My wife (15wks pregnant with twins 🙂 is having real trouble sleeping and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what she can do to help her sleep, given that she can’t even try something like Nightol or Benylyn to knock her out.

We know that she will have to get used to no sleep when they arrive, and that women often have problems sleeping in the early part of a pregnancy due to the hormone levels being all over the place, but she should be past that by now…

When i had trouble sleeping when doing my first teaching year i used a spray from boots that went on the bedding – a lavendar smelling thing. worked really well

http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&productId=7531&callingViewName=&langId=-1&catalogId=11051

Congrats on the babies! Not sure I can offer much practical advice – each pregnancy is so different. Has she tried the not-too-hot relaxing bath and gentle wind-down routine? If she’s sleeping alot in the day maybe she doesn’t need as much in the night – I remember that in the first third of pregnancy I could literally fall asleep anywhere. Maybe she’s too excited to sleep (I was – even after MissT was born!). Sorry can’t be of more help.

MrsT

Buy her a Championship Snooker DVD.

Hang on….this is surely a barely-masked willy-waving thread!

Yes. I had similar problems – my wife’s been pregnant a lot too.

We tried:-

– Putting her back to bed without saying anything to her – she just gets straight back out of bed.

– Telling her to go back to bed – we just enter a debate about it.

– Putting her back to bed and stroking her head to help her get back to sleep – spend about 15 mins doing it and she doesn’t go to sleep and I’ve made a rod for my own back!!!

– Putting her to bed and telling her we will check on her every X minutes – she stays in bed until she thinks we’ve forgotten but now expects us to check on her all the time throughout the night!!!!

– telling her to sit on the step until she is tired or go back to bed – sort of works but means we have to stay up with her for an hour or so

– Incentivising her to stay in bed – if you stay in bed we’ll do X, Y or Z wiht you in the morning – doesn;t work!!!

– Taking toys away – works but ends in tears and wakes the rest of the house up.

– Using Medised to help her get back to sleep and reset her body clock (Not sure if this is ethical but all else isn’t working)

The big problem is we don’t know what to do now and we stay awake at night expecting her to get out of bed and is really running us down. We know we have two problems – the attention and that her body clock is now set to wake up around 1am!!!

The one we are trying tonight is two fold –

1. We’ve told her we’ll send her to stay with Aunt Spiker (evil aunt from James and Giant peach)

and

2. We’ve agreed that if she sleeps through consequitively for 14 days we’ll buy her a bike.

Anyone else got some suggestions?? (We’ve considered adoption and locking her in her room at night – neither sits well with us though)

Ralph – she can’t use that because she is pregnant 🙁

Mrs T – she is still working full time so she shouldn’t be sleeping during the day. Probably…

Hora – Possibly… 😉

Brant – ?????? 🙂

Just a quick comment on the lavender spray thing – it’s not recommended for women who are pregnant.

MrsT

How about you buy them a single bed and if they wake get into their bed until they or you fall asleep, again not ideal but it means you are not up for an hour through the night but it does re-establish the sleeping pattern.

Are you letting her nap through the day or in the evening, if so it might be time to stop that. also perhaps she is going to bed to early?

The other trick is a warm milky drink before bed can settle them down a bit better. And the same if they wake up – bit of a pain and can “reward” them for waking.

i wouldnt bother with the stick or carrot approach it didnt help us at all when it came to getting them to sleep.

i’m sure there is another method which I cant remember which effectively just lets them bawl their eyes out until they go back to sleep – we didnt do that….

Aye – that’s the problem. My wife always has gone through periods of not sleeping but has always relied on NIghtol or something to help get her through the temporary blips but she obviously won’t use anything unless she knows it is 100% safe whilst preggers.

Marathon sex sessions starting around 7pm every evening?

Brant – are you not getting enough sleep either 🙂

🙂

LOL at Brant. No hangover then?

I think I might still be drunk actually. Oh, and that lot last night was split with the wife, by the way.

At first I red that as ‘Last night I split with the wife’

:-O

*read

brant – you know he is talking about an adult here?

racing_ralph – Member

brant – you know he is talking about an adult here?

Rob – you have heard of “humour” before?

mastiles – no advice to offer but huge congrtatulations.

I remember your posts from when you guys were trying and I’m delighted to see this post 🙂

twins though? good luck 😉

ps from reading Brants posts it looks like he’s providing you with tips that will be more useful for the twins when they arrive but its worth practicing on the wife while you wait.

Mangoride – many thanks. We were VERY lucky as the IVF worked first time and we are delighted to have two on the way. As has been said to us several times – its BOGOF (Buy One, Get One Free) 🙂

And I might just have to try some of Brant’s tips as you say – it is all practice.

