Baby sleep and going back to work - I'm screwed, right?

[nypon]

Has anyone been in the same boat? Tell me it works out?!

DD will turn 1 in a couple of weeks and has always had a hard time sleeping. Never been able to put her down awake (apart from for naps in the pram or car seat) - she's always had to be (breast)fed or rocked to sleep. "Gentle" sleep training methods like pick up put down or shush pat have never worked - she just gets worked up. Letting her cry for a couple of minutes leads to her getting hysterical. A few months back we resorted to co-sleeping because she effectively wouldn't sleep unless she was being held and it wasn't safe. I was on my knees from broken sleep.

I had always planned to wean her from breastfeeding and get her in her own cot by the time I went back to work at a year but at the moment I just feel a bit trapped. Co-sleeping has saved my sanity as I've finally had some continuous sleep of at least a couple of hours between brief wakings, but I never saw it as a long term solution that would be compatible with work. I'm a lawyer and found it difficult on a lack of sleep even pre-DD.

Argh - just really not sure where to go from here! Thank you for any wise words.

I fed to sleep for 3 years, I stopped when I found out I was pregnant.
I had the same sleep issues, we're only getting to the bottom of things now as it was more a medical reason for lack of sleep. I'm not saying run to the gp or anything but that is our experience.
We took her to an osteopath, it hasn't cured anything but it definitely helped a little. I also used to go for a walk while dad tried to settle her to sleep when she was small but ultimately, her issue with sleep was actually more than breastfeeding.

She now at 3.5 years at goes to sleep with multiple stories, she wakes maybe 3/7 nights a week but we are miles from our co sleeping, boob hanging out routine.

I returned to work, in a difficult and stressful role, when he turned 13m. He was in his own room and I wanted to be in a position of sleeping through and potentially night weaned by then. We had similar sleep training experiences to you and i couldn't allow myself to push it any further. He's now 18m, sleep has been up and down but on a good night he sleeps through, other nights he wakes once and on a bad night it's 2 or 3 times or an early rise. We recently night weaned and dad resettles for any wake - he accepts this after going slowly with it, but it hasn't made a difference to his waking. We cosleep if he's poorly. I have friends who cosleep after the first wake as this was preferable to them properly getting up 1-3times a night if their baby didn't sleep through - all of them feel this has been key to them functioning well at work. Sadly my little one doesn't sleep better with us unless he's poorly or I'd do it myself. It's an adjustment but you do just somehow manage and it does eventually get easier x

I’ve been there twice with both in the boob to sleep habit. I’m still alive. Still waiting for the second to sleep through at almost 17months, mind, but I’m functioning and holding down a (quite stressful) full time job.

Our first became an awesome sleeper at 18 months old (about the time that I wondered if my body would pack up from lack of sleep). There is hope.