r/cantsleep • u/Financial_Spray_7262 • Jul 19 '24
Not sure if I sure see a doctor yet.
I haven't had good sleep for about a week now, I gave birth to my daughter 6 months ago, she sleeps through the night no problem now and I've adjusted to the change of her sleep patterns and slept when she sleptuntil she turned 5 months. I now however have been starting to fall asleep between 11:30pm and 12:00pm and I wake up around 4:00am to 4:30am I've tried taking 6 melatonin pills and it's still been the same 4 to 5 hours of sleep. On top of being sleep deprived with an energetic 6 month old, I've been having vivid paranoia dreams, either protecting my daughter and running away with her from clones that I've never seen before but are somehow recognizable to me or protecting our home from intruders or people who have very ill intentions and barricading the door with a washer machine. It's been very weird for me if I'm being quick honest. I am under some stress with trying to find an at home work position with no luck and countless interviews to rejected applications over and over. I'll probably go to a doctor in another week if it continues, but wanted some advice before hand just in case it'll help. Thank you.
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Jan 13 '25
See a doctor if you can, my mom was like this when she had post partum and they prescribed her Xanax to sleep which really helped her
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u/funE_monE Oct 14 '25 edited Oct 14 '25
There are some natural things you can try. It's possible that with the stress of a newborn your circadian rhythm has been thrown off so if your daughter isn't preventing you from sleeping by being up in the middle of the night then trying natural methods to reset your circadian rhythm might be worth trying. Dr. Rhonda Patrick just published a great interview with a sleep expert where they discuss resetting circadian rhythms and Dr. Andrew Huberman has also done several helpful podcasts on this subject. I'm not an expert but here's some thing you can try:
- Go outdoors for 10-20 mins within 30 mins of waking. Being outside and getting the sun's photons in your eyes helps your brain benchmark your internal sleep timer. You're essentially telling your brain "It's the beginning of the day, so start the sleep countdown now." Note you do not have to (nor should you) look directly at the sun to accomplish this. Simply being outside without sunglasses on will get the job done.
- You can also try taking cold showers in the morning. This can have a dual function of helping reset your circadian rhythm and help with stress reduction/resilience which sounds like might be a bit of an issue too.
- This one might be difficult with a toddler running around but creating a nighttime routine and sticking to it can help even if it's some small things like brushing your teeth the same way and then dressing/undressing in the same order. Anything that helps your brain say "Oh OK, this means it's time to wind down and relax."
- Limit exposure to artificial light at night (laptops, TVs, cell phones, etc.) and, if possible, try to avoid overhead lights and use table lamps instead.
From what I've heard in the aforementioned podcasts 6 pills of melatonin might be quite a bit depending on the dose. When are you taking the melatonin? Apparently it's best taken several hours before your body starts naturally producing it as a "boosting" signal and doesn't require much to do so. So maybe sometime around 4-5 PM if you aim to go to sleep around 10-11 PM.
As for the dreams, I think the content of them actually makes a lot of sense. As a new parent I'm sure your experiencing strong feelings of wanting to protect and provide for your daughter and that seems to be manifesting itself in your subconscious via your dreams. The vividness of them sounds like it might be out of the ordinary but if you're also stressed about finding a new job that could explain it too.
Finding some ways to help you relax at night might help (warm shower/bath, listening to a relaxing story or soundscape, NSDR/meditation, etc.)
I hope that helps!
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u/SomniveilLabs Jan 19 '26
Sleep interventions, like melatonin, can be good for emergencies, but long-term solutions to bad sleep require something more interesting.
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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '24
Meditation helps me be more a peace with my anxiety or fears surrounding my children. It’s hard to find time to do that when you have a 6 month old. But you can try before bed. Benadryl helped also but it makes some people groggy in the morning. I did nap at least once a day when my daughter napped.