How Can I Ensure I Get Some Sleep Too?

I agree... do what you can to get some sleep. Seems you are so sensitive you will hear her through almost anything. That's a "gift" most of us moms have. My son generally sleeps through the night once we put him down and we can be downstairs watching a movie and I will hear him cry. My husband thinks I've lost it when I jump up and exclaim, "IS THE BABY CRYING?!" and sure enough he is. And don't forget your mothers instinct! Mine (instinct)has woken me up in the night when a minute later my son would start to cry. Also, the first time I realized how exhausted I was, was when my husband, a heavy sleeper, woke me up with a crying baby I didn't hear (I nurse so I'm always on call). I felt so bad that I didn't wake, but then realized I was exhausted by definition and really needed to start sleeping more. Best of luck.

I do the air purifier in our baby's room and our room too. There is nothing wrong with separate bedrooms-my husband snores and he doesn't like the white noise thing-I can't sleep without it. So we have taken to separate rooms and we both sleep better. I agree that teh white noise drowns out the little peeps but if the baby really needs you-you will hear actual screaming. Try taking extra good care of yourself when you are especially sleep deprived. My whole life I feel like I have been chasing after lost sleep and I am tired 90% of the time.Between working crazy shifts at a hospital and having kids....it is hard to get the rest you truly need. Good luck!

I say sleep with a fan on. It will work wonders and you will still hear if your baby cries for you. We use one and it helps a lot.

We use a humidifier (on high speed) in the baby's room, close her door, and keep the monitor on low in our room down the hall. We still hear her if she cries, but it helps disguise some of the chattering , etc. that we don't need to hear when we're trying to sleep.

I would just add that you might keep a log over 2 weeks of how many times you woke up, and how many times she actually needed you and was truly crying rather than just making sounds and settling herself down. If you find that you woke up 10 times a night for 2 weeks, but she never actually needed you any of those times, you'll give yourself more confidence to use any device to drown her out. (A white noise machine or air filter are probably better than a fan, which can send dust around - that can dry you out and interrupt your sleep.)

I have a sleep disorder (obstructive sleep apnea) and I can tell you (with the doctor's agreement) that my child was at much greater risk riding in a car driven by an exhausted mom than he ever was just getting thru the night on his own.

True screaming will wake you up - so you MUST do whatever you can to get real, sustained rest and REM sleep. This is a health and safety issue for you, not just a comfort issue.

Good luck.

Hi Isablle-

I say sleep with the fan on. We have an 18 mo. old and I'm a very light sleeper as well. We sleep with a fan every night! My guess is that if you're hearing "every little noise" right now, that with the fan on you will still hear her cry if she really needs you...that said, there have been night, especially now that the furnace is running that we have the fan on, but also put the monitor on very low next to my husbands side of the bed. The fan drowns out the monitor, but if she is really crying I pick up on it and can look at the monitor to see if the red lights are flashing...I've also slept with ear plugs in and left the monitor on louder next to my husband...but you are right, you need to get some sleep!

Why do her noises keep you awake? Is it because you feel like something is wrong or she is going to wake up & then you will have to get up and tend to her so why go to sleep?
Or are the noises just "annoying" to you. Maybe you have sensory integration disorder where sounds are too "loud" for you but normal sounding to others? I have it & so does my 2 year old it is like certain noises (train whistles for my son, too many people in one crowded room or lots of loud kids for me)are just too much for us we cannot handle it our brains kind of "turn off". Early Intervention is coming once a week for my son to help him deal with it so I will let you know what they suggest for him and myself and tell you what to do & if it works for us.
Other than that you need to figure out why she is keeping you up. Yes a fan is the perfect white noise, my son likes to bounce in his crib & his crib is squeeky (keeps us up sometimes. So we close his door but keep ours open & have the fan going and we cannot hear the crib at all.
Good luck and I will keep you updated on the SI sound thing.

I suggest either putting some "white noise" in your room or hers or both. If you put it in either, then you should be fine to put the montior on at night to ensure you hear her. That is what we do with our little one. We have an air purifier in her room and then I shut our doors and put her montior on and I find I sleep through most of the time. :) It can't hurt that is for sure, at this point I am sure you are willing to try anything...wishing you the best of luck.

I would suggest using a cool mist humidifier in her room. They are good to use this time of year anyways. It will help drown the noise a bit.
Also could you sleep with ear plugs in and just have your husband wake you if your daughter woke up and needed you?
I'm sure that you could find some good ear plugs that would help you get some sleep!