PISSES me off.


I haven't had more than 3 hours sleep in a row since I've had my 2nd baby. She will not sleep, and my body is slowly shutting down on itself.

And Atomx is away with Military shit-to-do for 3 weeks, and I have NO one out here to help out since we just got transferred to Nova Scotia.


No more than 3 hours sleep in a row for 8 months = Zombie Squidgit.



Urrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... bbrrraaaiiiinnnnsss

You aren't the only one.
I'm ending the swing cycle for this month this week and sleeping is damn near impossible for me too. I'm gonna try as soon as I finish this to get some sleep, but I don't think I'll get much.
I have screamie baby too, my sister's baby stays with us a lot, and when I'm on 11-7, usually that's when he gets upset because of teething and just downright crankyness.

Shael

No babies here and I'm struggling to get more than 5 consecutive hours. I'd be deliriously happy to get 8 consecutive hours again someday. When I was in my teens, I could sleep for a few days in a row. And that was back when I had prospects of having a life.

I'm sure once I stop breastfeeding, it will be a lot easier since someone else could take care of her for a night or two. But until then, I guess I will just be a zombie.








_{bbbbbbrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnssssssssssssss....}

i have tmj. i clench my jaw when i sleep and i have no control over it. so every morning i wake up feeling like i have been kicked in the face, and i cant get back to sleep. i went to bed at 4 last night and woke up at 9 this morning, i need more sleep, im tired, and i cant because the sides of my jaw, my temples, my forehead above my eyes and the top of my head hurt.

Lack of sleep... the cheapest and most effective way to hallucinate.
i experience it nightly.

I never get more than four hours of sleep a day-I work, on average, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and have a 2-year-old waiting for me when I get home...those days where I'm more than half awake, and able to think clearly, really freak me out...

I don't sleep very well at night.

I told the doctor this recently & he prescribed new meds for sleep.

Yeah well, Now I'm up until 3AM & have heart palpitations.

When I do fall asleep they are the strangest dreams ever & I'm
more tired. I feel like I just worked a physical job or something.

Melatonin is great stuff

My wife only breastfed for 3 months with our first daughter, since she had to go back to work. With our second daughter she breastfed for 6 months. At the end of the breastfeeding, we swiched them to formula, then to a mix of formula and milk, and finally no bottles at a year of age. The crying stopped almost immediately after the breastfeeding stopped. Also, we took the baby monitor out of the baby's room, if she cries a little, we don't even hear it. If she is really 'crying' she still wakes us now.

You will never hear your baby 'stop breathing' on a monitor unless you listen constantly and get no sleep at all. Therefore, why do we all insist on having a baby monitor, it is just like a room service phone for the baby. Elliminate the monitor, elliminate the problem.

Also, by 8 months the baby is old enough to ignore begging / pleading cries and is able to learn you can not be summoned on demand for any minor reason. If your baby learns that crying does not bring you to her, you will begin to see she only cries when she is actually in real distress.

Hope some of this helps, it sounds kind of mean, but it works almost immediately and helps the child become more independent.

NOTE: We put the monitor back into the room later, but since she has learned to cry less, we almost never hear anything on the monitor. Even in the morning, we wake to sounds of her playing in her crib, no more crying for a bottle.

How old is your baby? I had the same problem with my niece when she was about 7 months old.

One night I was sick as hell, and I mean SICK! My husband was working doubles and I had nobody to get up with her during the night. I called the pediatrician, told her the scenario, and asked if there were "something" I could give her to help her sleep. She told me I could give her a small dose of baby benadryl, although she made it quite clear she didn't believe in it as a regular sleep aid.

I tried it and it worked. I agree that I wouldn't use it on a regular basis, but if your desperate to get ONE good night of sleep, it may help.

She just turned 8 months old. We don't use baby monitors because her crib is in the same room as ours. Maybe we just need to move her out.

She only got up 4 times last night, and I'm having a pretty good day. Very less zombie.

Posted by Samurai Lack of sleep... the cheapest and most effective way to hallucinate go terminally psychotic i experience it nightly.

I feel your pain, Squidgit. It's a hard gig, this temporary single-parent with newborn stuff. Granted, I don't have that hormonal thing going on, but in the first months after my wife went back to work and I was at home with a one-year-old, I couldn't get my shit together, and I wasn't sleeping, and I was probably doing a fair amount of crying. Off and on for months until the routine finally settled, but it was brutal.

And then some other shit happened, and I didn't get more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep a night for almost a year. Totally borderline psychotic. There was an assessment, and lots of note-taking by professionals. Finally, there was some Zopiclone and with that, some sweet release.

