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Aw I totally understand Yzzjoanna! I was the exact same and could focus on nothing else. I felt crazy too. I spent so much time searching the internet to try and find other moms like me! And don’t feel like it will take a year like it did with me! I saw other moms who were back to sleeping normally much much sooner than that! I think I was a special case 🤣 One thing I loved that Cindy said she did was scrolling on her phone before bed. It actually makes me sleepy if I have the phone light all the way on low. Anyways, best wishes to you!! It will come back again I promise!!
Hi Yzzjoanna,
Not sure if your post was to me or not, but figured I’d check in anyway 😊 I am now 17 months postpartum, and most nights I’m sleeping great. I don’t even have to think about falling asleep, I just do. It was a long road, and for the first year the only thing that helped me was ambien (doctor approved with breastfeeding as it was already out of my system by the time I needed to nurse in the morning). As soon as I weaned off breastfeeding at 11 months, and my hormones started to get back to normal, things started to improve. Cindy’s video/interview was so helpful to me in those early days!! I recommend watching if you haven’t already! You are totally normal!! Even though it’s not talked about, a lot of moms deal with this.
Hi Ksenija and Romans828!
Apologies for my delayed reply!
Thank you Ksenija for the tips!! I actually love old movies (The turner classic movie channel is my favorite) and so I have started watching movies again before bed. I know it’s a no no to have screen time before bed but this is something I used to do before when I slept well so I’m allowing myself to watch movies as a way to relax before bed again. It’s also comforting to know if I wake up, I can turn one on so I’m not just laying there panicking. It is the worst feeling not sleeping! It’s so nice to hear that you’ve had less sleepless nights lately and that you are on the other side of this!!!
And thank you for posting Romans828!! It’s comforting to know we are both experiencing the same thing after having our sweet July babies! None of my mom friends have experienced this. I actually am still taking 5mg of zolpidem (ambien) each night. I’m usually asleep within 30 minutes of taking it, although I have had a few nights of my brain trying to override it but most nights it’s worked. I also just started to slow down on breastfeeding and got my period back this week, so I can feel my hormones going crazy. I’ve made the decision to stay on the zolpidem a bit longer before I try to wean off since my hormones are going crazy right now. I do think that initially this started because my circadian ruthym got messed up from breastfeeding during the night. I also would experience pain during each feed for a while and I think my body just began to get used to the adrenaline at night. It’s interesting because through all my research online, I’ve noticed other moms say this started for them around the time their babies started doing longer stretches of sleep. I’m really nervous to wean of the ambien but In the meantime, I’m just trying to do my best to relax my brain and think of something else anytime I worry about sleep (which is often😅). Even though I’m sleeping with ambien, it kinda feels like artificial sleep if that makes sense? Im so excited for the day when I can get some good REM sleep again!! If you find anything that helps you, please let me know!! I love hearing others stories on how they have overcome this.
Hi!!
I’m not sure if you will see this but your post and video interview were so helpful to me. I just had a baby in July and right when my baby started sleeping slightly longer stretches around 6 weeks postpartum, I experienced three consecutive nights of no sleep. I was SO panicked. I was breastfeeding and basically just laid there until he needed to feed. I thought it was the hormones from breastfeeding (low estrogen maybe?). I tried Benadryl and melatonin, which worked for a few nights and then didn’t anymore. Then my doctor finally put me on Ambien, which has worked consistently and I’ve finally gotten consistent sleep. However, I am about to hit the 2 month mark of being on it and my baby is 4 months old, so I attempted to not take it the past few nights and immediately went back to experiencing insomnia. I was so discouraged and have been scouring the internet to find any moms with insomnia like me, and your story resonated so much with me! Everything you said is what I have experienced, even putting safety measures in place like sleeping with a certain temperature. I’m so relieved to know you are better now and it’s a relief to know I don’t need to “work harder” to sleep. I loved the way you guys talked about retraining your brain to not be stressed about not sleeping. I never used to have issues with sleep and miss the old days when I’d fall asleep on the couch scrolling my phone or watching a movie or when I’d be able to nap without even thinking about it. This is actually my third baby and the first time I’ve experienced this (but I also didn’t exclusively breastfeed with the first two). Anyway, thanks again for sharing your story and all the helpful tips!
