Stage 1 – Fatigue – You start to feel tired…the kind of tired that makes it hard to drag yourself out of bed in the morning
Stage 2 – Loss of Motivation – You no longer have the motivation to accomplish the normal things you do each day i.e. personal hygiene, cleaning your home, preparing meals etc.
Stage 3 – Emotional Turmoil – In this stage, you might find yourself lashing out at the people closest to you for no apparent reason, the smallest of obstacles feel like the world is coming to an end and you might even take a temper tantrum or two. Crying is very common in this stage.
Stage 4 – Helplessness – As a result of stage 2, your life begins to snowball out of control. You may begin experiencing physical effects, such as dehydration from the insane amounts of coffee and cola you’ve consumed, slurred speech and the shakes. If you find yourself with thoughts of suicide, get help immediately.
Stage 5 – Delusions – You often hear the baby cry even though they are sleeping soundly or perhaps have left the building and as you lay in bed for that long-awaited nap you’ve been promised, the events of days gone by race through your head blurring the line between sleep and consciousness.
A friend of mine told me that sleep deprivation was a method of torture hundreds of years ago and boy do I believe it!
I recently reached stage 5 sleep deprivation as a result of my lo’s 4-5 month sleep regression. We had always felt proud of our efforts for establishing healthy sleep habits at such a young age but it all came to a screeching halt when he began waking every hour at night, remaining unsettled and crying inconsolably, which of course left him a crank pot in the day and unable to nap well. I spent many waking hours grasping for an explanation, a quick fix or any kind of strategy to help get me through the night. Needless to say, I did a lot of research and read several books on the topic. My next post will summarize my findings and review some popular books regarding infant sleep methods. Stay tuned…
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