To get angry when toddler wakes up

[averylongtimeagolongerago]

I feel really bad about this now but we’re having awful sleep at the moment because toddler has teeth coming through and last night (and for several nights) she just keeps waking up over and over. I get her settled back in her cot then she’d wake again over and over,

I ended up getting really annoyed and snapping at her. I didn’t do anything but just felt so so pissed off.

I can’t co sleep with her as she doesn’t settle at all.

Growling and snarling? Is OP a bear?

It's frustrating, OP, I sympathise! I hope it passes soon. These sleep blips often do but it's hell when you're in the middle of it.

Hi @averylongtimeagolongerago
i am a lone parent with no financial support and worked full time to support DC.
i used to feel exhaustion and sometimes panic at how I was going to cope the next day if I didn’t sleep … it was so stressful.
A trick that worked for me on particularly bad nights - I would put DC back in cot and leave for a moment and sit on step outside room, breathe deeply and I would imagine my life without DC, or if something happened to them, how I would feel without them… I would really visualise this and the thought of them not being with me would fill me with so much gratitude/ love/ patience/ relief that they were just there and I could hug them and I could go back in their room replenished!
I didn’t have to do this lots and I know it may sound drastic to some mums - but I did do it occasionally when my patience and understanding were running low and I was at a low ebb. It always worked. Good luck OP.

Also - if you have a DP - there is no excuse for him not taking DC out in day for a few hours to give you chance for a sleep. This will help his bond with younger one who I get only wants you at night x

I ended up getting really annoyed and snapping at her.

Or perhaps you step outside and take a deep breath. Poor little mite. If it were a man ‘snapping’ at an unwell toddler he would not be getting all this fluffy sympathy. And the word used in the title is ‘angry’. Ughhh

Sounds like it could be the same sleep regression then, you have my sympathies OP. Is she upset in the day time or only night time? Just because if it's only the night time, it's probably not teething pain.

Apparently around that age they can have a reoccurrence of separation anxiety.

If she won't settle in the bed could you try tweaking her nighttime setup by adding a night light (or taking one away if she already has one?). I also read that it can be due to the drop in temperature overnight x

@Nextyearhopes anger is a perfectly normal response to sleep deprivation. Snapping at a toddler is not good, OP knows this and that's why she feels bad about it. Instead of berating her why don't you offer any words of advice? What did you do when your children kept you up at night for weeks on end alongside work?