How do you cope with the lack of sleep that comes with a small baby?

[memoo]

DD is 10 weeks old and I'm not getting a huge amount of sleep at the moment.

I'm averaging about 12 cups of coffee a day which really can't be healthy but its the only way I can keep going at the moment.

How does everyone else cope with being so tired all the time?

er....slow right down - don't expect to get even half the amount done that you normally would in a day. rest or sleep when the baby sleeps. there's no easy way really, but change your expectations of what a day should be like. the state will pass. honest.

Let me know if you find out. I feel permanently spaced at the moment.

It's a possibility that all that coffee is contributing though - alledgedly caffeine is one of the triggers for infant colic/refux if that's what is keeping your LO awake.

Well with that amount of coffee in you, your baby isn't likely to sleep, assuming that you are breastfeeding, as it will pass into her system too!

I just kind of got used to it. Didn't have a lot of choice really! Survived on an average of 3-4 hrs a night when dd was little, and a similar amount for first few months of ds' life too.

Are you going to bed as soon as she has, and not worrying about unimportant stuff like housework.

I assume that she's your first, so can you sleep at all when she does during the day?

I started going to bed as soon as I'd fed her in the evening and left her with DH. He was under strict instructions to only wake me if he was certain she was hungry and had tried everything else

It meant I got an hour or so sleep (maybe two if I was lucky) before going to bed properly. DH is self-employed so I was able to repeat this in the morning, maybe your DH/DP could do something similar.

Definitely ignore cleaning the house etc and we started only using a couple of plates and washed them each evening before dinner - stopped there being a mound of washing up so it didn't matter if it did just stay on the side until dinner the next day!

Oh, meant to say DD always seemed to fall asleep if we got out in the fresh air. Bit tricky in this weather but if you can do a walk around the block, I always found it lifted me a bit too.

DD has currently been awake since 7am (!) apart from a few catnaps... however, I've strapped her in the bouncy chair so I can mumsnet do some housework.

Defo go to bed early and leave the baby with dp for a few hours.

In the daytime go for a walk. The fresh air sort of perks you up and helps blow the cobwebs away, and at least makes you forget how tired you are for a while!

I also think in the early weeks, you look after the baby and dp looks after you.

Agree give up the coffee only making things worse and it will make you all jittery.

My first was an easy sleeping baby so that was fine, second different story, I coslept and BF lying down and after the first few weeks didn't change a nappy at night unless it was dirty. Meant I could latch baby on and doze at the same time.

Other things that helped was going to bed an hour or two earlier at night and sleeping late at weekends.

It's true what everyone says sleep when the baby sleeps even if it's just lying somewhere quiet for half an hour, forget the housework too.

It does get easier honest

Seriously, if you are breastfeeding, cut down the coffee. I find it makes a big difference, so my current ration is 2 cups first thing in the morning. The day I had a large Americano at lunchtime, ds2 didn't go to sleep properly till 9 the next morning
My ds1 was a terrible sleeper and I found co-sleeping really helped me to get the maximum amount of sleep myself.
If you are really desperate your dp will have to look after her for a few hours even if it means she goes without a feed for longer than she would like.
Otherwise, what everyone else says - don't worry if you don't get much done, and take any opportunity to sleep that you can.

badly!
actually dd2 is much better now but I stayed awake for no apparent reason from 2-5.30am last night then dd2 got up at 6...

cups of tea

very early nights

and actually, you do get used to it. i was a grumpy, irritable wreck when dd2 was smaller. These days the tiredness doesn't really hit til early evening.

That said, am dreading going back to work

my DD is 7 weeks old

weirdly i find being out of the house can sometimes be better than in it

i feel worse first thing - DD wakes every 2 - 3 hours at night for a feed and doesn't really nap in the day and feeds a lot (breast fed)

whatever happens i try to have a shower and get dressed - sometimes we have a PJ day and that is ok too

am getting used to it - am very grumpy at times but tough on DH i say ... i am on call 24/7 so i am bound to be irritable

DD is my 3rd so its quite hard to sleep when she does. Even though the older ones are at school I still really do need to do basic housework, get stuff ready for their tea, Make sure their clothes are cleaned etc.

When I had my first DC it was so much easier because I really could just focus on the baby but now I'm on number 3 its not that simple.

DH is fab when he is here but doesn't get in until gone 7.

Teatime is worse because I am so tired by this time but have to help DC with homework as well as all the other stuff

Poor you.
Try try try and sleep when babe sleeps - sacrifice the housework?
Any chance of soem cash to throw at the problem - Just for a few weeks, cleaner/mothers help/teenage neighbour just to help out at teatime/bedtime?
If your husband is around in the mornings could he manage them all while you crawl back to bed for a bit?
Hang in there - it will get better

You really have my sympathy. I don't think I did cope all that well to be honest. DC3 is now approaching 8 months and has been sleeping properly for some time, but those early months were just the worst hell. Somehow I crawled through them until his sleep improved and everything became OK. Don't expect to get anything done - absolute bare minimum. If I managed to get the oldest off to school and everyone fed and vaguely clean then that was about it.... Looking back the first 3 months are a complete daze. You will survive this, you just will!!! Soon it will all be better.

I agree with butidid - if you can muster the cash to pay a cleaner for a couple of months it is a huge help. Online grocery shopping is an absolute must.

As others have said, cut out the coffee if you can - it'll probably end up disturbing what sleep you do get so you end up more tired, can you switch to tea - lower caffine but same time out ritual making it....

I get my DH to make dinner. After dinner, I feed then go to bed. Then inbetween some feeds, DH takes DS (8 weeks) which gives me an hour or two undisturbed.

However I'm still tired all the time!!