Ohhhhh How Sleep Evades ME!

My friends who are mothers…envy me. My mother and mother-in-law …don’t believe me. My pre-natal instructor advises me to stay quiet. My husband relishes with me. My child, he sleeps through the night! He started early, perhaps at four weeks and is going strong, now approaching 6 months. I am sure I will owe my dues.

But sleep, ohhhh the joy of sleep evades me. I hear endless talk about getting our babies to sleep but what baffles me is getting myself to sleep. This was not a problem pre-baby nor was it a problem throughout my pregnancy. I have always loved sleep and sleep has loved me. But now, I am unable to nap, even after several busy days of visiting and activities. I have trouble falling into my nightly sleep because the hundreds of things that we as mothers need to accomplish spin in my head. If I awake in the night to visit the loo it is an hour or two at a minimum before slumber welcomes me back – and all the while, the ohhh so repetitive songs from my child’s music class consume my brainwaves.

If you are like me and it is Mom that needs to be "Dr. Sears-ed" to sleep…let me suggest the following remedies. Some have worked for me sometimes, others at other times…all are worth a try:

1. Rearrange your bedroom furniture…it may sounds crazy…but if you put a lot of thought into it your sleep-deprived body may be telling you that the feng shui of the room just isn’t right.

2. Yoga, yoga, yoga – if for nothing else than learning how to let your body wind down and go into a state of deeper relaxation.

3. Turn the baby monitor way down – or try turning it off and see how easily you can actually hear your baby make noises without it.

4. Develop your own down-to-bed routine. Have a bath, read a story….

5. Close your bedroom door. Its amazing how closing a door can create a greater sense of security and cocoon likeness!

6. Get a new mattress. Think about how old your mattress really is. I understand that 10 years is about long enough.

7. Get new pillows – especially if you think something in the pillow is irritating your sleep – get the non-allergenic variety.

8. Keep a Dictaphone or a notepad by your bed to get the to do list out of your head and somewhere constructive.

9. Get yourself up and do something that you’ve been meaning to do for years but have not got to – it must be something entirely monotonous – organize your recipes or photos – do not check your email! This should help your brain wind-down.

And finally…if all else fails…

10. Stop talking about the sleep you miss…that is my goal…I am going to trick my body into thinking that it is sleeping just fine — and then maybe it will again.

Wish me luck:)

Kristen is an urbanmoms.ca member and mother to Cooper, featured above. If you would like to share a story we would love to post it! Please send a copy to email@urbanmoms.ca.

Comments

Anne says

January 18, 2006 at 10:50 pm

I have two other suggestions for helping one fall asleep. I will switch to the other end of the bed- put my head where my feet usually are. Don’t ask me why this works, but it often does. The second trick that works for me is to turn on the bedside lamp. For some reason, the light calms my racing mind, or possibly the light tricks my brain into thinking it SHOULD be awake and the reverse happens– I fall asleep! But most importantly, I first have to have written down all the ideas/lists/plans on the notepad by the bed. Once committed to paper, my brain can relax and not worry about forgetting this “important” stuff before morning. Then, and only then, will one of the other tricks work for getting me to sleep.
Kerry says

January 18, 2006 at 10:10 pm

I love it! My 4 month old daughter also sleeps thru the night since she was 3 weeks, and it did also take me awhile to get myself to sleep, but since she is so happy all day (because of 10 hours sleep) it makes it easier to get all my stuff done, so I tell myself I will have plenty of time to do it tomorrow! Thank you Kristen for sharing, it’s nice to know other babies sleep too!