How does a lack of sleep affect you?

[AutumnWitch]

This is not a major issue as I've pretty much completed my time with non-sleeping children (youngest is now 4 and is usually pretty good). Much sympathy to all of you still dealing with it.

But - last night I had one of my rare self induced sleepless nights, when I just can't get to sleep. Probably managed 3 hours in total.

Today I am wrecked. I can't think straight, I'm dizzy, if I move my head it takes a second for the world to catch up, I'm gobbling sugary food to keep going, I'm grumpy, can't finish sentences and keep having micro naps where I kind of go out for a second. Driving would not be wise. Today is a write off for getting much done.

The thing is, it was always like this, even when the boys were young and it was pretty much every day. My DH doesn't suffer anywhere near as badly and has always been a poor sleeper.

So my question is, how does it affect you? Am I unusually affected, is DH the odd one???

Seven years down the line I finally wondered....

No, you are not unusual. I am also having a write off day after DS kept me up all night with a high temp. Managed to get my head down for half an hour at lunchtime but needed much longer. Not driving today, not doing much of anything today. Got out for a walk earlier to try to get moving. Sweetie jar lid off and almost empty. Avoiding conversations with others as I must seem semidrunk.

I suffer terribly with feeling drunk etc but in the middle of a very long sleep regression and taken bull by the horns today and he's had a t n half kip so here's hoping. Instead of sleeping tho I did the ironing lol. But yeah feel drunk and really horrible and I get anxious too but that could be due to constant toddler tantrum and crying lol. I never believe these people who Say they only need 5 hours kip tho. If they do they genuinely do then they are either lucky buggers or don't have kids.

I suffer terribly with feeling drunk etc but in the middle of a very long sleep regression and taken bull by the horns today and he's had a t n half kip so here's hoping. Instead of sleeping tho I did the ironing lol. But yeah feel drunk and really horrible and I get anxious too but that could be due to constant toddler tantrum and crying lol. I never believe these people who Say they only need 5 hours kip tho. If they do they genuinely do then they are either lucky buggers or don't have kids.

I think prolonged sleep deprivation is actually easier to manage than once in a while sleep deprivation. I have had 9 months of little/broken sleep and my friends whose babies sleep through seem so much more shattered than me if they have the odd bad night. I eat sugary crap, can't have too much caffeine as bf'ing, but go for long walks in the fresh air, watch crap tv and MN!

Thanks folks - I was wondering if I was being a bit of a lightweight (never really discussed the details with anyone at the time)

Ds2 meant we had bad sleep deprivation. Hideous.

Now if I have a sleepless night I am terrible. Absolutely terrible. Almost can't function, things feel too big to deal with, and negative. I should just get through the day and not speak with anyone.

I feel like my brain is trip wired to remember a physically hard time and gives me a big dose of oh no you don't.

I somehow managed to work FT when mine were not sleeping. There were definitely days when I was less use than a chocolate teapot. I agree, it was a little easier if it was every day, in that I could prepare for it and plan my days and activities and had a routine

Today has involved a LOT of TV for DS2 and a so many sweets and biscuits for me that I feel quite sick now. Will be following my boys to bed soon.

I fell asleep several times reading DS1 his story. DH would come in to find us both out cold on his bed!

Autumn, I was thinking about this only today, in relation to talking about why I don't want any more children. Sleep deprivation is the top of the list why not....

Mine were average babies, but I found it very very hard. I'm sure it made me depressed. My head felt in a fog, I had little energy, but I did go out and about. I have no idea how people who work cope. Probably you just get on with it because you have to (maybe it would have been better for me to have work to keep me going).

I used to dread bedtime in the early months, because I knew I'd be woken in the night and that would make it hard to relax. It took me a long time to agree to hosting sleepovers because the memories of late bedtimes and night disturbance were so vivid.

We are going through this at the moment and I can honestly tell you in turns me into a mean, short tempered beast and an emotional wreck. This last week I've been lucky to get more than 4 hours of broken sleep a night. I function all right once Im up and act pretty normal at work but my poor dp/older son bear the brunt of me!

Hard to say...cant remember having more than 3/4 hours sleep in the last 8 years

Your body gets used to it, I guess, or you develop coping strategies maybe.

....3/4 hours sleep per night for the last 8 years.....see? Am v v tired......

I agree that you get used to prolonged poor sleep, but a one off can be a killer. Ds was a terrible sleeper until he was about three years old and I went back to work full time when he was eight months. I just dealt. Dd is such an easy baby and I am still on maternity leave big if she has a bad night I am a wreck the next day. Exactly as you describe, particularly hoovering up empty calories and feeling drunk/hungover. Awful.

Oh as to how people who work cope, tbh seven hours away from baby ds was like respite. Sounds awful but it's true.

losing the ability to finish a sentence because I've forgotten what I was saying is top of my symptoms at the moment. Plus being snappy with the children and liable to think that the world is falling in if something really simple goes wrong if I am really, really tired.

I think it is actually easier to go to work that stay at home with the children when you are very sleep deprived because at home you can never really turn off whereas at work I can do a nice easy task that keeps me busy but I can zone out while I do it. Plus my colleagues know when it has been a bad night and don't bother me unlike my children. DH and I both work pt and do a day at home with the children during the week. The rule always is that whoever has the children the next day is entitled to the lion's share of the sleep.

I've had 3 children in 5 years. I've forgotten what a good night's sleep is like.

as above with the prolonged is easier.mine all woke ev 2hours to feed in night til 6months....i feel constantly out of it and hallucinations set in(saw gnomes running round tesco and fish swim up my curtains!!!)i can totally understand why sleep deprivation is seen as a form of torture

Becaroo - I think I lost sight of what I was like when I wasn't sleep deprived. The joy of discovering what life was like again after an unbroken night was amazing.

spiffy - I do that too. I was teaching for some of that time, which was not a good environment. Much easier when I had a job where I could "work" at my PC or read.

I spent most of my pregnancy not being able to sleep and now am 16 months in with a non sleeping DTS.

A day at work is easier than a day with twins! I look forward to my work days which does make me feel guilty.

I feel really sad that my mindset is so affected by having a crap sleeper. Most days I feel very low and very tearful. I just wish i could cope with it better as I need to snap out of feeling bitter and sad and just accept the situation for what it is.

aw I look forward to that day!!!...........