Sleep seems to be a major challenge for most moms. How much do you get each night? How much would you LIKE to get each night? Do you have any tips or tricks for getting more sleep?

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Before kids I seriously got 8 to 10 hours a night! If I got 6 or under in those days, I thought I was SO sleep-deprived!
ReplyDeleteThen I had two boys who were born terrible sleepers as babies. Both woke every two hours for the first 6 months or so no matter what we tried. EW.
So my sleep got all messed up, needless to say. Now my body doesn't really remember how to stay asleep for very many hours in a row.
Now that both boys are sleeping (most of the time), I generally get anywhere from 5 to 8 hours a night. And it's funny to me that I think that's REALLY GOOD.
Sleep is elusive. Some nights I get enough to keep me going (with the aid of some caffienated additives). Those are anywhere from six to eight hour nights. Then there are the nights when I wake at 2am and can't get back to sleep so I end up laying on the couch in the middle of the night watching "Cash in the Attic" on BBC America. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes, as much as I might crave it, I just can't force my brain to shut-off so that my body can get that much needed shut-eye.
ReplyDeleteSleep is a sore subject with me. Ever since my now 2 1/2 yr old was diagnosed at 6 months old with AI Neutrapinia, I have had the WORST insomnia. I've tried every herbal or home remedy out there, and have had to resort to Ambien. :( (Michelle Grant is very disapproving!) But as everyone knows, being a Mama is hard enough WITH sleep. Without it, it's practically impossible....
ReplyDeleteI generally sleep from 11:30pm-6am, then doze from 6am-8am. I wish I went to bed a bit earlier and got up earlier as well. Early to bed and early to rise and all that!
ReplyDeleteI too was a sleep addict. Without at least 9 hours a night, I didn't feel so hot. But since my son was born 6 months ago, I'm lucky to get 6 hours a night. He usually wakes once or I have to pump the boobs (low milk supply issues) so I never get more than 5-6 hours straight. Plus I need to quit all of this late night blogging. That makes it hard for me to fall asleep!
ReplyDeleteGet: 3-4 hours/night. I know... and I don't have the excuse of babies or pregnancy. I'm just your typical insomniac.
ReplyDeleteWant: either 9 hours or the ability to get by with 0! :) I could get so much done!
Thrive on: 7-8 hours/night.
Right now I am getting about 6-8 hours per night. In the grand scheme I know that is pretty good, but I think that for me at least 8 hours is optimal. Having uniterrupted sleep makes a huge difference. While I do not have kids waking to eat in the middle of the night anymore, I do have one child that wakes with nightmares and being scared alot. This is rough!
ReplyDeleteI have a really hard time falling asleep. My hubby leaves for work at 5:15 AM, so he tries to be in bed by 9:30. I cannot go to sleep that early, so I tend to do computer stuff/blogging stuff late at night, and then my mind cannot shut off. I am trying to cut myself off from screen time by 9 so that for the last hour or so before I go to bed, I am just reading. That helps a little, but I am also just sort of plagued with insomnia sometimes.
I am trying to research natural stuff that may help mamas like me. I will keep you posted if I find stuff that works!
As much as I can! BK 10-12 hours. No kidding. After #2 3-4 a night he cried A LOT. Now I average 6-7. I can NOT sleep through tha night. It's the dog or cat or my son or snoring or my own need to go pee...
ReplyDeleteI lovvvve naps. But that rarly happens for me. It really is no wonder I'm crabby so much!
OH! I have to add.
ReplyDeleteDo y'all remember when we were teenagers and slept till 1 or 2 PM.
Oh I miss that! (sometimes.)
Depends on the night... my 14 month old stopped sleeping good right around the time we switched to regular milk.... and until we realized he was really having issues with the milk (sleep and some other disturbances to his normal happy, good eater, good napper self) we had almost 1 month and a half of him sleeping the way a newborn does.. up and down ALL night.. so for about a month I was getting less than 3 hours a night... he would wake up I would finally get him back to sleep but it would take me an hour or more to fall back to sleep - sleep for a half hour and he would be back up.
ReplyDeleteWe are finally getting back to sleeping good... last night he slept from 8pm to 7am with only 1 wake up. I haven't had that much sleep at one time in soo long it seems.
On most nights I could thrive on 4 or 5 (as long as it was continuous uninterrupted) but I would love to get 8 more consistently :)