i can't sleep

i have two kids, 3 year old and 4 month old and am tred by end of the day but cannot sleep. As soon as i almost drift off, my new born wakes! Help!!

Best advice I can give is try to nap with the baby.  With your older child I don't know if he is still napping at all but if you can try to get him to do a short one mid-day before that afternoon crawl hits that should help.  I had the same thing with my 2 older girls being home and having to watch them and take care of things, and being just washed out... so I started to do a quiet/nap time for all of us.  It took probably about a week to get the routine settled in but it did a world of good.  My husband used to also let me crash out after dinner or before sometimes if I was that exhausted and would just wake me for feedings.

Hope you can get some rest soon!

Are you physically having trouble falling asleep or is it just the timing of your infant's schedule?

I think ladyduece has some great suggestions. Most importantly, I think, is having your husband help out in the evenings.

Have you considered co-sleeping? Even just on those nights when you're super exhausted? I know some people have trouble sleeping with a baby in the bed. I was too nervous to do it when my son was young but now that he's older, if I'm absolutely exhausted, I'll bring him to bed with me.

If the problem is physical, I'd suggest seeing your doctor about it. However, is it possible that you're just overly tired or stimulated at that point? I know if I use the computer late in the evening, I have trouble calming myself down to go to sleep. Warm milk with some honey and vanilla in it usually does the trick, though. :)

Personally, I'm exhausted all the time when breastfeeding. I sleep 6-8 hours at night, sometimes interrupted, sometimes not and I still have trouble staying awake past 9pm. I do find that on nights when my sleep is interrupted, I have that tired feeling all day long. It's definitely not quality sleep when you're getting up every 2-3 hours at night.