I don’t know if I can do this

I’m now a mother of a 3 year old and a 5 months old. My 3 years old was exactly the same as your baby when she was this age. The readjustment from no children to a new born who isn’t the best sleeper to put it lightly is insanely hard! You’re doing great, believe me. It is soooo soooo hard. There isn’t much to it other than it 100% gets better with time. My husband and I used to do shifts. So after dinner he would take our daughter for 3-4 hours day until midnight. And it was his job to look after her. She was solely breastfed and refused the bottle. So I’d feed and then until the next feed I would have a bit of down time and sleep. Then he’d wake me up at say midnight or until he was struggling to settle her and we’d change. Then I’d do the shift until 4am ish and the final stretch was up for grabs. He worked full time too and yes it wasn’t ideal but that’s how we survived until 6 months and then sleep trained which worked beautifully. Stay strong! It gets better

My second is a much better sleeper until he hit 4 months regeression. I’m doing nights solely by myself which is also very hard but not as hard as it was with my daughter. She was the worst sleeper! But once she started sleeping through the night it was a game changer. You start to finally feel a bit like yourself

First, what you're feeling is totally normal this phase is so so hard. My husband and I still take sleep shifts at 2 months old because our LO doesn't do long shifts in the bassinet. I know your husband is going back to work but you have to take care of a baby all day which is also work so he still needs to help out at night! Goodluck and seek help if you need it whether it's a night doula or if these negative thoughts continue your GP or a therapist. You got this !!!!

Ugh.. We really are living the same lives. Before I even read the 'torture' word, I was thinking how I felt like sleep deprivation was torture too. It truly sucks. My daughter is 14mo & we've been having a few nights like this & it makes me question whether I can have another.. Hang in there mama. Duno if you've tried already but what about co sleeping?? Maybe she wants to be near you & you can get some sleep too.

I second what the others have said.. My partner & I do shifts too. Around 8-2am & then 2am until she wakes in the morning. So we both get some sleep.

Make sure you’re getting into a good day/night routine and just remember it’ll get easier with time. There’s a good book called BabyWise that I read when I was pregnant. Basically it just explains their eat, wake, sleep cycles during the day but then at night they talk about how it’s helpful to set up a night routine to signal it’s bedtime. And how it’s super important to keep the room dark, and not speak to them or really even interact with them (shushing is ok) but that’ll help them understand that it’s bedtime and we’re all quiet and sleepy so there’s nothing exciting going on and they aren’t missing out on anything. Even when my baby is losing his mind at night I don’t talk or try to make him happy. I just go through the motions of changing, feeding and then rocking/shushing until he’s settled. If baby is spitting pacifier out maybe get a clip to go on their pjs (take it off when you put them down for sleep) that way you aren’t chasing it every few minutes

If you continue to feel this way definitely talk to your dr. But this newborn phase is tough! My second is 2 months old and the night time feeds are very frustrating. It becomes even more sleepless when my 23 month old wakes in the night because he played with his water so now him and his bed are soaked and need a change. Bonus hubby works continental shifts and was on nights last night so I was on my own. I am exhausted after nights like these! When hubby is home, regardless of when he is working we care for our kids 50/50 during the day and night. We both have important jobs, he just happens to go into the office and I keep our kids alive all day because I am on mat leave. You both need your sleep because doing either of your jobs sleep deprived is not ok. You can do this mama! And remember you're not alone! Lean on your husband, family, and friends for support

You can do this. I promise you it gets better, the first few weeks are super hard, especially doing nights on your own. I did solo nights too and honestly it was one of the hardest things. We found things started getting better from about 4/5 weeks onwards in terms of baby getting more sleep at night time. There’s nothing wrong with taking 5 mins to yourself, make a cup of tea (even if it is 3am) and just breathe. Easier said than done, but try and keep calm, baby can likely pick up on if you’re not. Few things that helped me - bathing baby before bed, using johnson’s bedtime baby bath too - swaddling (love 2 dream) - big feed before bed - dark room and white noise. i didn’t buy a white noise machine but just found a 24 hour video with no ads on youtube and a dark screen! hang in there xxx

I’m a single mum so have been on my own since day 1. The thing that saved me was chest sleeping. I researched how to do it safely and then my baby started sleeping 2-3 hour stretches which felt amazing! By 7 weeks we had moved to co-sleeping and she started doing 6-7 hour stretches of sleep. She is now 19 weeks and since around 12 weeks has done 10-12 hours at night. Honestly look into it and see if it could work for you too. It does get easier ❤️

I could have written this exact thing myself almost 6 years ago. You are absolutely not alone. You can do this. It sounds cliche, but take it hour by hour. Also, as some others have mentioned, try to get your husband on board with taking shifts. It worked out really well for us. Good luck. You can do this ❤️

I’m so sorry you’re so exhausted💔 I feel it with my first he was and still is at 3 an awful sleeper but my second and third are lovely. It’s just a phase mama if she’s your only baby don’t stress yourself with the house, have you got a swing that rocks? My third was introduced really early and that puts her to sleep in minutes now

Hang in there Mama, it can be so hard but it does get better. If nursing, have you tried laying down to nurse (side-lie position)? This helped me get so much more sleep with both my littles. Feeling for you, there’s a reason sleep deprivation can literally be used as torture

hey, mama ❤️ its such early days in your postpartum journey. have you talked to a care provider about how your feeling? i only ask because looking back, i definitely experienced a lot of anger and anxiety that i now know was PPD and i wish i got help with that. newborn sleep is very erratic and wakeful… every baby is different but mine would sometimes be up looking to nurse every 45 minutes. what helped me was getting a postpartum doula and severally lowering my expectations of what i could get done in a day and resting instead of doing chores. hang in there, it gets better 🫶🏽

Hey! It gets better ❤️ For the first 4 weeks, me and my husband took shifts so we'd have a block of at least 6 hours sleep each. Once he went back to work, I'd go to bed super early (6pm some nights) to have some uninterrupted sleep while he watched baby. After that we found co-sleeping/bedsharing (following safe sleep guidelines) worked for us. My LO (7 months) will now go to sleep in the cot from 7 (we do have to put her dummy back in once an hour normally as she's coming out of a sleep cycle) then once we go to bed, she comes in with us xx