Let's all meet here for a sleep deprivation support group

[ImNotAnsweringIt]

I though it might be helpful to have a general thread with survival tips for dealing with the exhaustion and misery of the long or short term effects of lack of sleep. I bet we can all find someone worse off than ourselves, and that's always a help, hmm?

My little tips for making things more bearable:

Make sure you are warm enough when you have to get up in the night. Have dressing gown and slippers by your bed if neccesary. This also helps you get back to sleep quickly, should you be fortunate enough to have the opportunity!

Have lovely breakfast things in. I always have expensive cereal in the cupboards Just For Me.

Anyone else? Hang in there everyone, I am having a very down day today which is what inspired me to start this.

I wonder that too Sophie!! I'm really hopeful that its because their LOs are older and are now sleeping brilliantly ...

I think that I am going to try to just feed each time over the next couple of nights, just to see what happens though I have a feeling that at times she will feed and then want to play!

Ds go back to sleep. Please. Please

Oh Candy. Did you get any sleep after that.

I timed last night and DD woke at roughly 9, 12, 1, 3, 5 and then up at 6 so I guess things aren't improving as much as I thought. Or it was a bad night. I think it felt worse than the last few nights but that might have been because I was timing and noticed the wake ups more.

Mind you, I think I posted a couple of months ago that DD was waking 0.5-1 hourly through the night, so I guess I should be grateful for where we are now [sceptical]

even...

Hi everyone, how's the tiredness?! scotty did you try the shushing again? I hate the thought of 'making a rod for your own back' why does everyone say that?! Argh! I admit I always feed her, it nearly always gets her back to sleep and all I went to do is get her asleep and get back to bed ASAP... Also I think sometimes dd needs to be picked up/fed, my dd often does a huge burp when I pick her up which I think is a good reason to cry for mummy! Also she's had a cold and a blocked nose and been breathing through her mouth so poor thing wants a drink... I'm just saying don't beat yourself up for feeding if you think it's the right thing. Easier said than done I know as I manage to make myself feel guilty whatever I do

sophiesworld can I ask about co sleeping? Do you have one of those cots that attach to the bed or is baby just in the bed with you? I am worried about her falling out/being squashed if we try it...

Time for a large glass of wine for me and yet another early night... I never seem to see dh for long in the evenings these days as all I want is to go to bed as soon as I can. I just hope that one day we will get to spend some time together when I will be awake, not tired or grumpy or obsessed with sleep patterns. Will it ever happen???

We have a normal cot with sides removed pushed up against my side of the bed. The other side of it is next to the wall so there's no way she could fall out. Luckily the mattress is exactly the same height as ours when it's on the lowest level. Originally the idea was that I could slide DD across onto the cot between feeds but she wakes if I try and do that so she sleeps right up against me and the cot is just to prevent her falling out (not that she would anyway).

I use a single duvet tucked around me up to my waist and wear a warm, long-sleeved top to keep my upper half warm. DD is in a sleeping bag with her head just below my armpit. I always sleep with my arm between her and the pillow although I don't think she would wriggle up anyway.

I would definitely try it. I was nervous at first but gave it a go out of desperation and it has been a godsend. I literally could not have survived without it. The only problem I have sometimes had is aching hips from lying in the same position for too long, but that seems to have improved a lot recently.

HTH!

Should also have said, I try not to drink - that's one of the downsides of co-sleeping - but I do have the occasional glass of wine and tend to feel that if I would be safe to drive I should be safe to co-sleep. I don't know if this is backed up by any research though, it's just my personal feeling, so you would need to make your own judgement on that one.

You sound like a lovely, responsive and caring Mummy so don't beat yourself up for looking after your LO's needs

Gah! 5am start for us here...

4.40 am for us today. Luckily he went back to sleep in his pram from 5.30-7

I wonder if being wet is why he's waking so early. If I don't change his nappy he's drenched through clothes,sleeping bag and sheet by about 5ish but after trying a midnightish nappy change thurs and Friday night he wakes right up and doesn't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. Can anyone recommend an extra extra dry night time nappy?

Candy we use real nappies with two boosters and an outer waterproof cover and they have never leaked through and we don't change until the morning. She also doesn't get nappy rash and doesn't seem uncomfortable.

Sophie I think that I might take some of your tips for co-sleeping, will let you know how it goes.

Oh and we started at 4.30, first nap at 7.10. I do think she wakes early then makes up the night sleep with an early nap but no idea how to change it

Anyone else up at 5.30am (or earlier) on their first mothers day?

