Awake at 3am | Motherhood & Sleep

When Mez became a mum, she was certain she knew exactly how she wanted to parent. She wanted to co-sleep. She wanted to follow her baby's lead. She wanted the beautiful, connected version of motherhood she'd imagined for so long. Instead, she found herself awake every 30 to 45 minutes, going to bed at 7pm just to survive, questioning everything she believed about herself as a mum, and desp...

Dani is a paediatric nurse, sleep consultant and mum of two who shares how baby food intolerances, allergies and a missed diagnosis led to months of chronic sleep deprivation, hourly wakes and declining maternal mental health.  In this episode, we explore baby sleep, postnatal depression, cow's milk protein intolerance (CMPI), soy allergies, sleep training, evidence-based parenting and why sometim...

Episode 19: Abbey, Hourly Waking, Baby Food Allergies & Surviving Sleep Deprivation What happens when your baby wakes every 45 minutes, food allergies turn every feed into a really scary moment, and the village you thought would support you never arrives? In this powerful episode of Awake at 3am, Abbey shares her experience of severe sleep deprivation, hourly waking, infant food allergies, mat...

Taylor never imagined she'd be preparing for life with three children under two and a half and the pressure that would put on her relationship. But behind the excitement of another baby was a story very few people knew. Severe sleep deprivation had taken its toll, and Taylor found herself trapped in a cycle of postpartum anxiety, overwhelming health anxiety about her own body, and constant fear th...

What happens when you've spent years battling infertility, navigating IVF, undergoing multiple fertility treatments and ultimately choosing donor eggs to become a mother, only to find yourself facing one of the biggest challenges of all: severe sleep deprivation? In this deeply honest episode of Awake at 3am, we sit down with author, speaker and coach Sheila Vijeyarasa to discuss her journey throu...

Libby made a decision that many mums are scared to say out loud. She chose not to breastfeed. After becoming a solo mum by choice through IVF, Libby knew she wanted to protect her mental health as much as her baby's wellbeing. That decision came with judgement, questions and a lot of opinions, but she has never regretted making the choice that was right for her family. In this episode, Libby share...

TRIGGER WARNING:  This episode discusses postpartum psychosis, suicidal thoughts, intrusive thoughts and thoughts of harm towards a baby. Emily never imagined she would develop postpartum psychosis. She had no history of mental illness. She loved her baby. She desperately wanted to breastfeed. But as severe sleep deprivation and overwhelming breastfeeding pressure took hold after a traumatic birth...

"I know it sounds terrible... but for a little while, I almost felt free." When Gabriella's marriage ended, she wasn't just navigating divorce. She was trying to parent a toddler who was still waking multiple times a night while rebuilding an entirely new life. In this episode, family lawyer, author and mum of two Gabriella Pomare shares the story nobody saw behind closed doors. We talk about divo...

Sleep training is one of the most debated topics in parenting, but what does the scientific evidence actually say? In this episode, GP, mum and sleep consultant Dr Francesca Brewer separates science from social media. We unpack the research behind infant sleep, sleep training safety, attachment, cortisol, responsive parenting and maternal mental health, and why so many exhausted parents are left f...

Megan’s baby woke every single hour… for a full year. Then at 12 months… he suddenly slept through. She went from a career woman to completely exhausted, isolated, and questioning everything she ever thought to be true about being a mum. In this episode, she shares what that year really looked like… and why, the second time around, she did things very differently. She engaged Sophia and got her se...

If you haven't already, listen to Episode 11 first. That's where Sophia's story begins. At 21 years old, Sophia became a mum in a brand new relationship. Within a few short years, severe sleep deprivation, relationship breakdown and the reality of single motherhood completely changed the course of her life. After years of surviving on broken sleep, Sophia developed PTSD and became convinced she wo...

This is where Sophia's story begins. At 21 years old, she unexpectedly found herself pregnant in a brand new relationship. Overnight, her life changed from international flight attendant to first-time mum, completely unprepared for what early motherhood would demand of her. In this episode, Sophia shares what really happened behind closed doors. She talks about becoming a young mum, postnatal depr...

Ep 9: Simone, Second Baby, Colic, Sleep Deprivation & Two Kids Under Two Simone thought she knew what to expect. Her first baby woke every two hours for months. There was no routine, no predictable sleep and very little rest. Like so many exhausted mums, she spent her days surviving on broken sleep whilst trying to convince herself things would eventually get easier. But then came baby number...

Kate and Jess met in their first mothers’ group when their daughters were just days apart — navigating newborn life, sleep deprivation and the shock of early motherhood side by side. In this episode, Kate shares her experience with two very different babies and how her mindset around sleep changed dramatically between them. With her first daughter, Isabelle, sleep became something she felt she had...

Ep 8: Jess, Split Nights, Sleep Deprivation & The Sleep Advice She Regrets Following In this episode of Awake at 3am, the tables turn. Jess, usually the interviewer, shares her own experience of severe sleep deprivation, split nights, frequent night waking and the parenting decisions that still sit heavily with her years later. After successfully sleep training her first daughter, Jess expecte...

What happens when your baby wakes every hour, you've seen doctors, sleep specialists and even lived in an infant sleep clinic, yet you're still being told, "This is just who your baby is"? In this episode of  Awake at 3am , Maddy shares her experience of raising a baby who woke every hour for the first nine months of life. Like so many exhausted parents, she desperately searched for answers. She s...

For months, bedtime took three hours. Every. Single. Night. Jacqui had seven-month-old twin girls and every evening felt like survival. One baby would finally fall asleep, the other would wake. Just as she settled one, the other needed her again. Night after night, she wondered if this was simply life with twins. In this episode, Jacqui shares what those evenings really looked like, the exhaustion...

Ep 5: Ash, Reflux, Colic, 45-Minute Wakes & Sleep Training Ash is a writer, mum to Archie and the voice behind You Wanted This, a platform dedicated to validating the reality of modern motherhood. In this episode of Awake at 3am, Ash shares her experience of raising a highly unsettled baby whilst navigating reflux, colic, frequent night waking, 45-minute wake cycles and the relentless sleep de...

Ep 4: Amelia, Toddler Night Wakes, Sleep Deprivation & Pregnancy Fatigue What happens when you're heavily pregnant with baby number two and your first child still isn't sleeping through the night? In this episode of Awake at 3am, Amelia shares the reality of navigating toddler sleep problems, frequent night wakes, pregnancy fatigue and the relentless exhaustion that comes from growing one baby...

What happens when your baby hits the 4-month sleep regression, has CMPI, and everyone tells you it's "just a phase"? Krysten thought she was doing everything right, but as her baby's sleep unravelled, so did she. What began as frequent night waking and broken sleep slowly became postnatal depression, postnatal anxiety and an overwhelming fear that sleep training might harm her baby. Desperate for...

Savannah's baby woke every 10 minutes. What followed was severe sleep deprivation, postpartum rage and a version of herself she barely recognised. Like so many mums, she kept telling herself this was just part of motherhood. Instead, the constant night waking slowly began affecting her mental health, her relationships and her confidence, until she realised she couldn't keep surviving on broken sle...

In our very first episode, we’re sitting down to properly introduce ourselves and share why  Awake at 3am  exists in the first place. We talk about the conversations that live in your head at night, the parts of motherhood that feel heavy, confusing or lonely, and why we wanted to create a space for the honest stuff nit the polished version. This is the beginning of it all: who we are, what we car...