Dreading the nighttime...

ericaanne0720 · March 2012

For the last week I have been dreading nighttime. I hate knowing that everyone else is heading off to bed and I am going to be spending the next 8 hours or so trying to get my LO to stay asleep. I can feel the anxiety building up in my chest the moment I lay him down for the first time each night. The entire night I am either rocking him, feeding him, changing him, swaddling him, or cringing at every little peep that I hear coming from his cradle. Also, my DH works so there is no help during the night. It is all up to me. Nighttime has turned into a lonely and anxiety ridden time for me. All I want to do is sleep....

Ruggerkitty · March 2012

I feel the same way

hang in there, I'm just hoping the three month mark will be a turning point for us, like it was for DS. But right now it just sucks.

MrsLindinger0905 · March 2012

I could have written this post myself (except the DH working part, though his 1-10 shift has it's downsides too). What doesn't help is she cluster feeds in the evening so she's fussy from 6-10/11. I'm so scared to go back to work next week, I'm going to be an exhausted mess

preggyamy · March 2012

Hang in there ladies! I really feel for you. T&P.

fish000 · March 2012

you're not alone. I said the same thing the other day to my H, 'I'm dreading the nights.' The daytime is so lovely. It's all in our minds though, it's just because we feel we should be asleep. I have gone to bed early and laid in late and my whole mental state was totally different that night. Sucks tho. I'm really looking forward to longer stretches of sleep at night. zzzzzzzz

annette&gordon · March 2012

I am SO THERE. I hate the nights so much. It is very lonely.

gin7914 · March 2012

Right there with ya. My anxiety starts at like 5pm! I know that it will be nighttime soon and I pray for a decent night. I can't wait for them to sleep longer than a three hour stretch of time...together. Sleep would be so nice.

lisac1017 · March 2012

I felt the exact same way weeks 4 through 7. I'd go to bed telling DH "I hate nights." I was up no less than 6 times per night, sometimes getting 30 mins of sleep at a time. It was like the kind of torture you'd expect as a prisoner of war. It WILL get better. DS still doesn't STTN by any means, but even the 1-3 times per night he gets up now is so easy compared to where you are now. Hang in there - I know how hard it is, your nerves are shot and you can barely think straight. Try to sleep whenever your LO does during the day. Your body will adjust faster than you think. And again, it does get better. Really.

polling · March 2012

Aw. That first few weeks with your first newborn is hard. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

My advice would be to try and get out of the mindset that you can make your DS sleep. Do what you can to make your environment quiet and soothing for both you and baby. If he is up 3/4 of the night, so be it. It won't go on forever (even if it does feel like it right now). Take advantage of those big, long naps they tend to take in the morning and get some sleep yourself then.

All of my kids have spent the first few months of their lives in my bedroom right next to where I sleep. So getting up to nurse/change/whatever is done as quickly and quietly as possible.

Hang in there, it will get better.

ames243567 · March 2012

I totally know how you feel. I HATED 9pm.

bwm2bmw · March 2012

lisac1017:
It was like the kind of torture you'd expect as a prisoner of war. .

I've said this exact same thing to DH! Being woken every 1-2 hours (and getting no REM) is literally a form of torture.

And I too, could have written your post myself. Not only do I dread the sleeping hours, but what used to be "my time" between 8-10pm when my 2.5 yo goes to bed is now out the window because that is DS's fussy time. So I'm rocking, walking, bouncing him for 2 hours straight until we can all finally go to bed and get an hour's sleep before starting over.

Sigh.

They say you don't remember this stuff (or childbirth) and that's why you have more kids. And it's true, I don't remember this with DD. But DH and I have both said more than once the last few weeks we are now 2 and done!

Dreading the nighttime...

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