Awake at 3am | Motherhood & Sleep

As a sleep consultant, Amy-Lea thought she knew what a hard feed looked like. Then Max arrived, and every single bottle became a battle.

Amy-Lea is an early childhood educator turned sleep consultant, mum to Isabella and six month old Max. With her first baby, feeding was easy. With Max, every bottle turned into screaming, back arching, biting, and projectile vomiting, sometimes for over an hour, several times a day.

She saw her GP f...

I thought I'd never feel normal again.

After a traumatic premature birth and weeks spent in NICU, Aine believed she was simply struggling to adjust to motherhood. As the weeks passed, the darkness grew deeper.

Aine is now the founder of KYNDR, a clothing brand supporting conversations around perinatal mental health. Use code AWAKEAT3AM for 15% off, and follow @kyndrthelabel to see what she's building. You can also follow&nb...

Lauren never imagined that her toddler's sleep would make her question the career she had worked so hard to build.

For two years, her daughter would only fall asleep while holding Lauren's hair. Work trips became impossible. Bedtime could take hours. Every night was filled with screaming, exhaustion and the constant fear that something was medically wrong.

She saw GPs, paediatricians and sleep specialists. They ruled out everything t...

Mez was certain how she wanted to parent: co-sleeping, following her baby's lead, the connected motherhood she'd always imagined.

Instead she was awake every 30–45 minutes, in bed by 7pm just to survive, and convinced this was simply what motherhood demanded. The hardest part wasn't the sleep deprivation ... it was the shame of admitting co-sleeping wasn't working for her family anymore.

On the first night of sleep training, Me...

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 sometimes a baby isn't "just a bad sle...

Dani is a paediatric nurse, sleep consultant and mum of two. She thought years of medical training meant she'd know if something was wrong with her own baby.

Instead, it took months to work out why her daughter cried constantly, woke hourly, struggled to gain weight and was repeatedly dismissed. The answer was cow's milk protein and soy intolerance.... missed despite her medical background. Once it was identified, everything changed...

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, maternal burnout and the reality of mode...

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 that something was seriously wrong.

In ...

What happens when sleep deprivation hits harder than infertility ever did?
Sheila Vijeyarasa spent years navigating IVF, multiple failed cycles and donor egg conception before becoming a first-time mum at 47. But nothing prepared her for the reality of newborn sleep deprivation.

In this episode, Sheila shares her journey through infertility, donor egg conception and pregnancy after 45.... and the profound shock of sleepless night...

Libby made a decision many mums are scared to say out loud: she chose not to breastfeed.

As a solo mum by choice through IVF, Libby knew protecting her own mental health mattered as much as her baby's wellbeing. That decision came with judgement and unsolicited opinions — but she's never regretted it.

In this episode, we go behind that decision: the guilt, the pushback, and how she built her own version of motherhood — fr...

⚠️ Trigger warning: postpartum psychosis, suicidal and intrusive thoughts, and thoughts of harm to a baby. Emily never imagined she'd develop postpartum psychosis. She had no history of mental illness. She loved her baby. She desperately wanted to breastfeed. But after a traumatic birth, severe sleep deprivation and overwhelming breastfeeding pressure, her mental health began to unravel in ways she never expected

In this episode, Em...

"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 divorce, co-parenting, sleep deprivation,...

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 feeling terrified to make any changes...

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 second son on...

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 would never have another child. It woul...

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 depression, the isolation of early mother...

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 two.

This time it wasn't frequent night...

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 to get “right&rdq...

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 expected a similar experience with baby numbe...