How to Survive on 5 hours of Sleep a Night

*This is a collaborative post

As new parents, it is fairly well documented that you can expect a lack of sleep. In those early weeks and months, we are LUCKY if we get 5 hours of sleep at all, and sleep deprivation can be pretty brutal. Many parents do whatever they can to cope until the point when their baby finally sleeps through the night. For some people however, like us with Neve, those early baby days seem to go on forever, and despite having a nearly 18 month old daughter, I am surviving on 5 hours of sleep a night and still woken a good three, four or five times a night. As such, I have come to accept that a good nights sleep is a thing of the past, for now at least, and learnt to cope with a maximum of around 5 hours of sleep a night (and broken sleep at that!)

I won’t pretend it’s easy. At times literally all I can think about is crawling into bed and hiding there, however you do come to get used to your new, if not opted for, routine. Whether its a baby keeping you aware or you’re simply attempting to sleep with lower back pain, here are my tips for surviving with 5 hours of sleep a night!

1. Bank your sleep at weekends – if you have a partner who can help, bagsie your lie ins at weekends and ask them to take your child (children) downstairs whilst you grab an extra couple of hours under the duvet. Whilst this often isn’t possible during the week, when your partner is at home, banking some additional hours reduces the affects that tiredness may otherwise have on your weekend.
2. Avoid caffeine – this might not be the advice you were expecting, but I have found that in the long run, relying on coffee or Diet Coke to get me through the morning actually had the opposite effect, and left me feeling worse in the evenings when the adrenaline rush had worn off. Caffiene is also highly addictive, and as such, the more you have the more you will want. Instead, try and drink lots of vitamin C filled orange juice with your breakfast (which also helps your body absorb iron from your food helping you feel less tired), and water for energy and hydration.
3. Rest when you can – note I have said REST here and not ‘sleep when baby sleeps’ because I for one happen to think that is the most ridiculous piece of parenting advice I have ever been given – see – Why Sleep When Baby Sleeps is a STUPID thing to say  . Whilst it’s rare you will get a full on nap in the day because of the never ending list of other stuff we have on our plates, you can at least have some calm time when you can, rest your eyes, read, sit having baby cuddles on the sofa and watch TV for a while.
4. Exercise – I know, I know – by now you probably think that I have lost the plot, as surely the last thing you will feel like doing after 5 hours of sleep is exercising. However, bear with me – getting some fresh air, even a brisk 20 minute walk around the block with the pushchair WILL make you feel better – trust me – there is nothing worse than locking yourself in the house when you’re tired. Don’t worry about what you look like – worst case scenario, stick on your dark sunglasses and go for a stroll – you will be thankful that you did. If you haven’t done much exercise before, a programme like the couch to 5k is a great place to start. Check out my couch to 5k review for more info.
5. Have a cold shower in the morning to wake you up – yes this shower may be interpupted by small fingers poking underneath your bathroom door or your eldest child exclaiming that they need a poo, but after just 5 hours of sleep, a cold shower will quickly give you a boost of energy (and is said to make your hair more shiny too!)
6. Avoid big meals, particularly at lunch time, as your body processing this food will zap what little energy you have left, making you feel even more tired and lethargic. Avoid a big mass of carbs, and instead stick to lighter more frequent meals throughout the day.
7. Try and get an early night in at least once a week. Whilst I completely understand that the box set binges on Netflix are calling you, there is nothing worse than realising you have wasted what could have been valuable sleep time when your baby then has an unexpectedly bad night.
8. Ask for help. Don’t try and be a hero. If you start to feel really exhausted, which is understandable on just 5 hours of sleep, then ask for help if you can – could your Mum, friend or partner take the child/children out for a while so you can have a little down time? Whether this is an undisturbed drink, a nice long bath or indeed a snooze, having some time to focus on just you can definitely help.
9. Try and avoid using your phone in the night, or if you do, at least use it in Night mode. Whilst I completely understand the pull of social media or candy crush to keep you awake during night feeds, stimulating your brain in this way can actually make it harder for you to fall back to sleep when you do finally make it back into bed. By flicking your phone into night mode, the hue of your screen is far less bright and as such, has a far less negative affect on sleep patterns. On the iPhone, you can turn this on manually, or set it to automatically shift at a set time.
10. Finally, remember everything is just a phase. Repeat. You wont always be surviving on 5 hours of sleep. Granted some phases last a hell of a lot longer than others but there WILL be a time in the not too distant future where you will sleep, and maybe even where you wish you were being woken up for a snuggle in the early hours. Keep smiling – you’ve totally got this.

Despite the fact it can feel like you are literally the only person in the world who is awake, surviving on 5 hours of sleep or who’s child doesn’t yet sleep through the night – you are NOT ALONE. I can pretty much guarantee that I will be awake with you, so if you fancy a chat – you know where to find me! 🙂

Lucy x