Sleep deprivation

[soad]

Hi all. Created this account so I can rant really.

I have a 10 month old and he’s quite possibly the worst sleeper in the world. We co sleep currently, and I’m honestly sick of it/him. We spend 24 hours a day together ( he won’t nap on his own either ). The only reason I’m still doing it is because I’m so tired it’s the only way I can get some rest as he’s so active all the time and doesn’t stop from the moment he gets up.

it’s currently 23:54 and he’s wide awake after being asleep since 8pm. With 1 nap for an hour at 10 this morning.

I feel like crying and ripping my hair out. I love him to pieces but I’m at breaking point. I’m becoming a horrid person to everybody around me. I feel like everybody already hates me and I’d be better off finding a nice tall bridge.

Does it ever get easier? It’s give my left eye for a solid 8 hours.

any tips? I’ve probably done/tries it. But worth the shot.

I have no advice but lots of sympathy. My youngest was an awful sleeper and never slept. She is now 13 and is a nightmare to get up in the morning! This too shall end. It's no surprise that they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture is it?

It will get better! It is really hard to make decisions and change things when you are sleep deprived. I was really lucky, I had a HV who came and sat with me for an hour and basically asked me questions until I had a plan. Knowing you are doing something you have actively chosen (even if that means you have taken a decision to ride it out until they are bigger) helps.

We tag teamed. My babies both fed to sleep so we spaced out the feed times and if they woke at other times they just got daddy comforting them and entertaining them rather than trying to get them to sleep. The No Cry Sleep Solution was popular at the time. My favourite bit was "permission" to do your new strategy until 1am or whatever and then just give up and do whatever worked. Next day, keep persisting until a cut off time then give in again. Much kinder to everyone. She said it will work, though it'll take longer.

Also if the baby can be left for a few hours and you have someone to leave them with, I would highly recommend taking yourself off to a hotel for a few hours or overnight. We found "sleep begets sleep" so engineering naps in the daytime helped nighttime sleep in a chronically underslept child.

Hello, I’m in a really similar situation to you and struggling a lot. My son is just turning 11 months, all his naps are contact naps and we co sleep, which was never the plan for done for survival. He going through a regression where he is wide awake between 2 - 4 wanting to play, and has always woken for 2 feeds at night at the best of times. It’s so hard when you love them dearly but are so sleep deprived and self-neglected. I kind of feel like I’m going mad.

All I can say is that if it’s possible to ask for help, do.