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Sleep – do you get it?

Written by
February 23, 2012
Be Smart
20 Comments

It’s Thursday and I’m wishing I was still in bed.

I was going to write about the ongoing leadership issues plaguing the Labor Party, but I am sick and tired of writing about that. My view hasn’t changed. Grow up and get on with running the country. I’m actually obsessed with something else at the moment – sleep and why I’m not getting any.

Did you get a good night’s sleep last night? If your answer was yes, then I am supremely jealous of you! If your answer was no, then I feel your pain. I don’t think I’ve had a good night’s sleep for sixty years and I’m only 38 years old. It’s just that I feel sixty.

In fact, I’ve struggled a lot with sleep of late. You see I have three children – the eldest is 5-years-old, the middle 3.5-years-old and the youngest is 1.5-years-old. I don’t think I’ve truly slept for five years. Most of the time I am exhausted like Nikki recently, most of the time I find myself longingly looking at my bed during the day wishing for a nap.

This bed is taunting me Photo: Pinterest

Earlier this week, it got so bad I found myself sobbing on my youngest child’s bedroom floor. It was 1am and she had been screaming on-and-off for about an hour. The other two children had jumped into my bed with my husband to escape the noise. As the toddler sat staring at me I cried. It was that really ugly crying, the kind where your body shakes and tears fall like rivers from your eyes. On the upside, she stopped screaming. My huband found me slumped on the ground, exhausted, and gently tapped me on my shoulder and whispered: “Go and get some sleep”. I did – on the couch.

Luckily, the next day everyone in our house slept through the whole night. Even me. There was no screaming, no-one was sick, no-one even crawled into our bed and did the “snow angel” where they kick you with their legs and hit you with their arms simultaneously. This parenting caper is hard enough as it is, let alone when you’re running on empty and you never catch up on much needed shut-eye. Throw a cold into the mix or shift-work and it gets even harder.

And there’s the other problem I have and that’s planning in my head. I get so busy in my thoughts thinking about what I need to do, running over conversations I’ve had and planning for the future my brain gets crowded. I can almost see the smoke coming out of my ears as my thoughts spin and spin. Then, I get anxious looking at the minutes clicking over and I start to work out how little sleep I’ll be getting if I don’t go to sleep straight away. It’s so frustrating. Inevitably, as soon as I calm my  brain down and start to drift off to dreamland, a little person will wake me up. Does this happen to you?

My brain is full of post-its keeping me awake. Photo: Pinterest

When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep? Do your kids keep you awake or are you pregnant and find yourself getting up to go the loo every five minutes? Or is it worrying that keeps you tossing and turning or crazy work hours?

Do you have trouble sleeping? Have you got any tips for getting a good night’s sleep?

Have a fab day,

Bianca xx

 

Main photo: Pinterest

  • Philippa

    Sorry for the completely un-related comment but I couldn’t see any contact info on your site and I just wanted to let you know your RSS feed seems to have been down for a few days  - I haven’t been getting my justB daily fix .. and I didn’t believe you girls had suddenly just gone quiet on me!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Thanks Philippa. We’ll take a look at it x

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      We will let our tech team  know, Philippa! Thank you for the heads up!

  • Nina

    You just described my life Bianca!  But I have 2 kids (2 and a half and 1) and now that the baby is sleeping “better”  I am getting bouts of insomnia where I don’t sleep for hours in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping!!  It sucks!  Oh and I agree with Philippa’s comments below – I too have not been getting daily emails from justb with all the links to the posts!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Oh honey, it really sucks not sleeping. I have no advice! x

      • Nina

        It doesn’t help that during the day I drink too much coffee which also effects sleep!  The bub is getting much better so I try and think “this too shall pass” and I’m sure you and your husband are doing the smae!!

  • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

    I feel like I didn’t sleep for about 2 years when my boys were little! They were like an all night tag-team of naughtiness. I do not know how I survived it, and I do not know how I did not fall asleep driving my car, in fact. I wonder if many parents do DO that? I hate to think…  It doesn’t last forever, of course, but it is so gruelling when you are in the midst of it. Sleep is not something I struggle for or over now. Phew. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Yes, I like to follow the light when I’m driving to keep me awake!!! xx

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=669660772 Angela Osborn

    Sleep is so good! If you can get any, that is. Given that I don’t have children, I’m guessing I get a lot more sleep than those of you who do. I have had sleeping trouble though, particularly trouble getting to sleep, restless sleep and trouble waking up in the morning. If stressing about things is preventing me from getting to sleep I’ve found writing things down helps. Writing a list of all the things I need to deal with the next day seems to get them out of my head and I know I won’t forget anything because it’s written down. If I’m ruminating on stuff, reading an interesting book for a bit can distract me and get my mind off stressful things. Something else that has really helped establish a better sleep routine is going for a walk first thing in the morning. Exposure to direct sunlight early in the morning has been shown to help your body clock set a regular sleep pattern and it’s certainly helped me. Having children might make a morning walk difficult, but maybe sitting outside in the sun to eat breakfast or to enjoy your morning coffee might help? Hoping you can catch up on some sleep soon. xo

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Angela, thank you so much – those tips are wonderful. I try and get a walk in the evening to calm my brain a bit – it really helps. x

  • Leigh

    I’m 22 wks pregnant and our first child is currently cutting his 2yo molars. Our (my) nights are punctuated by cries and me getting up to pee every couple of hours :( added to the mix – I’m a shift worker and work 3 x 12 hour night shifts/wk. I feel your pain and long for the days that a sleep in means 10 am NOT 6.30.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Oh boy – you have a triple whammy – toddler, pregnancy and shift work. Sending you much strength, sleep and hugs x

  • http://twitter.com/lisa_lintern Lisa Lintern

    I hear you girlfriend. But you know what the cruelest thing of all is? When I do get an uninterrupted night’s sleep I generally feel worse the next day. What’s that about?

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      I know!! It’s like your body freaks out!! x

  • Stephanie

    Sleep truly is the most precious thing and something I generally took for granted until I had children (though I was sufficiently concerned about how I’d adapt to sharing my bed with my husband that I insisted we get a super-kingsize bed).  I need a solid 9 hours unbroken sleep to function – 10 is better – so the Gods were laughing hard when I got pregnant. My 5 year old started sleeping through the night when she was nearly 2 and I was 7 months pregnant with no.2. He has always been an early riser (he now generally sleeps in till 6am, but frequently my days start with a 4…). Needless to say, I won’t be having any more kids! The things that help me struggle through the day are to drink lots of water, eat more protein than usual (eggs for breakfast are a winner, as are nuts for a snack), hold off the caffeine til about 3pm when a serious coffee hits the spot, get outside for some air and light even if you cannot summon up the energy for exercise. And keep chanting “This too shall pass, this too shall pass”.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      This too shall pass, this too shall pass….. it will pass xx

  • Bethany Beattie

    Another sleep deprived lunatic here. However, there is no obvious explanation for me. My five year old has been a fabulous sleeper for a couple of years. Sometimes I toss & turn with worry, but not always. I. Just. Can’t. Sleep. 3am is my average fall-asleep time, and then the aforementioned five year old generally comes and jumps on me at 7am. I’ve tried herbal remedies, and other more… ahem… ‘pharmaceutical’ options… and my doctor’s conclusion? “Um… if they don’t work, then I’m afraid… you’re a freak”. Apparently immunity to sleep medication and painkillers is my superpower. Talk about getting ripped off……

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Have you tried watching question time in Parliament – I think that may help put you to asleep?! He he. I have heard that writing down your worries before bed helps clear your head a bit. I sincerely hope you get some good sleep soon x

  • LindaB

    their are better nights ahead, my first 2 have been good sleepers, child 2 screamed for the first month of life with wind pains but has sleeped thourgh the rest of the 15yrs on a good 10-12 hrs a night and miss 17 sleeps just fine even through the time to goto school alarm grrrr, but ooh boy  mr 5 who never slept and i would have to rock to sleep or share my bed with just so i could face tomorrow was a handfull at age 3 i eliminated colours & nasty additives from his diet and he now sleeps in his own room, own bed for atleast 10hours a night but runs thourgh the rest of his day. For YOU a scoop of washing soda crystals (laundry isle coles about $4) will take away aches & pains and afew drops of lavendar oil in a warm bath before bed will do wonders & the KIDS avoid additives if possible or just add lavendar oil to their bath and pillow cases, we live by this and all get some zzzzz but sometimes not many depending what miss 17,mr 15 or mr 5 are challenging me with, but no amount of lavendar will stop that its called being a parent GOODLUCK WITH THE ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ”S

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Bianca @ JustB

      Thanks so much for those wonderful tips. Looks like lavender is needed!! x