Not sure where to put this, sort of a rant but also wwyd or say, bit of a long one too sorry.
First time mum. My little one is 11 months old. Never slept well. Ever. On a good night I get two hours at a time, on a bad night it's every half hour.
I've had so much advice, people telling what to do etc but I've just had to accept she's just a shit sleeper.
Anyway I had to go back to work after 9 months, I saved my annual leave so I could cut my week down to three days to help with childcare costs and to have a good work/life balance.
All was fine for the first few weeks but quickly my mental health went down hill through continued lack of sleeping.
I couldn't make decisions, I was crying all the time, I was ill constantly, making mistakes etc so after speaking to a health visitor I was signed off work with exhaustion.
Since then I've had comments along the lines of "oh that's what happens when you have a baby", "should have thought about this before you had her", "everyone gets tired", "think of single mums" "man up" etc
I know having some time off was the best thing for me and my family and I'm going back to work in the new year. Just had another one of those comments this morning and it's made me feel like a piece of shit and a failure as a mother.
If she slept better my mental state would be better and I could cope with everything but at the moment I m struggling.
I know there are people in worse situations, I'm lucky that I have a supportive family, husband and a happy healthy baby but night times are all on me as husband works nights.
How to I respond to these comments without sounding like a) a bitch or b) letting them talk to me like that.