Can't get back to sleep after night feeds

[Kstar8]

Although I could post numerous times about my 16 week olds dodgy sleep, it's my sleep pattern that's buggered

I've been awake since 1am, fed her for an hour (could probably have put her back down quicker than that) and haven't been able to get back to sleep since. I've tried breathing techniques, body awareness/relaxation etc.

I either fall asleep feeding her and wake up an hour and a half/2 hours later with her still on me (feed in bed propped on pillows) and struggle to put her back down as she wants to feed again or I stay awake through the feed and am wide awake for hours afterwards.
She wakes every couple of hours and now I'm laying here waiting for her. And in the morning I'll be shattered

How do you stay awake to manage the feed properly without becoming wired or dropping off during it?

If you ever find out let me know, I'm in the exact same position!

I found it easier to feed lying down tbh then it doesn't matter so much if you do drift off. It gets easier, your body gets used to it, the feeds get much quicker. Tough as it is I found the best thing was to stay away from your phone during night feeds, it makes it much easier to drift off after. Do you have a partner who could make you a hot drink while you're feeding? I've become quite attached to a blend of decaf tea called 'Snore and Peace'.

Hello 4am friends!

I've not thought about having a hot drink! DH would absolutely do that but I try not to wake him too much as I use him for when she just won't go back to sleep and he ends up rocking her downstairs for about an hour. I've Amazon-ed the tea and will give it a go.

I struggle with feeding laying down due to small boobs/arm and shoulder pain from that position. Have to feed off both boobs carefully as I'm prone to lumps and I can imagine sleeping the whole night on one side and waking with one giant mastitis boob.

If i don't look at my phone I sleep but spend so much or my night half propped that i resent not being able to lay out properly or sleep on my side. I can't win!
Where do I get one of these mythical Unicorn babies that wake once in the night and feed for five mins then self soothe or not at all?

Haha no idea! My ds in the last week has gone from waking 3 or 4 times every night to sleeping through. I've changed nothing, it feels magical! The tea took me a little getting used to but now I actively looking forward to my bedtime cuppa! The hour long feeds won't last much longer. Is she actively feeding for the hour or comfort suckling? Could you sub in a dummy or comforter? Ds was about that age when he would try with his dummy.

Do you like reading? I have a Kindle which is great. If I look at my phone during night feeds it makes me wired and harder to go to sleep after I've finished the feed but if I read a book on my Kindle it makes me really sleepy and I can't wait to close my eyes once I put my little one back down. Might work?

I had this. I used to sleep better away from the baby (who was in our room) and so would escape to the spare room after the last night feed and leave her with dh. Then at least I was guaranteed a couple of hour sleep.

The other thing that helped was mindfulness podcasts on my phone. I used to do a technique when I would imagine a scenario (under the sea, for example) and would then think of objects I'd find there from A-Z. Good for distracting an overtired mind.

I had this too, it's really difficult . To be honest the best advice I was given was to embrace it . I know that sounds really weird but instead of lying there and getting frustrated, look at it as some time to yourself. Often once I tried to relax into it, i'd actually fall asleep more regularly anyway as I wasn't fixated on that any more.

It's hard though. I'm pg with dc2 and this is the thing I'm dreading most.

I know it's a pain but looking at your phone definitely won't help. Something to do with the blue light it emits makes it harder to sleep. Never mind thinking about what you were looking at afterwards.

I looked at my phone, but changed the setting to make the screen as dim as possible.

Another thing that worked for me was doing a last feed at about 8pm, then going to bed. DH gave DS one and only bottle at about 10pm and I generally got to sleep until 1 or 2am off the back of it, until DS needed to feed again. That gave me a good 5 hour stretch so if I didn't get much sleep the rest of the night I still didn't feel to bad. I appreciate even giving one bottle isn't for everyone though.

I use meditation apps, just the soft voice and music sends me back off to sleep, it's something to focus on other than trying to get back to sleep, I use earphones to not disturb DH

I find YouTube great. I put on a documentary on turn the screen away from me and close my eyes and I find the noise distracts me and I drift off really fast

Thanks all! I had a lay in and DS woke me at half 9 so have had at least a couple of hours.

I'm desperately trying to get her to take a dummy but she gags on all of them (tried four brands) or just plays with it. She does comfort suck a lot. I've looked at the Pantley pull off but not sure I can commit to that right now. I think she feeds fairly quickly now but then comfort feeds and if I take her off at the wrong moment she starts crying and we have to start again.

I've got my phone on lowest brightness and iPhone night mode setting that makes screen orange backlit rather than blue. I think I should start using kindle more although that is backlit with a blue light so wondered if it would keep me awake still.

Will give tea and meditation apps a go!

I was awake for about four hours straight last night....I could have written all our of Christmas cards in that time

DH....not DS.....don't have a DS. That's the sleep talking.

I find going through everything I did the day before in as much detail as possible usually does the trick. I never get further than the afternoon and I'm asleep.