So im due in 3 weeks (if he comes on time!!) and im getting nervous (well scared) about having a tiny baby to look after 24/7! Im mostly worried about how im going to cope with the sleepless nights! Im hoping that baby will sleep through the night early but i know thats unrealistic!!

Do you get used to it?

Last week i only got 5/6 hours sleep one night and i was knackered the next day and grumpy and irritable but the next night i got 9 hours sleep and felt loads better!!
what am i going to do if i get less sleep than that every night??

This is what I was most scared of while I was pregnant. It all depends on how your baby is, but I found that I managed alot better than I thought I would it was like my body just got on with it. Good luck. xx

I think its the luck of the draw, my LO didn't sleep more than a two hour stretch at a time during the first few weeks but my friends baby was STTN and also BF. it is hard!! Be prepared, but know that your body will adjust and you will survive it! Baby makes it worth it but I do know that as my LO has just started doing 5 hour stretchs through the night everything does seem a bit foggy when you are sleep deprived. Accept as much help as you can, I found it difficult to find time to eat and looking after yourself is important. Enjoy your new arrival!

Your body just learns to cope, well at least mine did. I'm not going to lie, it is hard, but you just adjust. Isabelle wasn't the worlds worst sleeper, she did use to sleep in 3 to 6 hour stretches but it was all the broken sleep I found tiring at first. Now I find it weird if I sttn! Lol! Mind you I have heard some horror stories, my neighbours little boy used to wake up every 20 minutes. Now that would be hard!

I can only speak for myself
I found it hard but I started to get a different type of energy so you just cope with it. You get kinda used to it? It is really horrible, I hated the night feeds especially ones between 2-4 in the morning. You feel like the only person who is awake. However, Ethan has recently started STTN and it honestly feels like a distant memory that we were awake with him all night. I know he'll probably start teething or have the sleep regression but we're enjoying it for now!

You'll cope, because that's what women do.

Seriously, the sleepless nights were horrific. I soon learned to sleep wherever, whenever I could. I had a c section so for the first 2 weeks OH did all the night get ups. Even so, I would nap every evening. And once O.h went back to work my mum would pop in and help and let me nap in the afternoons.

At 2 weeks we made the decision to bed share because robyn just wouldn't sleep in the Moses basket. And that probably saved my sanity. At least if she wasn't sleeping I could lay down while I patted her back. And I'm sure I would have micro sleeps in between crying bouts. And I went to bed when she did so I could sleep as soon as she did.

But about 6 weeks it got so much better. Robyn learned the difference between night and day, and even though she still woke every few hours to feed,she would go straight back to sleep. I have adjusted to the interruptions, and feel just as good after 3 wake ups as I used to before. And am going to start pushing her bedtime forwards a little and mine back so I get my evenings back.

You cope because you have to.
It's horrible but some cope better than others and you find ways to manage it.
Try not to worry, you might get a good sleeper. I'm awful with less than 9-10 hours and I've coped for a year on bugger all most nights.
Good luck xx

You wont know till you get home with your baby.If the nights are bad you need to try and catch up during the day.
My son still hasntslept through and he is 2.5,and in the early days he would be up to feed 4+ times between 10pm and 6am,but you just learn to cope.Having a supportive partner or family member who will help out is great.

its hard, but if ou can hare it with hubby its ok. Sometimes its really lovely to be up in quiet night and its just you and baby aslnog as he/she int screaming of course lol

Plus if its your first baby, you can sleep in the day if they sleep

Its the 2nd baby when you have a toddler too when the lack of sleep really affects you, you cant just lie on the sofa with a toddler too!

Good luck
xxxxxx

how exciting for you!
it is tough at first but try and sleep whenever baby does! with breastfeeding i find it so much easier once i start feeding lying down as i hardly have to wake up.