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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think sleep deprivation is serious?

145 replies

Philllyeagles · 17/02/2025 20:06

I haven’t had a full nights sleep in a year and a month now, that’s how old my youngest is. She’s been very attached so no we haven’t been able to have her stay out so I can rest.

she is getting more confident so may stay at grandmas with her big bro soon! But this years give me a lot of reflection (maybe because I’m awake so much. Lol)

The best nights we’ve had (less than a handful though) is 4/5 hour stretch. Only got 1 waking during these nights. Felt fantastic.

A normal night is me seeing every hour of the night. Whether it be for 5 minutes to give her a cuddle or an hour as she’s woke and is chatting. It’s been tough :/

early on people checked but as she’s older people don’t care. I’ve went to work and again. It seems no one cares and this sounds silly someone on our teams call last week was like “wow I can’t function I only had 6 hours sleep” (that’s fine I’m not berating them) and I thought that would be fantastic tbh!
for me anyway.

I feel like I’m expected to be 100% in every aspect of my life and not be affected by being so drained. My 100% goes to my kids of course. My husband made a comment about how I’ve changed and I stayed silent but wanted to scream at him. He doesn’t get up in the night , he doesn’t hear the kids. He’s had breaks. He sleeps through. I am so drained and what a stupid fucking comment to make when I put my
heart and soul into trying to raise our kids to be the best people they can grow to be, and he’s nitpicking me for being different than the energised 20 year old he met!!!! (I’m 27 now)

Am I dramatic? I feel like people don’t get how real and how draining it is to not sleep properly. To have a bad night, and know you can’t catchup on sleep. To fuel yourself with red bull so you can do emails and calls falling asleep.

OP posts:
coxesorangepippin · 18/02/2025 01:33

The worst part for me is that when I’m lying in bed I’m just anticipating the next wake up so even though I’m absolutely burnt out exhausted I can’t fall asleep!

^

Way up thread but yeah, this

The Fear And Impending Expectation - blardy awful

coxesorangepippin · 18/02/2025 01:29

Absolutely not unreasonable at all

I fell asleep once at the park, standing up, pushing my son on the swing

It's absolutely bone numbing

My parents were shocked when I went to bed at 9pm - no clue whatsoever

maternitylleave102 · 18/02/2025 01:25

I completely understand. I'm back at work now after maternity leave and my baby wakes constantly through the night. My manager is being lovely about it but I'm not able to give 100% at work and eventually it'll start pissing colleagues off

longtompot · 17/02/2025 23:58

We are experiencing this recently with our dog, and haven't had this much of a disturbed nights sleep since our youngest was a baby and she is 25! It is a KILLER! Getting four hours in a row feels like a luxury and I find myself waking up anyway even if my dog doesn't wake me. We are taking her to the vets to see if there is an underlying issue as she has not been herself since new years so who knows, I may be getting 7 hours sleep a night soon (I won't hold my breath).
There is a reason sleep deprivation is used as a torture device

TangerinePlate · 17/02/2025 23:27

@Philllyeagles

If your not so lovely H “can’t” hear his own children then get him to take them out at the weekend so you could catch up on sleep during a day.

Been there,done that with useless now XH who also “didn’t hear” kids waking up 2,3,4,5 times a night. He slept through every night. Several times I had to stop on the way back from work and get out of car because I was falling asleep behind the wheel. How the hell I didn’t crash I don’t know. Now I know XH didn't care.

To those of you saying “sleep training”. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Feeding, breadtfeeding, colds,teething, food intolerance,ear infections and finally autism with a child like Duracell bunny.
At least 5 years of broken sleep.

OP, get your H for a serious talk. Time for him to shape up or ship out. “They want you not me” was also XH excuse. Well,they are also HIS kids.

Good luck 💐

Mumsie2024 · 17/02/2025 23:25

Notgivenuphope · 17/02/2025 23:08

So sleep train. Stop letting her be 'clingy'.

Do you even have kids or are you from the dark ages? This is so unhelpful.

Mumsie2024 · 17/02/2025 23:21

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 23:09

Thank you @Mumsie2024 that is helpful! He is definitely intolerant to something as I can tell some nights he had awful tummy pain but we’ve not put a finger on it. Always assumed his face rashes were dry skin but no cream has ever helped like you say.

