What should I do if I can’t sleep? Should I get up?

A problem most mums have, but don’t discuss widely, is that of poor sleep. Over-thinking, over-exhaustion, poor diet and just having a never-ending to-do list often keeps mums awake at night. Now one might think that lying awake in bed with your eyes closed is better than no sleep at all, however, that is actually counterproductive to drifting off!

Think about all those times you can’t sleep – we’ll bet you have racing thoughts, worries, and anxieties nearly every time. Unless you can snap out of it, lying awake will only exasperate these thoughts and keep you up.

So, should I get up?

It is better to read a book, listen to calming music, meditate, or go for a short walk than lie awake – anything to take your mind to another plane. Most people can’t sleep because of anxiety, which is directly linked to acute insomnia (sudden episodes of not being able to sleep) and sleep disorders. If you have anxiety, you are more likely to have insomnia.

Doing something else other than lying awake in bed will help distract your mind and ease your worries. Additionally, it will tire your eyes and use up more of your energy, things that can help you drop off to sleep sooner.

Here are a few things you can do:

• Read a book
• Draw
• Write
• Go for a brisk walk
• Play a video game (with a blue light filter)

How to fall asleep on the second attempt…

The trick is to relax your mind and enter a state of serenity. If that sounds like gibberish, think of it as calming down; you want your mind not to be racing and for your brain and eyes to be ready for sleep. The best way to achieve this state is with breathing exercises, although most people struggle to think about the right things during them.

Here’s an exercise you can try to enter that state:

• Sit down, cross your legs, close your eyes, and picture darkness. Focus on the black. It can also help to imagine space and a distant planet.
• Breathe in through your mouth for four seconds, hold for two seconds, and breathe out through your nose for four seconds.

Repeat this breathing exercise ten times. It will take up approximately one minute and forty seconds and is a proven way to calm your thoughts and slow down your heart rate.

Another good exercise is counting breaths:

• Inhale through your nose.
• Exhale through your mouth.
• Count your breaths up to thirty.

This controlled breathing exercise is as simple as it gets, and you can count up to as high a number as you like.

Why am I struggling to sleep?

Although some people are just bad sleepers, most of the time, people struggle to sleep because of stress and irregular sleep schedules.

Stress is the silent killer of sleep, fuelling anxiety, racing thoughts, accelerated heart rate, and flared body temperatures. If you are stressed because of money, your job, family life, or anything else, you are more likely to have insomnia.

Irregular sleep schedules also cause insomnia. The most common example for people with children is getting up at all hours or the crack of dawn – this ruins a person’s body clock, making it harder to sleep.

Poor sleep habits are another cause, such as staying up extra late to finish watching a film in bed or messing around on social media late.   

Although rare, insomnia can also be caused by severe neurological problems. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke can cause insomnia and other sleep disorders.

How can I stop my insomnia?

It would help if you got to the root cause. Do you drink caffeine six hours before bedtime? That could be why, or you might have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Most cases of insomnia can be resolved within a few days or weeks.

If you have insomnia for more than a week, visit your GP (we say a week because acute insomnia is not usually a sign of anything serious) who can prescribe anxiety medication or recommend something over-the-counter.