So moms, have you ever been up in the middle of the night consoling a scared child? Have you ever been up to take your child’s temperature or help your teen run to the bathroom to throw up? Are you up three times a night breast-feeding or bottle feeding your baby? Do you have to get up to change diapers or change your kid’s sheets after an accident? Have you ever had to spend the night in the hallway trying to get your toddler to sleep in his own bed before he gets into yours?

I think we can all relate. The middle of the night chaos that happens with children is not only the hardest part of a mother’s job, but the loneliest. My motherly instinct (or motherly anxiety as my husband calls it) kicks into high gear at night. I might fall asleep fast and hard, but I’m reawakened just as quickly. I’m generally not a night person, but motherhood has changed that. After midnight, I become a sleep-deprived Mommy Zombie.

Here are 5 Tips to Remember When You are a Midnight Zombie Mommy…

1. Pass the Kryptonite

Although it has been drilled into our very large and successful brains that moms can do it all, remember YOU ARE NOT SUPERWOMAN. If you have reached your night-time wall of chaos limits, wake up your partner and ask them to take care of Kidville Metropolis. Know your limits. You are human and you have them, limits that is.

2. Make an SOS Call

If there is no one there to pass the kryptonite too, then send out an SOS Mommy Zombie call. Call, text, email, tweet or Facebook a friend. I can guarantee you that there will be at least 5 other moms out there up in the middle of the night dealing with nighttime kid chaos. Talking with someone else always helps.

3. Get a Good Side-Kick Pillow

I received a fancy pillow for Christmas this year. It is a Comfort Revolution Memory Foam & Hydraluxe Cooling Bed Pillow (try to say that five time fast). It is a slice of heaven. Where ever I end up at night when the kid chaos happens–sofa, kid’s room, hallway– I bring my trusted side-kick pillow with me. In between vomit sessions I can grab a quick snooze on my pillow. I swear it has magical anti-anxiety properties. It is like a security blankie for mommies.

4. Protect, Prepare & Pinterest

Protect your self emotionally and physically by taking it easy. When you are going through a tough stint with kid nighttime chaos, don’t plan packed days. Give yourself a break. During the day take naps and play on Pinterest. Wait to remodel the basement. Hold off on volunteering all day at the school. Don’t plan on working late. If you don’t take it easy, then you could end up getting sick or depressed and then there would be mommy chaos on top of kid chaos. You don’t want to go near that perfect storm.

5. Finding the Light at the End of the Hallway

Always remember, these phases of kid nighttime chaos don’t last forever. They may seem like forever when you are in the middle of them, but normally they aren’t any longer than a week…or two and sometime three months.

Pretty soon all of you Zombie Mommies will find yourselves back in your big, comfy, adult beds sawing-logs like you were a 20-something-year-old again without a worry in the world. That is until you hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming towards your room saying, “Mommy. I don’t feel so good.”