ambien, melatonin or valerian? (also, hypnosis)

I'm taking a poll.
Seriously, I'm a lifelong insomniac and although I experienced a temporary
"cure" through new mom exhaustion I'm having trouble again. Curse of the
baby who sleeps well, I guess. *duck*
I do coping skills/relaxation, etc., but it's to the point that I need some
extra help.
I used to take Ambien, and know it's considered "OK" for nursing moms, but
when I took DHs Ambien CR I was comatose all night. Since baby does wake up
once a night, and certainly could wake up at any time I didn't like this.
It's possible that the CR formulation had this effect since the old stuff
never worked *that* well! Now I need to decide if I ask my Dr for a scrip
for the "old" Ambien or try some natural stuff.
Melatonin and Valerian never really helped me before, but I'm thinking that
if the Ambien CR worked that strongly I might respond differently now. The
info I can find on Melatonin and Valerian seem to say "we don't really know,
but it seems to be OK, we think, maybe, not sure, etc".
Given that Ambien seems to have more research saying it's OK and since it's
not actually a sedative, I'm wondering if it would be safer than the
melatonin or valerian. Does anyone have some really good info about what
the sequence of interventions should be? IE should I try melatonin, then
valerian, then Ambien or just the opposite? I haven't tried the melatonin
or valerian yet to see if it'd even work, which is why I'm posting questions
when I should be in bed.
And finally, I am considering trying hypnotherapy if I can come up with the
money. I've done self-hypnosis tapes/CDs/books, etc but have never actually
been to a hypnotherapist. Anyone have experience with this for generalized
anxiety and insomnia?
*sigh*
Thanks!
Amy
mom to Madeline, who at 4 months has a tooth!

there is another category of stuff you haven't mentioned, stuff like
temazepam a benzodiazepine whereas ambien is a hypnotic not in this
category, there is also antihistamines with a drowsy side effect, I gather
there are also some drugs that help sleep in a more general way, which you
have to take daily rather than as needed.

I haven't tried herbal stuff for years, but when I didn't it didn't work, I
just felt groggy the next day, even more than if I'd the same limited amount
of sleep but without the tablet!

Do you have problems staying asleep as well as getting to sleep? If it's
just getting to sleep, I'd consider the antihistamines (Benadryl) or a
benzodiazepine. It may also be worth going to see a psychiatrist, my
experience has been that they are both more cautious and more willing to
prescribe, a generalist might just hand out a tranquilliser, whereas a
psychiatrist won't, but will explore the problem more and only had out the
tranquilliser if that's the right thing, or something else if that is
better.

Cheers

Anne