Baby has just started to sleep...

[GuybrushThreepwoodMP]

16 month has always been an awful sleeper, generally prone to waking every hour. This last couple of weeks has seen a gradual improvement and for the last week, she has slept 7-7 with a couple of brief wakes , from which she has settled herself.
And yet I feel more tired than ever. Any ideas why that is and what I can do about it? Do I just need to get nor sleep or sleep train myself? I slept 7 hours last night, albeit broken into 3 or 4 chunks. It's much better than the broken 3-4 hours I'm used to but I feel unbearable this morning. Exhausted. And I have to go to work in an hour and I can barely keep my eyes open.

No advice I'm afraid but tons of sympathy. My DD is a similar age and doesn't sleep either!! I think you'll adjust quite quickly

This is hypocritical of me to suggest as I love my evenings in peace, but how early are you going to bed? Could you try going at 9pm just for a few nights to build up some sleep reserves?

I know exactly what you're talking about! I think it's like doctors on call. Even if you don't get called, you still have a rubbish sleep because you can't completely relax.

Haha, this is the mother's curse!!

It settles down, it just takes a while to catch up. Go to bed really early for the forseeable future until you start feeling better, then you can experiment with what the best time to go to bed is.

Now you're getting regular sleep you're body has realised just how tired it is.
Hopefully you'll feel better in a few days once you're used to it

This happens to me all the time the more DS sleeps the worse I feel then just as i start getting used to more sleep he stops sleeping again and so it goes on

I'm exhausted if I have a decent sleep. I think we all walk round on reserves .

You have my sympathies. My DD started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks - 'ooh you're so lucky!' everyone said, and yes I was lucky but couldn't sleep myself! Your body-clock is just so screwed-up, things will get better soon.

My DS is 16 months and started to sleep once he walked, around 14mo. I felt like you, tireder than ever. It's almost like you're awake enough to feel how tired you are. That sounds odd but hopefully makes sense!

I still appreciated the sleep though until he had a 2 week regression which was a killer . We are always in bed early to make the most of it and I would also try a few early nights. It's hard to relax 100% when you have been on high alert so long but your body will get used to it and start feeling human again.