6 weeks postpartum cant sleep after baby wakes up at night

[Carelessfisker]

I have been blessed with a baby that will sleep in a 5.5 hour stretch in the first part of the night. So she wakes up around 4.30am for a small feed and can go straight back to sleep. I, however cannot.

I have to be up at 7am for my other children and the school run. I'm fucked.

It wasn't like this a few weeks ago.

What can I do? I will end up getting ill and having mental health problems if I don't get a grip on it. I have had bad anxiety in the past so I am aware of triggers.

I also really struggled to get to sleep after feeds especially when i knew i had to then get up at a set time to do a school run.

Is there anyone who can help you with the school run, even just temporarily?

I work as a midwife, constantly changing from day to night shifts so my body never quite knows what to do. If I wake up around 4-5 and can't go back to sleep I drink coffee and start my day. I am exhausted but press on till around midday. Then a walk and lie down for a nap. This usually works and I can function in the afternoon and evening. I haven't found a better system

I did pregnancy yoga and at the end of the sessions we would nap, the medication was led my the instructors voice and she would tell us to focus on our toes sibling into the floor, then work our way up to our legs, hips, stomach relaxing, chest, arms, then parts of the face.

I had the same issue as you, I really wanted to nap when baby slept but couldn’t. So when I sleep I now tell myself to focus on my feet, etc etc. by the time I’m imagining this warmth near my face I seem to doze off.

m It does take practice, and sounds a little weird but it puts 15 women into a light sleep during class and works so far,

I used to listen to ASMR on YouTube and 9/10 I’d be asleep within 45 minutes. Nothing else worked.

Sleep music on an app and a good eye mask helps me.

I'm the same and I'm pretty sure it's because I've got ppd so my thoughts swirl around. My baby is a similar age to yours.

You say it'll give you mh problems if it doesn't improve but maybe it's the other way around and it's your mh that's affecting your sleep?

Can you minimise the amount you wake up? As in not turning any lights on, barely opening eyes... I did night feeds in this kind of barely conscious state and was generally able to flop back into bed and go straight to sleep. When she was a bit older I co-slept, and it was just a case of rolling over, shoving a tit in her general direction and going straight back to sleep while she fed.
That said, I have found that I am generally more wakeful at night since having her (now 17) - I have come to enjoy this quiet time when everyone else is asleep.

I used to listen to asmr years ago, but it doesn't work for me anymore.

I do wonder about the mental health issues causing the sleep problems, I have been thinking the smallest things that don't seem to matter during the day. But at the moment it's not affecting my day to day life, I am just aware of the triggers and what it can lead to.

She also has her jabs due in a week and a half and I have anxiety over that as she has never felt pain or even had that horrible face scrunching cry.

Another thing is that my cousin's baby died of SIDS last year when they were 7 months so before I go back to sleep I watch my dd to see her breathing.

I also feel guilty if I lay in bed for too long and feel like I should be getting up and cleaning or cooking.