Help Getting to Sleep (For Mom!)

Most of the time, I do not have a sleep issue but when I do, oh boy it is no fun.

I've found the best thing for me with no adverse effects is 2 benadryl's when I go to bed.

I tend to stay away from Rx drugs except for my HRT patch unless I really have to take them.

My body clock is pretty well synced. If I know I need to be up at a certain time, I wake up. We don't use alarms, etc.

My Dr said once to use the benadryl 3 nights in a row and I would pretty much have the routine in my body. Seems that it worked for me.

Best wishes.

I've heard that having a betime routine can help also - just things you do to calm down and actually prepare for sleep. Also, having some carbs (crackers, etc) to eat before sleeping can help too. Good luck:)

A wonderful non-addictive and natural sleep aid is melatonin. U can find many brands at healthfood stores. Sublingual is supposed to be best. I hear u about not wanting to take a drug! Give melatonin a try- start with a tiny dose and work up if u need to.
Hope this helps :)

I have been told that milk and a banana before bed will help you sleep. Apparently something in each of them combined helps induce sleep. I am not sure that it really works, but I thought that I would suggest it to you.

The Tylenol PM is good, too. I would take a half on the rare occasion that I needed a little help, and nothing else worked.

If you are still nursing an antihistimine like benadryl will decrease your supply.

I would take the pill just here and there....maybe every 3-4 days to get you a good night's sleep. I went through a period of the first year with my son where I developed anxiety. (something I've never had before) I used to sleep just fine and all of a sudden I'm not sleeping sound, waking up at least two times a night checking on my son. Hopefully this will pass as your little one gets older and you are more used to the routine. I'm in no way addicted and only take my sleep aide about once a month. It will help you. Good luck!

E.,

If it is hormonally caused, I don't even think a doctor that uses cream hormones can help as you may need the balance you have to keep lactating if you're breast feeding. You can get a hormone test to see if you like. My getting to sleep imiproved immensely following menapause) by using cream hormones. Dr. Connie Casad, gynecologist, Dallas Medical Center, is great to help determine that.

Much of the rest of this advice stems also on whether or not you're nursing. If nursing, check first with your gynecologist or pediatrician.

Melatonin supplements. You can try 1, 2, or 3 30 minutes before bedtime.

No doubt your maternal instincts have you ready to pounce up if you hear anything unusual coming from the baby's room. But if you're an experienced mom, that may not be a source.

Are you sensitive to caffeine like I am? I learned not to drink tea, coffee, most sodas after 4pm in the day.

Having your room very dark helps some people so that their own natural melatonin is released.

I play spa type music softly in the background when going to sleep to help drown out active thoughts.

Occasionally, I do use Lunesta. My doctor thinks that is far safer than Ambian in several ways. If you're not nursing, it is not supposed to be addictive but I suppose anyone could overuse it if they wanted to. BUT if you don't get 7 hours sleep, you feel pretty bad in the morning. Kind of like a mild hangover or like someone woke you up in the middle of the night when you were in your deepest sleep. Therefore, if you're the one that gets up with teh baby in the night, I wouldn't recommend it.

You can take over the counter sleep remedies which are antihistimines that make you drowsy. Benedryl is the strongest but I can get that too tired feeling for about 30 minutes until the coffee works. Not a great feeling. A better antihismine is Chlortimatrane. It comes in 4-6-8 hour pills. It doesn't make me feel so groggy the next morning. It's now harder to find but worth searching for.

Lastly, if you are supressing something that really bothers you (that perhaps your husband or anyone else said, did or didn't do, and you suppressed it and can't find a common ground, it makes it really hard to go back to sleep even if your mind isn't on it. Your subconscious can be frustrated enough to affect you subconsciously.

That's my bag of tricks that have worked for me when needed. Good luck.

When I read your post, it took me back to several months after my daughter was born when I ended up in a horrendous insomnia/depression/anxiety cycle & was ultimately hospitalized before I got some sleep. I do not tell you this to scare you, but rather to encourage you to treat your insomnia very seriously right now.

