[PearlD]

Im a new mum to 11.5 month daughter and im averaging 4/5hrs per night with worries before going to sleep that she will just wake me up any moment, as nights have been difficult since day 1.
I find myself waiting for her to cry to feed her and can never Just drift off. Im still breastfeeding x2 per night (sometimes more!)
Ive been trying to avoid sleeping tablets but do take promethazine when its 2am and im still wired, and extremely tired but just can’t fall asleep.
Ive read success stories from insomnia coach & would love to overcome this awful insomnia, to be able to drift in and out of sleep once ive came to bed & so I can get back to sleep once ive fed her too.
I worried il never be able to sleep properly again. I go back to work in March and im a nurse, and really want to go back with a fully functioning brain, which seems like a mile off.
Thanks for reading any advice would be appreciated. Thank you 🙂

[Martin Reed]

Congratulations on the little one! I don’t think many people sleep well when there’s a baby in the house! Your worries and concerns are completely valid and understandable — that’s your brain doing its job and looking out for you!

When you’re awake during the night and finding it hard to fall asleep, how do you currently respond to that wakefulness?

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[letmesleep]

Hi! I just wanted to say I am also struggling with postpartum insomnia! My daughter is 6 months old now, and I first started experiencing insomnia around 3 months postpartum. And now, baby is sleeping soundly in 8-9 hour stretches but I AM NOT! I feel like this is a conditioned response from the newborn phase when we were up every 2 hours. I was always a very deep, consistent sleeper (I would even brag about it hah!), so I had a lot of anxiety about the impending sleep disruption while I was still pregnant. Then when I actually experienced it, the amount of distress it caused was even greater than I’d anticipated. And now… here we are. Both falling asleep and staying asleep have become very difficult for me. Early on, I would experience 2-3 nights of sleeplessness, followed by a “good” night, but those periods of insomnia are now up to 4 or 5 consecutive days. I feel like my brain is betraying me!

Just wanted to let you know you’re not alone!

[Sophie]

Hi!
I am in the same boat 🙁 Same thing it started around 2-3 months pp for me as well, and I thought it was just because my baby was waking up in the night. But now that he sleeps through the night and I am still having sleepless night, I am realizing it is no longer related to my baby. It is particularly bad when I am sleeping in the room beside his (which is our master bedroom). When I sleep in the guest room in the basement with a sound machine and ear plugs, I tend to sleep a little better or at least fall asleep quicker at bedtime, but then I still wake up in the early morning (sometimes as early as 3-4 AM) and am not able to fall back asleep.
I just started implementing some of the tips Martin shared on his YT channel and it seems to be helping already especially with reducing the anxiety during wake times at night. My partner agreed to stay in the master bedroom and for me to sleep in the guest room as I am working on this, just to remove the baby factor from the equation. I stopped watching the clock and set up a few hobbies that I can do (knitting, podcasts, book) when I wake up, and I get out of bed when I cannot fall asleep after 20 minutes. I also go to bed later or until I felt sleepy (I had started going to bed super early in order to get more sleep but clearly it was not working…) Last night I was able to fall asleep quite quickly without medication at bedtime and I still woke up in the early morning, but did not feel distressed or upset about it, as I kept myself busy instead of having those circling thoughts about how bad my day would be taking care of baby if I could not get back to sleep. When I got up I did not feel particularly tired and felt like I could face the day. This gives me hope!!!
One thing I am worried about is that we would want another child in an ideal world, and I am worried the insomnia will come back again if we do. I am trying to see this program and approach as a learning opportunity to I have the tools if we eventually extend our family, but it does make me feel really anxious just thinking about it.
Anyway let me know how your journey goes ❤️ We can do this!!!

[Martin Reed]

I just wanted to chime in here to validate that worry about insomnia returning if you have another child. Yes, it might. And, it might not. That’s out of your control since sleep cannot be controlled 🙂

We can only control our actions and it’s our actions that determine whether we move toward the life we want to live or away from the life we want to live.

So, we are faced with a choice here. We can live a life trying to avoid difficult stuff (such as nighttime wakefulness, anxiety, worry, stress, fear, etc) — and this will likely involve us doing less of the things that matter to us and moving away from the life we want to live. And, the difficult stuff we’re trying to avoid will probably still show up from time to time anyway since it comes with being a human being.

Or, we can do things that matter, even if difficult stuff might show up and even in the presence of difficult stuff. This way, we are living the life we want to live and any difficult stuff that shows up is at least serving some kind of purpose!

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[chicca001]

Hi Sophie, I don’t know if you are still reading the forum, I am a mom of a 11month old baby and facing post partum insomnia too, and I keep wondering as you if I will be able to have another baby and cope with the first hard months.
Are you feeling better?

[Author]

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