Good luck, would be interested to hear how you get on. I hear these symptoms in baby groups all the time and I am screaming inside! It’s an easy fix if that is the issue.

QueSyrahSyrah · 17/02/2025 23:19

YANBU OP and you have my every sympathy but seriously your DH needs to step the fuck up. We have an 8 month old who wakes 2-3 times a night; in the week I deal with most of it and pray he goes off again quickly (sometimes my prayers are answered, sometimes they're not) but on a weekend when DH is not working I sleep one night in another room with noise cancelling headphones and he takes the whole strain.

If the crying doesn't wake your DH then he needs to simply stay up a whole night or even half a night now and again when he's not working, it won't kill him with a nap the evening before and in the day after.

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 23:17

@Hercisback1 you did everything the same for 12 months, OP is only one month further along.

and to repeat, great it worked for you but sleep training is not a magic bullet for everyone.

Hercisback1 · 17/02/2025 23:13

MumCanIHaveASnackPlease · 17/02/2025 23:09

When the cause of your kids sleep issues is back to back illness, ear infections and teething there’s not much sleep training can do.

We’re not looking for your sympathy. Why are you even on this thread if you have nothing helpful to offer.

Literally offered sleep training...

Hey ho. All Kids have periods of shit sleep. If it's getting relentless, at least try and change something.

Is it just me that doesn't keep doing the same thing over and over and expect change to happen?

Sorry OP. I hope you get some sleep soon. Your H sounds a bit shit too and you probably don't feel you can face sleep training alone. You can do this 💪.

LongDarkTeatime · 17/02/2025 23:13

Really feel for you OP.
We had this for years. Zero family support. I remember realising it was serious when I had visual hallucinations.

MumCanIHaveASnackPlease · 17/02/2025 23:09

Hercisback1 · 17/02/2025 22:33

Sleep train.
I have little sympathy for people who won't even try to improve their kids sleep and moan about it.

Sleep training won't mean any less sleep than you're currently getting.

When the cause of your kids sleep issues is back to back illness, ear infections and teething there’s not much sleep training can do.

We’re not looking for your sympathy. Why are you even on this thread if you have nothing helpful to offer.

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 23:09

Thank you @Mumsie2024 that is helpful! He is definitely intolerant to something as I can tell some nights he had awful tummy pain but we’ve not put a finger on it. Always assumed his face rashes were dry skin but no cream has ever helped like you say.

BeachRide · 17/02/2025 23:08

Comedycook · 17/02/2025 20:34

My dc are teens now... my first was a very easy baby who slept well but my second was not a good sleeper. It was awful...I became absolutely sleep obsessed...I remember fantasising about being put in hospital or even prison, because then I'd be able to sleep!

I spent a week in hospital when my youngest was a few months old. I still got no bloody sleep as I was on hourly obs throughout the nights!

Notgivenuphope · 17/02/2025 23:08

So sleep train. Stop letting her be 'clingy'.

Mumsie2024 · 17/02/2025 23:05

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 23:01

That’s really helpful, he does have intermittent vomiting and rashes which is one of the reasons we’ve started the food diary! He was breastfed for 15 months so I do wonder if that would have masked it compared to if he had been on formula (fully speculating here but will see how the food diary goes!)

my advice is anecdotal here. My son tried so many creams for the rashes (they were awful on his face) and nothing worked. The intermittent vomiting was so random but now I know it was because some days he has more yogurts/ milks etc than others. He still had all these symptoms while breastfeeding. I have a new baby who has exactly the same symptoms, after 2 weeks k put myself on a dairy free diet and he has no GI symptoms or rashes. Any time I slip up on my diet then his gets something. I feel so stupid and I’m medical so if it wasn’t obvious to me I don’t think the vast amount of the public know about this which is such a
shame. There needs to be more awareness on this.

mumyes · 17/02/2025 23:01

Sleep deprivation is horrific and I almost lost my mind (literally) as a result of not sleeping when my baby was seven months.

Take action. For your sanity & welfare.

You cannot pour from an empty cup.

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 23:01

Mumsie2024 · 17/02/2025 22:58

Not necessarily, some food allergies have a delayed onset on symptoms (within 72 hrs) so therefore it’s not very clear. My sons symptoms were not the same every day and when I looked back it was because he had a certain level of tolerance to dairy. CMPA is very common (most common I believe) and under reported as many cases are self managed at home outside of the Gp. If your child has loose stools, intermittent vomiting, runny nose, rashes for example (like mine did) then it’s worth speaking to your GP/ health visitor. Naive me was looking at every symptom individually. At 2 years luckily you don’t need to consider prescriptive milk formulae. My son is 4 now and working on a milk ladder and has slowly reintroduced some diary again.