When this happened to me, I got to where I could not sleep at all. In fact, I likely slept no more than about 12 hours in the course of a month. My daughter slept through the night starting before she was three weeks old, so it was not her fault at all. However, I had returned to work and had totally worn myself out trying to pump and breastfeed exclusively while working full-time, commuting, and caring for my baby at home.

Things went downhill very quickly for me after my return to work and I was resistant to medication at first because I didn't want to have to stop breastfeeding. In the end, Drs tried me on several sleeping medications before Lunesta combined with a little Xanax & a touch of Seroquel got me to sleep four hours straight one night. By then, I would have gladly had them shoot me with an animal tranquilizer from the zoo to get some sleep. I ended up taking Lunesta nightly for six months before weaning myself off. There was a rebound effect that lasted a few days when I discontinued usage, but I knew that would happen and was prepared for it. I'm blessed to not have any issues with addiction, so coming off the Xanax was not hard for me at all, but beware that Xanax very much can be addictive.

I'm sleeping just fine without medication these days after making some important changes in my life. In my case, leaving a job I no longer cared for & that was stressing me out & finding more satisfying work that allows me the family time I desired was part of what was needed.

A chronic lack of sufficient sleep is not only unhealthy, it can be DANGEROUS. After what I went through & my family went through with me, I would not hesitate for a second to start my baby on formula if necessary to allow me to take whatever medication needed to get that vital sleep. And I would have sought professional help immediately when sleep issues problems started.

Feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to talk more. Hopefully your situation is not and won't become dire as mine did, but it's better to be proactive.

When you figure out the secret, let me know. Before children I was the deepest of sleepers. I haven't slept well in over 14 years! But seriously, part of it is just about being a parent and being in tune with your child. Plus, your little one has just started sleeping through the night so it may take you a little more time to readjust. Just be sure to avoid caffiene and too much suger in the evenings. I'm a big iced tea drinker but I switched to decaf since I like to drink it in the evenings as well.

I also find I have sleep issues in stages. For some reason summer is worse for me, even though our schedule is not so crazy so I'm generally less stressed.

I avoid all sleep aids but not because I fear dependence -- more because I want to be sure I'm alert if my children need me in the night. I tried Tylenol P.M. a couple of times but I felt so groggy and foggy the next day and decided sleep deprivation felt better than that!

I usually have that same problem a couple of times a month! I like exedrin pm....doesn't make me too sleepy that I won't wake up if I need to, but it helps me go back to sleep easily when I do wake up in the night. :-)

As one of these notes suggested, you are probably still on "mommy alert". I've been using Ambien for several years and it works like a charm to get me to sleep. Because I'm a light sleeper, I don't stay asleep, but at least I get 4 or 5 hours. As another person on here said, I don't take it every night. In fact, I don't usually take it unless I'm visiting my folks or staying in a hotel and then I only take 1/2 of one. It's non-addictive, so don't worry about becoming hooked on it. I also use white noise machines to block out outside noises (like 7:30 a.m. garbage trucks!) Good luck!

Hey E., boy do I feel your pain -- I have never gotten back to a good sleeping routine since my boys were born and they are now 19,15,13...... when they boys were young, I would take 2 benadryl (generic) to help me get to sleep. It doesn't work to make you stay asleep, but it does at least you get about 4 good hours. I'm now on a stronger med (trazadone) that will help me get a good 8 hours. I tried all the new sleeping pills, lunesta, rozeram, and a few others that I can't remember, anyway NONE of those worked, I just laid awake for hours. My doctor had told me to use the benadryl, which is wants in most of the OTC sleep aids anyway, just cheaper..
best of luck to you..
D.

I feel ya! I never had problems sleeping until my son was born, and I still struggle and he's almost 2!! It's soo frustrating! It has gotten better, but I wake up at any tiny noise and it can take hours for me to fall asleep again.

