Sleepless nights but I am so tired!!!

United States
January 15, 2011 11:33pm CST
I am recently a new mom, again....this is my third child, he is now almost 3 months. As a parent you learn over time that sleepless nights are just part of the job, but its hard to deal with being so tired all the time!! I wake up tired and go to bed exhausted....my two older children are 7 and 3. The last couple months of my pregnancy I was so uncomfortable that it was hard to sleep much less to get comfortable, that there wasn't a night that I got to sleep all the way through....and of course with a newborn, you dont get nights that you can sleep through as well. My situation is he seems to think he is missing out when he is sleeping, so he not only gets up every 3 hours during the night to eat, but he only sleeps little cat naps through the day. I know this is only temporary and he will eventually sleep more through the night, it just seems like I need a month of sleep to catch up on what I am not getting now. Have you gone through this recently or are you going through this right now as well?? How long did it take your babies to sleep through the night? Any tips??
4 responses
Shar19
@Shar19 (8236)
• United States
17 Jan 11
Oh boy do I remember those times! I can just imagine how exhausted you are. I think when my kids were infants it took them between 3-4 months to get on a good schedule so that they would sleep through the night. I remember I was feeding mine every 2-3 hours all day and night.
2 people like this
bookreadermom08
@bookreadermom08 (5614)
• United States
18 Jan 11
Yep, thats what point I am at right now, my son is 12 weeks now and I just keep telling myself this is only temporary and some day I will be sleeping through the night and most like with 2 kids in bed with us... LOL My oldest son is 7 and just recently stopped coming in the middle of the night to sleep with hubby and me....now its our daughters turn. thanks for the response and happy mylotting.
msmonkeyfeet
@msmonkeyfeet (789)
• United States
16 Jan 11
Although my son is now 5 years old, I CLEARLY remember those sleepless nights, especially since I was the only one getting up with him (his father wouldn't, using the excuse that he had to work in the morning and I didn't). Unfortunately, it took my son until he was about a year old to consistently sleep through the night! Everything I tried didn't work but perhaps it will for you. If your son is getting up every 3 hours to eat it may be that he's actually not that hungry, but just wants to be comforted - perhaps try substituting a bottle of water or simply going into his room and gently rubbing his back without actually picking him up. For your exhaustion issue, the only suggestion i can make is always try to sleep when he does, even if it's only a cat nap here and there throughout the day. If it becomes too much, try asking your significant other or a family member to take over for a little while so that you can grab a few hours of sleep. Good luck and I hope you get some sleep soon!
2 people like this
bookreadermom08
@bookreadermom08 (5614)
• United States
18 Jan 11
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I too am the only one getting up, my hubby doesnt even hear him when he cries, but he does get up and take our oldest son to school so I dont have to take out all 3 kids in the cold..and at one point he was staying up taking the first shift because I was a walking zombie since we have 2 older kids as well...that lasted about a week, but I was still getting up 2 times a night. I try now to stay up until 11:30 and get in the last feeding at 11, then we sleep thru until 3. My son will be 12 weeks this week, and I know it is only temporary and at some point he will start sleeping through the night --at least that is what I keep telling myself...LOL If I can get my daughter (who just turned 3) into a movie then maybe I can fit in a cat nap, unfortunately she doesnt like to nap when the baby is sleeping so it gets tough to fit in naps during the day. thanks for the response and happy mylotting!
Patsie Hatley is Deceased
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Jan 11
hi bookreader mom oh yes I am 84 and my son is 51 bu I remember beingt so tired I would fall asleep nursing him, and the every two hours oh lol. It took three months with him and of all things I was again pregnant tow bavies in 11 months. so it was all to do over and my little daughter was brain damaged due to lack of oxygen and a doctor who refused to do a c section and get her out while her heart was still beating . she was not breathing for thirty minutes so became brain damaged. she did not have the sucking mechanism that new born babies have soon after birth. I had to literally spoon milk and formula into her little mouth.but she did sleep longer at a time than my son had. those first years I was always so tired. then I had to have a hysterectomy so now both children were able to drink from a bottle so my parents had both children to care for as my husband was working odd hours. as I was totally run down the surgeon kept me twice the usual time for a hysterectomy as I was anemic and he wanted to get my red blook cell count up..
1 person likes this
bookreadermom08
@bookreadermom08 (5614)
• United States
18 Jan 11
I have heard stories where woman have babies back to back like that and I cant even imagine!! I had a tubal after my c-section this time, and this was my third c-section, and this one was the hardest to recover from as well. I know its temporary but when you are going through it, the tiredness just seems endless and like I will never catch up. thanks for the response and happy mylotting.
dorannmwin
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
21 Jan 11
When it comes to the way that my children slept when they were little, I consider myself to be very lucky. Both Kathryn and Paul started sleeping through the night when they were about six weeks old. I attribute much of this to the fact that they were both formula fed babies. However, I also learned early that cluster feeding them in the evening meant that they would sleep for more than three hours at a time throughout the night.
1 person likes this
bookreadermom08
@bookreadermom08 (5614)
• United States
24 Jan 11
I have been lucky in the last week as my son has started sleeping 4 to 5 hours before his first feeding, and then 3 the second feeding which gets me up around 7 or so....this is a big help because I get up and feed the baby and then after get my son up for school and get him ready -- our schedule is getting better. LOL My son is going to be 3 months this week, so we may start getting more sleep through the night as well with him getting older and getting more at feedings. thanks for the response and happy mylotting.