Sadly i wasn't lucky enough,she didn't last as long as 530 :(. I've been awake since 350,she fed then slept a little longer, till 450. Happy mother's day

Lost this thread for a while, how's everyone doing? Off to try and catch up then had better get to bed before DD realises I'm not next to her ...

Up at 5 today, dh away so no chance of an extra hours sleep I sometimes get when he is up at 6.30... Why didn't I go to bed earlier last night I faffed around til feeding at 10 and then couldn't sleep til 11.30ish, I'm so angry at myself for not sleeping earlier or am I angry at dd for not sleeping for longer??? Very tearful and exhausted this morning, feeling like really crappymummy :(

Caffeine -have a lazy day doing as little as possible and if your dd has a nap immediately lie down on the sofa and shut your eyes xx

Thank you! Thank god she had a nap this afternoon so I got a break. She's asleep now and I will be going to bed soon - why fight it?! Night night all... Hope you have a better night...

Hi all, hope everyone has a good night tonight, just wanted to touch base. Due to neverending colds we've had some shocking nights but last night was a surprisingly good one - DD slept 8pm-1:45am then 2:30-6:45. Fantastic you say, yes but I've got the cold now so I couldn't bl**dy sleep, paracetamol does nothing for colds grrr. Two milestones happening this week, I'm (trying) to stop breastfeeding (down to one feed per day) and DD started walking. So if she does start sleeping well I won't know which of these made the difference. But I won't care as I will have looovveely sleep. Fingers crossed. Good luck all.

Hi all

Remember me? I think i may need to join this thread again. DD has gone from one wake up per night back to 5/6 per night again. I have no idea why, I'm not doing anything differently.

I shall attempt to catch up with this thread properly later when i have more energy but hope everyone is doing ok.

It sounds like things are still pretty rubbish for everyone. I still have no advice or solutions for anyone. Just lots of sympathy and (((hugs))).

Our nights currently go like this -

Start bed time routine at 6/6.30 - rock to sleep and ususally down by 7/7.30. Wake up 40 mins later, stroked backed to sleep, then up at about 10 ish stroked back to sleep. Then up again at about 11 when we bring her into bed with us. She then wakes up again anywhere between 1 - 3 and is very very hard to settle, sometimes not back asleep until 4. She then sometimes has another wake up before she wakes up for the day at about 7.

I was happy to co sleep when it was working but its not and its very slowly destroying my back. She also still has all of her daytime sleeps in her sling. Shes 8 and a half months now and getting heavy!

We're trying to sell our house, find a new house, plan our wedding and I go back to work in June. Absolutely dreading it. Its also taking a bit of a toll on my and DP's relationship, we ended up shouting at each other at 3.30 in the morning last night because after i spent well over an hour shhing and holding DD's had to get her to sleep DP decided to hiss at me for apparently stealing covers and woke her back up.

I'm also eating an obscene amount of chocolate. I seem to be having it after every meal (even breakfast) and I have several snacks a day. I don't seem to be putting any weight on (?) but I actually think I'm getting addicted to it.

I feel a bit better after writing all that....

Good luck tonight everyone. I'm overtired and can't sleep. Dh is feeding Ds. I know at 5.30 am I'll be wishing I'd dropped off earlier but had a work party tonight and need to wind down a but first

Argh!!! Now Ds won't sleep. He's being very cute and smiley though...

Hello, Pipoca here with a new name. We're doing a sleep training kind of thing (look for a thread in sleep started by nectarina called What worked for us, hope this helps..will linky if I can). Been doing it for a month or so and is going well. DD is 10mo now. I don't bf at night at all now, just stopped cold turkey. Still bf on waking in the morning, after lunch and before bed. Some nights, like last night she sleeps all the way thru, others she wakes maybe twice but I don't get her out of her cot (in her room) I just go in and shhh and pat her bottom and it takes a max of 15 mins to get her back to sleep. we do the same for naps (in her cot, in her room). I wait til she should be is tired and take her up and shh pat, with a hand on her back if necessary to stop her springing back up (she sleeps on her front). Sometimes she really screams and protests, but ever for more than 5 mins or so and I haven't abandoned her, I'm right there shhing and patting. so I don't feel too evil .
I'm still too fat as although I've cut out a lot of crap, I'm still eating too much. there always seems to be something..my brother's visiting atm and we're eating out (lunch mostly) too much, too many desserts. then my cousins are coming and it's easter easter eggs
Here's the thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/1394888-What-worked-for-us-Hope-this-helps
It has been great for us, although I realise others might not fancy it or other babies might not respond as well.

My DS wakes every 30 minutes. I'm struggling.

Tiredandgrumpy -how old is your Ds? Is he still in the same room as you?