LO2 has been sleeping through the night for the past week, after never having done it in her first 11.5 months. It's been glorious! But I'm amazed at my capacity to sleep: often 7-9 hours, and I still feel like I need an afternoon nap! (There's still plenty about my day to wear me out, but I'm still surprised.)
So, just for fun, how long did it take for you to approach something like well-rested after your kids started sleeping through the night?
grapefruit / 4066 posts
I guess I never really felt "well rested" even after LO started sleeping through the night around a year! Maybe I was so sleep deprived for so long it took my body awhile to catch up, and it made me not want a second for a really long time, but even then, there was sickness, teething, regressions, big girl bed transitions, pregnancy, and just random night wakings that just leave me feeling never rested enough. I figure maaaaybe by the time the kids are teenagers I will feel 100% well rested.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Still waiting and she is almost 3. But I have sleep issues in general.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
Definitely a few weeks! The first week or so I woke up even though she didn't, then it took maybe another week of a full-night's sleep before I felt normal.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Never? DD started STTN around 8-9 months, but it's never 100%. And even if it's every single night since then, I don't think I will ever feel rested ever again, lol! I sleep 7-8 hours every night and I'm still tired!
persimmon / 1431 posts
Definitely at least a month. And every time we had an episode of night wakings, you start all over again, and as soon as you feel a little rested, another episode happens. It's been pretty good for the past 2 months (cross my fingers).
pineapple / 12793 posts
Only as long as it took me to not wake up engorged while baby slept. I hate being awake MOTN with sleeping children.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
Honestly, it was probably somewhere between 9 months and a year. But that's probably because she still usually wakes up before 6:30am or 7 at latest, and I prefer to go to bed late and wake up late. So it's been hard for me to adjust to early mornings every day, particularly on weekends.
honeydew / 7463 posts
Probably a month or so. But I think that I am still more tired in afternoons than I was before him, even with 8-ish hours of sleep a night. I think having kids is just more physically and emotionally draining so you'll always be a little more tired than you were before. But it's definitely manageable, not like it was when he was waking at night!
pear / 1593 posts
LO has gone through spells where he STTN, but it had been awhile. We are about day 10 of our current STTN spell and I'm still really exhausted!
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
Once DS was both STTN and nap trained, I know for at least a month or two, I napped at the same times he napped during the day PLUS slept normal hours at night. But I had been seriously sleep deprived the first 4 months of his life and had suffered PPD/PPA and hadn't been taking care of myself physically, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I think I started feeling good when DS was 7-8 months old.
pineapple / 12566 posts
Definitely a month! Neither of mine STTN until after a year, so I was exhausted!
pomegranate / 3272 posts
I just have to laugh at this question b/c while DS2 has STTN night before, he's not consistent. There have been a few times where after he does sleep well, I'll mention that I'm tired and DH comments on how I got a lot of sleep that night so I shouldn't be. You know, because clearly getting one good 8 hour stretch of sleep makes up for the past 8 months of only sleeping for 4 hours at a time max.
nectarine / 2243 posts
I don't think I feel well rested yet and it's been 4 months. I am not a very good sleeper and she's taken to waking at 6 lately
pomegranate / 3580 posts
Woohoo! That is exciting! It took me a few weeks to feel caught up, but even then she didn't STTN until I was pregnant again so there's still an existing baseline of exhaustion so it's hard to say. But I think if I wasn't pregnant I'd feel much more rested!
kiwi / 698 posts
My daughter has been sleeping through the night for awhile, but I still feel constantly tired. I think I need to get my thyroid checked, because I'm getting a lot of sleep and shouldn't be this tired all the time.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Mine didn't start STTN until 14 months. I still feel exhausted. And he has been sick for 5 days and has woken the last 4 nights. He also wakes early, by 6 or 630 LATEST. I'm running a big sleep deficit!
apricot / 343 posts
I should add: She is waking up at 5AM, snacks, and then falls back asleep for another 1-2 hours. But it feels like STTN to me 
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
I need to add that I'm an introvert, so I also need some awake time alone by myself to recharge every day in addition to sleep or else I will feel tired. So I didn't start to really feel rested until DS was sleeping like 11-12 hours a night plus napping during the day. Once I had adequate rest AND some unplugging time, I started to feel sane again.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
I'm at the two week mark, and yesterday was the first day I didn't feel like taking an afternoon nap. I mean, I'm not like crazy energetic, but I'm not falling asleep during nursing sessions either!
persimmon / 1431 posts
Reading this is crazy, and I just can't understand how every other developed country has like 1 year of maternity leave, and the US has none.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
This is making me sad! Ds is 4.5 months and nowhere near sttn. I hope when he does I can get back to normal pretty quickly!
@Pumpkin Pie: This is one of those things I don't think longer maternity leave would necessarily change. I SAH and some days I long to be back at one of my old jobs, not chasing a 3 yo after not sleeping. Of course I don't miss my very physically active jobs (working at a hospital, being the main one!)
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
@Ms maths: at 3 1/2 years, every once in a while i feel rested. around 2, he started getting up only once a night.... still tired. haha.
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
@Ms maths: that is totally sttn! my son started the 6 hr definition of sttn around 15 months (after a 14 month growth spurt of waking up like 14x/night. i die even remembering it)
pomelo / 5000 posts
I'm forever tired. 
She didn't start sleeping through the night until almost a year, and nasty colds caused major bumps along the way. She still wakes up early sometimes. And now I'm pregnant and have insomnia most nights. Sleep, I miss you.
pear / 1586 posts
DS started STTN (and I mean 7-6, no wakeups, no feedings) consistently around 8.5 months, and I felt consistently rested maybe 1.5 months later. I'm still a little greedy with going to bed early now (DS is almost 18 months) and still feel like "must get as much sleep as possible!" but not constantly tired.
kiwi / 560 posts
DS started STTN at 11 months, and I felt pretty rested after about 3 weeks of STTN. He's almost 13 months now, and I am loving my sleep so much that I am not at all ready to think about having another baby yet 
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