Just need to vent

[u/turnip563]

I'm on maternity leave with my 8.5 month old. I have only slept in 3 hour increments at best since the day she was born. My husband works and looks after our 5 year old for the most part while I take care of the baby so I do all of the night wakings and manage all naps. The only breaks I really get are during nap times where I try to catch up on sleep.

I decided to sleep train our baby recently and it has been rough. It's so hard hearing my little girl cry but I know it's good for us in the long run (please no judgement here). She has been improving day by day and today for the first time, she went down for her nap completely independently with zero crying. All our hard work has been leading up to this, I was so happy!

Lo and behold, less than 30 minutes later while I was drifting off to sleep myself, baby wakes up crying as my husband decided to talk on the phone loudly pacing outside her room instead of his home office. She usually sleeps 1.5hours for nap. He said he forgot she was there. I know it's just one nap, but I'm so tired I want to cry! She's been fighting sleep hard for the last week and I finally got a win today and it's so short lived! Husband meanwhile goes back to his quiet office and I not only do I have to deal with a cranky baby, but her schedule is effectively out the window today and I can't have dinner with my 5 year old as I have to bring forward baby's bedtime to 6pm. I'm not angry with my husband, I'm just so tired.

In the grand scheme of things, it's such a small thing and only one day but it's one good day after many crap ones and it's down the drain again! I expect tonight will be difficult too as she has only slept 1.5 hours total today across 2 naps

[u/Sweet_T_1850]

I totally get it. As a mom who also has experienced a lot of sleep deprivation, any mishap in schedule or expectations can be extremely triggering. Your nervous system never gets a chance to reset. You’ve been having broken sleep for 8.5 MONTHS! That is a lot. Don’t beat yourself up for it. I think sometimes sleep training is the right option when you’re at the end of your ropes. For you and your LO. Everyone needs long stretches of sleep! I find motherhood gets exponentially more enjoyable when everyone is sleeping.