🙂

– Incentivising her to stay in bed – if you stay in bed we’ll do X, Y or Z wiht you in the morning

Oh aye!!!

That splif. Scarily enough I saw a heavily pregnant woman puffing away on one. Oh the joys of Manchester.

Good news m_f – congrats

Why isn’t she sleeping? My wife found that she wasn’t sleeping because she wasn’t comfortable – a ‘pregnacy pillow’ did the job for her – it’s like a big u-shaped pillow and they can use it to support the bump/hold between their legs/whatever’s comfortable.

my mrs due date today with any luck she wont be keeping me awake much longer , just a new baby will lol

She isn’t really big enough to be uncomfortable with the bump yet so I don’t think it is that. I think she just got into a routine in the early pregnancy when the hormones were all over the place and then it was Christmas so she could just sleep in later. But now she is back at work she can’t get back into hr old routine.

We know that she will have to get used to no sleep when they arrive

and not forgetting you too of course 😆

men – tsk

Well yes, I am fully prepared for the lack of sleep but I have never really bothered about it in the past whereas my wife has always liked lots of it.

I my experience, twins can be easier than one in some ways – because what will happen (usually) is they’ll usually be premature, so your wife will be in hospital for a week or two, getting them stable and sorted.

During this time, the motherly midwives will batter you and her into getting into a routine, which, if maintained, will serve you well at home.

m_f – just to warn you, I’m someone who doesn’t need lots of sleep while my wife slept lots. With the baby, we discovered that I don’t need a lot of sleep but I do need it to be uninterrupted while my wife can actually live with the interruptions so long as she gets the hours in. I was the one who was really knackered when the little lad was feeding/waking through the night…

🙂 I am sure it won’t be a walk in the park and am very prepared for it. Although as I have been told many, many times by all our friends with little ‘uns – nothing compares to the actual experience!

Download and listen to one of paul mckennas hypnotherapy CDs, they appear to have a B side trance (not the music) thing that really is incredibly relaxing to listen to. I rarely ever sleep before 3 but last night was out like a light at 1am, I was getting desparate too!, but now I’m probably subconsciously programmed to eat onions raw and send cash to him for no reason.

LOL! And dance like Elvis every time you hear ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ being played.

I doubt even hypnotherapy could get me a-dancin’ 🙂

Pregnancy pillow thing, few other pillows and get her to sleep on her left hand side, something to do with arteries or something means sleeping on her left hand side should be the most comfortable.
Wife pregnant with twins, 30 wks and she sleeps better than I do…..

I had the same problems as Clubber when our three were little.Don’t sleep much(4-5hrs-ish),but it has to be uninterrupted.I was totally knackered all the time….

Not too unlike to how I’m feeling now with this 10mth old Boxer pup who doesn’t sleep through the night yet 😕

Not sleeping is part of the preperation of what lies ahead……..

FOLLOW THESE 14 SIMPLE TESTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO HAVE CHILDREN.

Test 1 – Preparation

Women: To prepare for pregnancy:-

1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.

3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children:-

1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the
counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to
their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2 – Knowledge

Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their
methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance
levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest
ways in which
they might improve their child’s sleeping habits, toilet training, table
manners and overall behavior.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all
the answers.

Test 3 – Nights

To discover how the nights will feel:

1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag
weighing approximately 4 – 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some
other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to
sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.

Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4 – Dressing Small Children

1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang
out.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

Test 5 – Cars

1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test 6 – Going For a Walk

Wait
Go out the front door
Come back in again
Go out
Come back in again
Go out again
Walk down the front path
Walk back up it
Walk down it again
Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of
used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours
come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Test 8 – Grocery Shopping

1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can
find to a pre-school child – a fully grown goat is excellent. If you
intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your
sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having
children.

Test 9 – Feeding a 1 year-old

1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to sthingy them into the
swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the
floor.
Test 10 – TV

1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney,
Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11 – Mess

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean
walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor
& leave it there.

Test 12 – Long Trips with Toddlers

1. Make a recording of someone shouting ‘Mummy’ repeatedly. Important
Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include
occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13 – Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve
while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a
child in the room.

Test 14 – Getting ready for work

1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!!

The real thing is an experience not to be missed!

My youngest who is 3 (eldest nearly 8) has just started sleeping until gone 6am so you could argue that I’ve had almost 8 years of no lie ins!

Muke – quality 🙂

Aleigh – I hope not to miss it, although as I will be the living dead for the next 5 years I doubt I will recall much….