The sleep deprivation

Vivi20 · June 2016

For all you second time moms (and 3rd, 4th, etc...) are you prepared for the coming sleep deprivation? Do you have some new tactics you'll be trying? Or were you blessed with special unicorns who actually slept? (In which case, I hate you. Just kidding. But really).

Shawlls · June 2016

I'm hoping my husband gets up with the toddler so I can go back to bed! Our first will be staying in daycare while I'm on mat leave.

Vivi20 · June 2016

That's what I'm actually concerned about - if my dd will wake up when the baby wakes

I stay home, and my dh works crazy long hours, so I don't expect or want him to be up at night. But I'm thinking my sister will probably help me out by taking my dd frequently, so that would be a big help.

ThePax89 · June 2016

My daughter is what doctors have called a "non-sleeper". She is an amazing child. She's brilliant and friendly, but having a non-sleeper is horribly difficult. As a newborn, she slept 10 hours over a 24 hour period.

I'm hoping that my second child isn't as bad of a sleeper, but if he/she is, we know how to cope.

Sleep deprivation has been our absolute biggest challenge as parents. Preparation for it is impossible.

azwildcat62 · June 2016

I love my sleep & don't do well without it. This is my biggest worry once baby arrives.

EISG918 · June 2016

My kiddos were pretty easy so I'm going in fully expecting this to suck. Let me tell you, that you WILL get used to it and being tired will be your new normal until they move out of your house! What worked for DH and I: he's a night owl, I'm an early bird. I'd go to bed around 730-9 until he'd be ready for bed around 1-2am. That way I had a huge chunk of sleep and could handle the early morning "shift" and it just worked for us perfectly.

I am not one to function well on little sleep, but like I said, you will get used to it and you won't even remember life before not being tired!

Vivi20 · June 2016

@EISG918 I have to respectfully disagree, I NEVER got used to it! At times I think people think I'm exaggerating, but the sleep deprivation with my dd very nearly broke me. It was by far the hardest thing I've gone through. It was a good night if I got 4 hours of sleep - and mind you, that wasn't consecutive. We went to her pediatrician several times seeking advice, but literally nothing helped - she would ONLY sleep if I was holding her. Another major factor was that she was exclusively breastfed. We tried to pump, too, so that dh could help with feedings, but she refused the bottle. The only thing she wanted was mama. It was brutal. I refused to let her have a pacifier because I was worried she'd develop nipple confusion, but that backfired because then I became her pacifier. So this time around, while I will be exclusively breastfeeding again, we are going to introduce the pacifier AND bottle early on. I'm hoping that will help.

Vivi20 · June 2016

kelseyh62 said:

I love my sleep & don't do well without it. This is my biggest worry once baby arrives.

You might get lucky and have a good sleeper. All babies are different. But just be forewarned, you probably will not sleep for a long, long time. The good news though, is that it does pass.

nolemomma14 · June 2016

My almost 2 year old has decided to get up in the middle of the night again, DH keeps joking he's prepping us for the new baby.

I'm more worried this time around about the sleep deprivation because I'll have DS to take care of. He's not going to care if I haven't slept all night because he will be well rested. DS was a pretty good sleeper, so I hope this baby will be as well. I quickly learned with DS that at night I needed to sleep when he did. If he went to bed at 7, I went to bed at 7. Sleeping 7-2 is way better than putting him down at 7, me going to bed at 10 and waking up at 2!

RocksInTheWater · June 2016

DS was a tricky sleeper. He gave up his morning nap at 8 months and didn't STTN until he was 11 months old. He still takes a long time to fall asleep and is up at the crack of dawn. I'm hoping this baby will be a better sleeper!

Vivi20 · June 2016

I breastfed for 2 years, and dd didn't STTN until I weaned her. It's my fault, though, because I nursed her to sleep up till we weaned. That's the only way she knew how to go to sleep. That was my mistake.

