Help! Too afraid to sleep...

We came home with our babies two days ago, after spending 6 days in the NICU (very uneventful, just a few small issues and watching them grow). I am so scared to take my eyes off of these little munchkins that I'm not sleeping. I know I would be this way with any baby, but especially these tiny little things.

Anyone else go through this? I know it can't last forever, but I don't want to make myself sick by not sleeping.

 

We came home with our babies two days ago, after spending 6 days in the NICU (very uneventful, just a few small issues and watching them grow). I am so scared to take my eyes off of these little munchkins that I'm not sleeping. I know I would be this way with any baby, but especially these tiny little things.

Anyone else go through this? I know it can't last forever, but I don't want to make myself sick by not sleeping.

 

Oh dear! that brings back memories. the first 20 days the babies were home dh and i stayed up in shifts through the night! I would nod off on the armchair watching them. Wouldn't even take off my glasses so I can see them as soon as I open my eyes! what a tender precious time...the sense of our responsibility and the babies vulnerability is amazingly strong.
we stopped doing that after our first visit to the pedi when she assured us everything is ok with the babies and suggested we relax.
I still check on them during the night but definetly will sleep when I can.
if spirituality is part of your life that might help you be less afraid. if you believe in a higher power or karma it's easier to let go and be less afraid.
let yourself rest. your precious babies will be fine. the universe provides...

 

I was really nervous when the babies came home, Skylar came home first and I would sit on the couch and hold her till she fell asleep and by that time I would pass out too. But after a couple days you start to get the hang of it. They slept in their bouncers in my room till they were 6 months old but I still got my sleep. Because if you don't get you're sleep you're going to turn into a nervous reck.

 

Oh yeah, been there before. Ds spent 73 days in the NICU and when he came home he slept on my chest...dont know why I was so scared though, he did come home on an apnea moniter. I was such a nervous wreck when he finally came off that thing.
The girls I wasnt so scared, since I was exhausted after 3 weeks of NICU and trying to adjust to not being in the hospital or on bedrest.

If you are really worried you can get one of those angelcare moniter, that alarms if no movement is detected after a certain amount of time (I think its 20 seconds or so). But if you use that you do need to seperate the babies into seperate cribs for it to work right

 

Sleep??? What is that??? I didn't actually sleep in my bed away from the babies until three weeks ago as we spent 39 days in the NICU and came home with challenges.

You will become more confident each day. Things will get better. As far as the sleep issue...you are on your own on that. Don't you know you don't get any sleep after you have kids? Even when they are teenagers you worry about them all night. You will get used to it.

 

I am having the same problem. Our babies are a little over 3 weeks old. It is getting better. I can only sleep for a short period of time then I have to get up and check on the babies - even if there is someone watching them. My mother said she didn't sleep until my sisters and I were 21 years old, lol. I think it does get better as you get more confident with the babies. Good luck. I will be right there with you.

 

Yes, I do this too (still). I sleep now but I wake up in the middle of the night and go down to check on them. I think it's a mother thing. When we first brought them home, they slept in a cosleeper next to my side of the bed. That helped me sleep better because I could periodically reach over and make sure they were still breathing. I don't need to check on them as much now but that impulse is still there.

 

I know how you feel... well, mine weren't in the NICU, but I couldn't sleep either... I would just stare at them...

Eventually you will feel good enough to let them sleep and you sleep at the same time.

 

My girls were bron at 37.2 with no NICU time so I was a nervous wreck when they came home with us. My girls slept right next to my bed in the bassinet of the pack and play for the first seven weeks. Those weeks were spent with me waking up about every 1/2 hour to feel their tummies for breathing (or turning on the lights and risking waking them!). I think I slept soundly about once a week when I was so utterly exhausted because I was waking myself up too much. It does get much better though as time passes. Congrats!

 

Consider the AngelCare Monitors. They helped us so much. Very few false alarms and worth the peace of mind.

 

I remember with my ds I never slept for a solid hour for at least the first 6 weeks. The first time he slept for 5 hours in a row, I woke up in a complete panic because I was sure something was wrong. That was the most sleep I'd had since bringing him home. You are so normal. I imagine I'll be going through the same thing again but double time in a few months myself...

Reyna

 

I used to sleep with the baby monitor (Sony Baby Call) at top volume cuz the darn thing was so sensitive I could hear them breathing through it!!!

The first 3 months they were in my room in the swings (middle of the hot summer with no A/C in their room) so it was a bit easier...and the first time my DS slept 5 straight hours I actually woke him up to feed him...my mother told me I was insane!

 

You can leave the monitor on and maybe take a Tylenol PM to help yourself fall asleep. You can still wake up with them at night!

Congrats on getting home! Now all the fun begins!

 

O wow i remember that first night home with the twins, It was so scary, every noise sent us leaping out of bed. I do believe we spent the whole night holding them and not sleeping Ours were not NICU babies but we were still nervous. It does get a bit easier. Good Luck

 

I definitely went through this with my daughter - part of the reason I ended up co-sleeping with her was so I could reassure myself that she was ok all night long. The twins are my 2nd and 3rd babies, and I haven't gone through the same level of anxiety with them, thankfully... although, the sleep deprivation with twins is worse, so maybe I'm just too exhausted to keep checking on them!

Be careful, though: if you find that you're still not sleeping because of anxiety after a few weeks, I'd look over a list of PPD symptoms - this can creep up on you and I think it's more common with twin mothers. Good luck!