Baby not even born and I can't get sleep!

[mumintraining]

Hi anyone got any advice or coping strategies for dealing with sleep deprevation?

DH is already in a seperate room and I have the comfy bed with pillows etc BUT baby keeps kicking me every 2-3 hrs and waking me up.

I know its good preperation for when bub finally arrives but I am not coping with it at all well.

For thoes who have found a way to get bub to sleep durring pregnancy or thoes who have been through the loop and found a way to get through please help. I still have so long to go before bub is born and I know it wont get any easier afterwards.

Oh I do have 2 advantages 1) I am at home (work at home at my own times) 2) no other children, just DH and dogs. So even really odd suggestions are welcome - I've been contemplating a hammock to rock bub and I to sleep, it would have to work right???

Thanks in advance, I'll try anything once.
Di - MIT

[Kitt3n]

Hey MIT

sorry no advice here - just in the same boat!!

[Chocaholic]

I found that listening to music helped as did either a bath or shower before bed. Bubs seemed to find that relaxing!

[treesinnewzealand]

i have been having hot chocolate in a quite warm room i been having trouble getting sleep for past two weeks i want to find a cure now as im stil way early and i have so long to go,hope this helps or you find something i know how frustrating it can be.

[~Raven~]

As you can see by the time of this post I'm going through the same thing! I've been up since 3:45am

My best advice is to get up and have a cuppa and a bickie while doing a bit of web browsing or reading and go back to bed in half an hour or so. I find I go back to sleep easier this way rather than tossing and turning and getting frustrated that I'm not asleep.

[Cricket]

I think sleep deprivation does go hand in hand with motherhood, from well before baby is born. I found I was waking frequently even in the first trimester with my girls.
The best things I have found are:
1. Bed time routine. Kids need it, and so do adults. For me, it's pretty fussy - wind down, have a bath or shower, cuddle up with DH on my left, talk for a while, then turn onto my right to sleep.

2. Add the bath to your bedtime routine. It's soooooooo relaxing and nice for achy hips and legs and back. And they say that your body is triggered to sleepiness as it cools down, so if the bath is warm, apparently when you get out, you will become sleepy.

3. Move out of your bed if you're not sleeping there. DH and I both find that if we are lying awake, tossing and turning, moving to the couch seems to solve it. We both sleep very quickly if we move to a new spot when we can't sleep in bed.

4. Try a body pillow. I found that as I got bigger, I was much more comfortable with my arms and legs kind of wrapped around a pillow and my tummy supported by it, as I lay on my side.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope you find something that helps. All the best!

[mumintraining]

Thanks for the tips, I will have to try a few out and see what works.

Had a midwife appointment this morning and she said similar stuff. Basically that this is just part of the wonderful journey to motherhood. If I wake up get up and do something and try go back to sleep later, likewise if I am sleepy durring the day have a nap. I might have my body clock thrown out of wack but I might get more sleep and more done when awake by not fighting it so much.

If I find anything else more useful than 'give in' I'll post it here, who knows something might just work.

Di

[KimB]

I have found that if I get too hot then I wake up, so have to freeze for a while to get back to sleep and bubs seems better too.

This bubs is fairly picky too about what side I sleep on and sometimes I can't even do that lol but have to sleep on my back. This then gives me backache which keeps me awake lol can't win.

I do try to have a nap during the day but with a toddler at home it is mostly impossible.

good luck to everyone of us "sleepless in australia" mums

[mellys bubby belly]

Comfort in numbers girls!!

At least we can bounce off each other and have a whinge when need be!!

Poor hubby has been copping my grumpy sleep-deprived moods a bit lately so maybe I should come on here and vent instead

The way I see it is: at least when the baby is born we'll have something amazing to look at while our sleep is interrupted - at the moment it's so frustrating because even tho I'm getting minimal sleep, life goes on...ie up early for work , expected to function normally in my job - *sigh* bring on the baby!!