Be prepared. When you've got small kids, getting woken up in the middle of the night can be more the rule than the exception. Don't routinely go to bed at midnight, gambling on your two-year-old sleeping soundly. You're going to lose. In the long-run, you'll just keep piling on to your sleep debt. Try to rest when your baby sleeps. It might be tempting to use this time to catch up with housework or other chores, but sometimes getting rest is more important. Set an alarm if you're worried about sleeping for too long. Get an early night The phase when your baby wakes several times a night won't last forever. As babies get older, they sleep for longer periods.

There are lots of things that can influence how well we sleep, such as our current physical or mental health, our upbringing, things that happen to us, and even our temperament. Some studies suggest that babies who co-sleep with their parents form stronger emotional bonds with them. Not getting enough sleep is sometimes described as being sleep deprived, or called "sleep deprivation", "sleeplessness" or "sleep inefficiency". What is the meaning of insomnia?There are many differing opinions on co-sleeping. Some claim that it has many benefits for the child and their parents. Some of the benefits of co-sleeping include: As little as 5 to 10 minutes of deep relaxation may help refresh you. You can learn relaxation techniques online, or go to the library for books or DVDs. And it's not only sleep-deprived mothers of newborns who are dragging. Whether you have a preschooler demanding encores of You Are My Sunshine at 4 a.m. or a high schooler thumping up the stairs an hour after curfew, sleep doesn't come easy to mothers -- regardless of how old their kids are. Find out more about how much sleep babies need, what to expect, and how to help your baby to sleep. Try to do more exercise

Keep your bed off-limits for a while. If your child has to sleep in their own bed or crib, but you let them sleep with you for naps or night feeding, they’ll get confused and frustrated. A baby can’t understand the difference between naps and sleeping for the night, so keep your child off your bed for at least three months after they stop co-sleeping. GPs now rarely prescribe sleeping pills to treat insomnia. Sleeping pills can have serious side effects and you can become dependent on them. When you're feeling tired, doing more exercise may be the last thing you feel like doing. But regular exercise can help you feel less tired. Of course, you'd like to sleep better than you do. But a lot of the typical sleep advice is about improving your sleeping environment and calming yourself before bed. That's all well and good. It's just that adjusting the feng shui of your bedroom or buying a Soothing Ocean Tide Sound Machine won't help much when you're up six times a night replacing the pacifier in a squalling infant's mouth.

If poor sleep is affecting your daily life or causing you distress, call NHS 111 or talk to your GP.

You know what's disrupting your sleep: being a mother. But is there anything you can do about it? Mothers and Sleep Loss: It’s Not Just for Babies Children waking up at night aren't the only reason for all of those sleep-deprived mothers shuffling through life. Part of the problem is that mothers put their kids to bed and then stay up much later than they should. Take naps. Although sleep experts advise against naps for most people with insomnia, they say sleep-deprived mothers should ignore that advice. Co-sleeping might result in less-independent children. Even though it’s normal to want to protect your kid at all times, they start to learn how to be independent from a very young age. Learning how to sleep alone and having their own space helps them become more self-reliant, and co-sleeping can slow this development. If your kids are still young enough to nap themselves, follow the advice you got on the maternity ward: Nap when your baby naps.It doesn't help that as a culture, we tend to look down on sleep. Getting too much -- or even just enough -- implies softness. Some sleep-deprived mothers take pride in doing too much and sleeping too little, trading war stories of sleepless nights with other moms at the park. Start by trying this simple breathing exercise that you can do anywhere. Do not let stress get on top of you Ease your anxiety with a baby monitor. It’s normal to feel nervous when your child starts to sleep in a separate space. To ease this feeling, keep a baby monitor nearby. Pretty soon, you’ll feel more relaxed about this new arrangement.

Most parents cope with a certain level of tiredness. But if you're feeling low, bad tempered and unable to cope or enjoy things, you need to find a way of getting more sleep, or at least more rest. If you can't sleep at night even when your baby is asleep or you feel tired all the time, these could be signs of postnatal depression.Help your child sleep more soundly. Obviously, there's nothing abnormal about a newborn who wakes you up six times a night. It takes at least three to six months before babies adopt a sleep schedule that's even remotely civilized, says Kramer. You can buy tablets or liquids (sometimes called sleeping aids) from a pharmacy that may help you sleep better. make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet – use curtains, blinds, an eye mask or ear plugs if needed He recommends that you swap time with their spouse on weekends so that you can both sleep in one day. Or try to make a standing appointment with a relative or sitter to get a couple of hours of nap time during the weekend.