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Hey ladies,
So nice to read your stories. My little one is now 15 mo old and my pp insomnia started 4 months after he was born. At 5 months he was sleeping through the night and here I was fully awake (Martin’s term “tired and wired” is truly how I felt) while my baby was soundly sleeping. It is as if my brain couldn’t let me fall asleep with the slight possibility of being awakened by my baby. I thought it was normal after the first 3 months of strictly breastfeeding at night and being awakened multiple times. But it didn’t go away and even with medication it wasn’t better. I found Martin’s podcast and YT channel and it helped me wean off the medication within 4 days just with the sleep restriction routine, and making sure I was getting up at the same time everyday and carrying on with my life during the day. I also had a “night project” that I was excited about (like making a photo album for my son) this way night wakefulness wasn’t triggering anxiety anymore. It worked quite well for me but now I’m back after a relapse and wanting to tackle this again. I also have a goal of going back to sleeping with my partner because since we had our son we have been sleeping apart in order to try and get as much sleep as we can, and it affects our relationship. It feels like we are living as roommates and I hate it. I would like to get good nights sleep and wake up by my lover in the morning, and stop being worried about every single noise in the house. It is as if my brain is so wired to respond to my baby at night that I can’t shut it down even though my son sleeps soundly for 12h a night 🥹 I feel so broken and we are thinking of trying for baby #2 but I can’t help feeling so anxious about the idea of bringing in another factor that could restrict my sleep. Anyhow next week I’m getting custom earplugs and I’m hoping that following this program will bring some structure to my nights which currently are out of control (sleeping 5h a night sometimes less). Good luck to everyone ❤️ nice to know I’m not alone! Those insomnia nights feel so lonely and all I want is to go cuddle my partner and my son 🥹 instead I’m pacing around in the living room crying and being so tired. Tonight I’m starting day 1 of sleep restriction 🙌 wish me good luck!!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!!!