Edited

That’s really helpful, he does have intermittent vomiting and rashes which is one of the reasons we’ve started the food diary! He was breastfed for 15 months so I do wonder if that would have masked it compared to if he had been on formula (fully speculating here but will see how the food diary goes!)

paristotokyo · 17/02/2025 22:58

I'm sorry op. I'm in the exact same boat so I really understand how you feel. Currently awake as I've just put dc back to sleep twice already. Same age and same wake ups! It's really really hard but one day they'll start to wake up less. My elder dc was the exact same as this one with the same sleep habits but slept through at age 2 and has been a fantastic sleeper since. So that gets me through, knowing I did come through it at the other end. Saw a thread earlier of a 3mo sleeping through and just felt a pang in all honestly (even though amazing for those parents!) I can't even imagine. My DH can't do the nights due to nature of work, and no family support, so I really do get it. You're aren't alone! Hang in there. It will be so great if you could get them to stay with grandma soon. That will really help you recharge so something to look forward to.

Mumsie2024 · 17/02/2025 22:58

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 22:50

@Mumsie2024 what helped you figure this out if you don’t mind me asking? We’ve just started keeping a good diary as our little one’s sleep is so terrible but I keep thinking surely if it was allergy related we’d have realised by now!

Not necessarily, some food allergies have a delayed onset on symptoms (within 72 hrs) so therefore it’s not very clear. My sons symptoms were not the same every day and when I looked back it was because he had a certain level of tolerance to dairy. CMPA is very common (most common I believe) and under reported as many cases are self managed at home outside of the Gp. If your child has loose stools, intermittent vomiting, runny nose, rashes for example (like mine did) then it’s worth speaking to your GP/ health visitor. Naive me was looking at every symptom individually. At 2 years luckily you don’t need to consider prescriptive milk formulae. My son is 4 now and working on a milk ladder and has slowly reintroduced some diary again.

middleagedandinarage · 17/02/2025 22:57

Absolutely hear you, to be honest I didn't realise how much it was affecting me until I came out the other side, like I had just gotten so used to feeling tired and having no energy and plodding through every day it wasn't until I started getting more sleep and feeling alive again that I realised how bad I'd felt

Suzuki76 · 17/02/2025 22:57

It's awful. Nights aren't sleeping any more; as someone else said, it's just day-parenting and night-parenting.

We got around this by having a 3 storey house. One of us would go upstairs at midnight/2am to DS's room, and lie on an airbed on the floor to get him back to sleep. We took turns. Yes, it would take a while for the parent still in bed to drop back off again but it did eventually happen and then the upstairs parent would deal with it til the next day.

Co-sleeping really does not help long term. Both of your heavy breathing, snoring, rolling over and heat does wake the baby/toddler.

Hercisback1 · 17/02/2025 22:56

À shred of sympathy then. But not much, if people won't try to help themselves and then moan about it. Sleep deprivation is hard. Lots of sympathy for those who have tried sleep training and it hasn't worked. But to not try is foolish.

Waffle19 · 17/02/2025 22:54

Hercisback1 · 17/02/2025 22:50

It's perfect logic. I didn't moan about having no sleep. When it really affected me /life, I sleep trained.

It's affecting OP so she should try sleep training. 3 hours is an improvement on what she's got.

Aye it's totally developmental that the kid who didn't sleep for more than an hour, magically started to on the same week we sleep trained.

You said you had no sympathy for her… honestly if your child was that bad then I think you would have sympathy!

CagneyNYPD1 · 17/02/2025 22:52

Comedycook · 17/02/2025 20:34

My dc are teens now... my first was a very easy baby who slept well but my second was not a good sleeper. It was awful...I became absolutely sleep obsessed...I remember fantasising about being put in hospital or even prison, because then I'd be able to sleep!

Same here. I used to fantasise about falling down some steps, breaking a leg and being kept in overnight. Sleep deprivation is truly brutal.

I take HRT now mostly to protect my sleep. I spent my late 30s-mid 40s dealing with child related sleep deprivation. No way is it following me into my 50s because of hormones.