I bought a white noise machine to drown out background noise, but I still keep the baby monitor on low so that I can hear when he wakes up each morning. It's helped a lot. I also take melatonin a few times a week. It's really helped, I think. I take it about 30 minutes before bedtime. Also, I can't drink anything after like 7pm because if I wake up to go to the bathroom, I may be awake for hours trying to get back to sleep! I was surprised to see so many responses; I kinda thought that this was unusual but I guess not! Best wishes to you...if it's any consolation, I really feel that my sleep has improved over the last 6 months or so, so it may just take some extra time for you.

It is such a frustrating thing when the kiddo is sound asleep, you are exhausted, and just lying there awake!!!

Instead of a harsh prescription use melatonin. Most stores sell this with their OTC vitamins.

Hello E.,

yes, hormones may be affecting you. and looks like your body got used to your baby's schedule. try some lavender oil on a tissue next to your bed. it's relaxing and may help you stay asleep. Good luck and congrats on your new baby! ~C.~

Hi E.,

I think a good mediation would help. I suggest getting a great CD and playing it when you get in bed. Do some breathing exercises and relax. You may just need to let go after a very long day and mediation is a way to do this.

The CD that I found best for me is called, Sound Healing by Steven Halpern. I use headsets so that I cut outside noises and, so that I don't bother my husband when he's in bed too.

When you play the music, I would suggest that the first few minutes you take a slow deep breath as you count to 4, hold of 2 and release for 4 and as you do this, feel your shoulders and body relax. Do this a few times and I think you will go off to dream land. This should help you.

Love and Light,
Rev. G. Hudson, Reiki Master.
www.reikigailhudson.com

i am generally a good sleeper. but i go through stages like that. especially waking up at 3 becuase i heard (or thought i heard) a baby cry. Then i seemed to never be able to go back to sleep. i really like tylenol pm. i don't feel drossy in the morning and i have never had a problem stopping it when i've learned how to sleep again. have you tried reading the bible as you are falling asllep. i would always read some chapters in psalm. knock me right out and i would get some good reading in. :)

I had never been a great sleeper, even before I had kids. But once I had them, it was more important than ever that I was able to be alert to take care of them throughout the day. For a while I took Unisom (usually just a half or third of the small pill would work for me), but eventually it didn't work so well anymore.

I got to the point that I felt like I was becoming depressed, due in large part to my lack of sleep. At that time my doctor said he could put me on Wellbutrin, or I could try Ambien to help me sleep. I did not want to take antidepressants, so I decided to try Ambien, and it was a lifesaver. I take the regular Ambien pill (not CR). At first I would take a whole pill, but then was able to cut back to a half. Many nights I don't need it at all, but if I have a lot on my mind or don't feel like I'm drifting off to sleep as quickly as I should, I'll go ahead and take half a pill. I fall asleep quickly, but am able to wake up if one of the kids needs me during the night, and then go right back to sleep. And it doesn't make me feel groggy in the morning like I used to from taking Tylenol PM.

I have had a prescription for Ambien for about seven years, but as I said, I don't have to take it every night and when I do it's usually just a half pill. I did try the generic version, but I didn't feel it was very effective.

I wish you luck whatever you decide. Getting a good night's sleep on a regular basis makes a world of difference!

Ideas:
Don't just lay there. Turn on a light and read. That always makes me sleepy.

Are you exercising at night? Sometimes that will get you rev'd up. Do exercise, but earlier in the day if this is so.

Avoid drinking after dinner. If you are like me, then you will have to go to the bathroom.......and I can lay there for hours in a 1/2 stupor before I figure out what is keeping me up.......and finally get up to go to the bathroom.

Are you on Mommy alert? A part of you is tuned into your baby on continual alert. You either have the baby monitor on so loud you hear everything and can't sleep.......or possibly you don't have one on at all and are worrying....get the monitor so you can relax.

Natural Sleep Aid:
http://www.shaklee.net/healinghappens/product/20603

I hope you get some sleep E.!
P.