Dealing With Insomnia

Nightly nursing sessions have caused me to develop insomnia. Several weeks ago, we moved the Bean from our room into his room. The first couple weeks went surprisingly well. The last three weeks have been hit or miss. Some nights he sleeps until 5 am without waking. Other nights, he is up between one and four times a night.  I think the waking has a lot to do with teething.

On the one hand, we have made progress. Amel and I have our bedroom back and can keep all our toiletries in the master bath, not having to worry about waking the Bean. In some ways I feel like we took a step backwards. I had been able to get him back to sleep in his crib by putting my hand on his back or on his neck. Now that he is sleeping on a mattress, he knows I am close by and only wants to nurse to get back to sleep.

Unfortunately, my hip and legs aren't in agreement with all night nursing. Some days I wake up feeling like I got beat up during the night. The last three weeks I have also been dealing with insomnia due to not knowing if it will be a night Bean will sleep or if I will be awakened throughout the night. I have been contemplating weaning him, but then I hear his little voice say "just one milk,"and decide we might not be ready.

I have found a few ways to help deal with the insomnia. Doing yoga before bed, especially the "legs up the wall" pose helps some. I also take Calm before bed. If I am having a really hard time falling asleep or dealing with restless legs I take a homeopathic sleep remedy called Neurexan. That usually does the trick. Since it is homeopathic, it is safe while nursing, non habit forming, and no side effects. I also try to eat a little protein before bed and sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night to stabilize my blood sugar. After this routine, I lay in bed say prayers for my loved ones and hopefully fall asleep.

I have come to the conclusion I may not get sleep until he is able to have reasonable conversations. Coffee and I are good friends. The next few weeks will determine what we do about weaning/not weaning. More to come on that topic later.