Insomnia While Breastfeeding

My friend gets over the counter melatonin and started with a half dose every night just to help her get sleepy and fall back asleep when her boys wake her up. I'm pretty sure she's still breast feeding or at least was when she started it, but check with your doctor just to be safe.

What is your process? I know that I had some trouble getting back to sleep, but it was more the worry of not being able to sleep that kept me up. What helped was to have the baby in a pack'n'play in the bedroom. I would barely turn on a light (more nightlight-esque). No talking, just shushing and feeding, and pop him right back into bed. I barely woke up, didn't have to get any clothes on, didn't change him, unless really stinky, and I think it helped me get back to sleep and him to sleep through the night sooner (8-10 weeks). Good luck.

Hi--
Been in your shoes---sorry you have to go through this. Homeopathy worked for me. Go to Vitamin Cottage and look for some lozenges called moon drops and calm drop...and maybe even stress mints. I pop one, or a combination of the three, into my mouth the minute I feel that waking up too much feeling and they work wonders. You could also try homeopathic cocculus, which is specially designed for falling asleep after being woken up--it worked great for my husband. We couldn't find it alone, so we bought it in a mix called fatigue/exhaustion--also at Vitamin Cottage. Good luck and Congrats!
J.

I don't know how you would feel about this, but after three nights of looking at the ceiling, I put the baby in bed with us. Somehow I could nurse him "without really waking all the way up". He stayed there until he was 10 months old and sleeping through the night. Good luck!

Poor sleep deprived mama. :( A couple ideas that might work... first, remove the clock from your sight. If you no longer watch the clock and fret, it may do wonders (this worked best for me). Also, have you tried laying down with your baby? Some mothers can at least lay and dose while baby feeds. A great book is Good Nights by Dr. Jay Gordon. Good luck!
A.
www.breastandbottlefeeding.com

Hi A., I would immediately get your husband on board. Pump and have him feed your son a bottle. My husband and I worked out a schedule where I would feed the baby at 9pm and then my husband would get up and give him a bottle at midnight (or whenever he woke up). I would take the next feeding at 3am-ish and my husband would do the 6am-ish feeding. This way, everyone gets at least a solid 6 hours sleep and you can function the next day, even if your aren't totally rested. Worked for us!

WishGarden Herbs makes a product called sleepy nights--they have a from for pregnancy and breastfeeding. It really helps me get to sleep and get back to sleep after I am up with kiddos. And I can wake up when I am on it and not have that groggy, drugged feeling.

I had the same problem getting back to sleep. My problem was that I couldn't shut my brain off after waking up. I just kept thinking about everything I had to do the next day. I bought a relaxation CD off itunes and now I use my ipod to get me back to sleep. The one I liked the best was Guided Relaxation for the Body and Mind. It puts me back to sleep before its over and it is about 20 minutes long. I keep the volume low enough so that I can still hear my little ones if they need me.
Good luck!

I had that same struggle! What worked for me was putting the bassinet in our room, right next to the bed. That way, I was able to feed our daughter right there in bed, without getting up. It was much easier for me to get back to sleep if I never really got "up" in the first place.

When we had her in her own room, I had to get up, put on a robe, go in there, feed/rock/settle, then go back to my room and back to bed. For some reason all that moving around really woke me up to the point I couldn't get back to sleep. But when she was snuggled up right next to our bed, then I could just reach over, nurse her (frequently in the side lay position) then pop her back into the bassinet. I kept diapers and everything right there too, in case she needed that.

The only other advice I have is to make sure you are sleeping when the kids are sleeping. Go to bed when they do (even if it is 7:30 or 8 pm!) and make sure you take an afternoon nap when they do. That will help make sure those missing night hours don't drag you down.

I had the same thing with my baby that is now 5 months old. If nothing the other responders work, talk to your ob. It is probably just hormones and stress but for me it was postpartum anxiety. Insomnia is a huge sign of it. Just wanted to throw that out there so you can watch for postpartum anxiety and depression because you want to get on top of it right away.