don?t clock watch, try and read, don?t just lie there waiting for sleep to come etc

I have three beautiful children and a lovely life - I feel so stupid and ungrateful.

All moral support and top tips welcome.

Sorry not fluctoine - Zopiclone - not even close!

No sleep when your children are all sleeping is very frustrating isn't it?! Perhaps it might be a good plan to take the sleeping tablets for a week just to get some good sleep under your belt, you might struggle to break the vicious cycle otherwise.

I've had loads of problems sleeping in the past, and even now am battling to get back to sleep in the night, despite DD sleeping through for a week now (5mo), so I feel your pain. Probably the best advice I've been given in the past about how to deal with not sleeping is to give in to it and accept that your body will sleep if you need it. Another trick is to try and actually stay awake, you'd be surprised how hard it is to keep your eyes open when you're completely knackered!

I struggle to get to sleep if I go to bed after about 10.30 these days as the pressure to get to sleep quickly keeps me awake. If I go to bed earlier and just read for a while, it seems to take the pressure off and I relax more easily. Maybe worth trying that if you can get away with sneaking to bed earlier?

Good luck!!

Thank for the tips I will give them a whirl. And congrats on your little one sleeping through, what a breakthrough.

I can sleep train little people not just me!

I feel your pain clumsymumsy - my DS is 4 mo and on the nights when he sleeps well I do not and end up tired and I can't even blame him!

What I have found helpful is, instead of worrying about not sleeping, I accept that I might not but just enjoy the fact that I can lie there in the quiet with my eyes shut, which I can't do when he is awake! And that sometimes means that I relax enough to drift off.

I had this really badly with my ds it used to irritate me so much. I did a bedtime routine for myself including a very hot shower and tried to get some physical exercise during the day to tire myself out.

i am jealous of your sleeping pills, my doctor refused to give me any. But I would take them for a week too just to remove some of the anxiety about sleep and re-set your sleep clock.

It might be worth checking out this supplement 5-htp. I have had insomnia for most my adult life and this sorted me out

Brilliant - thank you I think I will take the pills for a few days to try and stop the rot - arrgghh! Will check out the supplement for sure.

Oh! SEDGIEBABY me too ! I can't beleive how well I am sleeping with 5-HTP. They were recommended to me on Mumsnet by Rockinhippy and they are amazing.

Ugh, I've just started getting insomnia too and it's so annoying. 10 week old LO has just started sleeping 9 hours but I wake up after around 6 or less and can't sleep again - I've found getting up out of bed, going to watch tv whilst drinking a cup of chamomile tea and then trying again often works.