It must be even more frustrating in that you've recently relocated, so you might be feeling a bit isolated. Isn't there some sort of community outreach for military families? A drop-in center where you can um...drop in for a break/support from other parents? It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't anything like that...military families being the first line of neglect in any conflict.

On the other hand, this lack-of-sleep thing is pretty much par for the course in parenting. Look on the bright side, you have a mere 18 years before your latest addition heads off to college, and then you can sleep in all you like

Posted by KublaKhan It must be even more frustrating in that you've recently relocated, so you might be feeling a bit isolated. Isn't there some sort of community outreach for military families? A drop-in center where you can um...drop in for a break/support from other parents? It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't anything like that...military families being the first line of neglect in any conflict.

Yes, there is a MFRC (Military Family Resource Centre) that I can get pretty much any kind of service or help I need, and there is also a community centre where I can be around other parents and stuff.

Yes, since we JUST moved here from Ontario, I am finding a little stressful since this is the first time in my life that I have ever been really far from all family and friends.

I haven't been a really social kind of gal since my last baby. I have so much to do with raising two babes and tending around the house since I'm a stay-at-home-momma.

I miss all my family and friends and I feel like I have NO one to 'dump' my kids off for an hour while I sleep in the comfort of my own bed without a baby crying or a pre-schooler bugging me.

/le sigh.

I can relate. Not to the whole baby thing, but to not sleeping in general. My sleep schedule goes like 7am-4pm, 32-40 hours of awakeness then I fall asleep and wake up at 4pm to do it all over again. IDK how much longer I can keep it up, but it's the only way I'm awake during the day to do things. For the longest time I was 4pm-7am awake and then I slept, and it drove me insane.

I had my kids very young,four years apart and there were three by the time I was twenty one. They are now 13,14 and 17 and as hard as it was at the time,I'm not sure I would have had any if I had waited until now,or even ten years ago. I truly feel for you Squidget,I had many years of interrupted sleep and did the majority of it alone.


~A tad off topic here~

I am often curious what it must be like for those who did have twenty or whatever years before having children. I'm not saying the way I did it was better,but I guess both ends have pros and cons. And for the record,I think that waiting is the best way to go,financial and relationship stability should definitely come before having kids. But I'm also a rather selfish sort at times and seriously doubt that I would have the patience now. Just a thought...

Wiccan; I have done both. I had my daughter at 19. Although I struggled financially, (I threw her dad out) she was a terrific kid and raising her alone at a young age wasn't really so bad. Course, she also slept through the night and I had lots of people who "took" her, giving me an ample amount of "me" time. We lived in a dumpy apartment and didn't have much, so having her motivated me to go back to college with the intention of making a good life for the both of us.

Then 22 years later I became the guardian of my niece. I got her at only a few months old, and I have to say that it took me about a year to adjust. The biggest "issues" ended up being the smallest things. I was frustrated that I couldn't take a shower unless someone else was there to watch her. I missed being able to "do nothing" or watch something other than Dora the Explorer. Last week she started Kindergarten and I must say I'm not looking forward to doing the "school" thing again but I'll adjust.

I do feel I'm a better parent now that I'm older; and I feel bad that I wasn't able to give my daughter the same parenting I'm giving this little one. But if you were wondering about the physical toll it takes later in life, I really haven't noticed it. I've always kept myself in good shape so for right now its so far, so good. I just miss my "me" time most of all. And of course, I'm doing it alone again.

With all that being said, I wouldn't give this kid back if her "bio's" became parents of the year. She's my little girl.

Okay, I'm getting emo now. Here's a couple of pics of me and my "daughters" so you can get the reality of the age difference here.

click to view

click to view

Thank you for the insight,Debi!
It sounds like you've adjusted really well,and your daughters are beautiful( and you're no slouch,either!).

My seventeen year old daughter (whom I had when I was sixteen) brought home one of those 'live babies' for three days. By the time it was over,she was delirious with lack of sleep and had cried from frustration a handful of times.

Posted by Wiccan My seventeen year old daughter (whom I had when I was sixteen) brought home one of those 'live babies' for three days. By the time it was over,she was delirious with lack of sleep and had cried from frustration a handful of times.

Ha! I did that in grade 11 and I slept over at my uncle and aunts the first night (a farm)

My uncle got home late and didn't know I had it in the house... well when the thing started crying, he sprang out of bed yelling and running around thinking something was happening to the cows. He was so confused!

It was funny

she is 13 months, and I still havent slept more than 3 hours in a row................................................