Jkp7749 · June 2016

We ended up co sleeping BC I stay home and dh works out of the house so I didn't want him to get up during the night either but she was such a horrible sleeper that i couldn't get up every five minutes. Dd has always been VERY hungry and at 11 months old, still wakes for bottles 1-2 times a night (she has health problems so we're a little behind on solids). Co sleeping allowed me to get the most sleep and dd sleeps way longer like that. She naps 1-2 times a day in her crib, no problem, and until this recent round of teething, will sleep from 8-3 in her crib at night, and sleeps with me until 7. I know many are against it, but I think I'll make sure dd is sleeping all the way through on her own before #2 arrives and try co sleeping again with #2, but on one of the actual co sleepers so it won't get so used to being right by me, but will be close enough that during those early months I can feed without getting out of bed all night.

Josie3=5 · June 2016

Sleep derivation sucks the big one and there no way to prepare. I had a decent sleeper wth my first but had insomnia associated with PPD. my second had severe food allergies and woke up every 45mn for the first 8 months of his life, which broke me to the point of collapsing in front of my husband and earning a trip to the hospital in an ambulance. In my head, I'm already resigned to a brutal 6 months bc those first 6 months are really just about doing what you and baby need to get through each day. I'm already exhausted all the time now.

ThePax89 · June 2016

@jlea05 how did you break the nursing to sleep habit? I need my kid off my boob like yesterday.

ElleMF728 · June 2016

We have finally settled into a good routine after STing DS2 at 8.5 months. He wakes once to eat at the most and quickly goes back down. It's basically a miracle after being up with him for hours at a time every 2 hours for months. I feel like a new woman, just in time to start all over again. I'm crossing my fingers that I will get a sleep unicorn this time.

Fortunately, both my boys (10 months and 2.5 years) can sleep through anything so I'm not worried about baby waking them up at all.

Vivi20 · June 2016

@ThePax89 I slowly weaned her throughout the day, and then one evening I told her the milkies went bye bye, she drank it all gone. She got a special new snuggly to hold onto at night while I rocked her to sleep. It took a few nights, but then she didn't even ask anymore.

Vivi20 · June 2016

@Jkp7749 We'll be co-sleeping. It's the only way to get any sleep, and you do what you have to do. I didn't co-sleep with dd until she was 6 months, and I think I would have been a lot more rested and happy if I have just done it from the beginning. As long as you do it safely and correctly. It's a sanity saver.

LoveIsOwlYouNeed · June 2016

I think I will be relying on the experience with DS to really know, not just hope/trust that it will end some day and we will all sleep again.

Shawlls · June 2016

I should clarify: I meant my husband will get up with DD#1 in the morning and give her breakfast etc. and bring her to daycare while baby and I sleep. Our first has STTN since 6 months (we sleep trained). I plan to sleep train again if needed!

colleenkevin · June 2016

jlea05 said:

@Jkp7749 We'll be co-sleeping. It's the only way to get any sleep, and you do what you have to do. I didn't co-sleep with dd until she was 6 months, and I think I would have been a lot more rested and happy if I have just done it from the beginning. As long as you do it safely and correctly. It's a sanity saver.

I agree! I co-slept with my first and loved it. We all got better sleep while co-sleeping than after we moved her to her own crib.

This time, I saw this and love the idea so I think we're going to set it up. I love the idea of having the extra room and it beats the price of most of the sidecar cribs you can buy. https://www.grosgrainfab.com/2014/02/sniglar-crib-co-sleeper-hack.html?m=1

Vivi20 · June 2016

@colleenkevin That is very nifty. I'll have to show that hack to my dh. There is this one co sleeper by Chicco, and of course the name escapes me at the moment so I can't even google it, but it's AMAZING. However, they don't sell it in the states. You can only buy it in Europe. In fact, I have found several really nice co-sleepers, but none of them are sold here. I don't understand why, unless perhaps co-sleeping is just more accepted and practiced overseas, whereas I think American culture encourages more autonomy in newborns?

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