At eleven weeks old, the baby wakes up once per hour. My spouse and I are exhausted since we are still only sleeping for 30 minutes at a period, sometimes even less, in between wake-up calls. We sleep in shifts so that each of us can get a little undisturbed time to ourselves, but even when I have a chance to sleep, I find it difficult to stay asleep because my body and mind are so exhausted and used to waking up so often.
I am so barely functioning as a human right now that I am dreading going back to work, which is soon. Tell me it gets better soon, please.
The first six months were incredibly tough, but now at ten months, it’s hard to even remember how difficult it was. My baby started sleeping through the night at seven months, and since then, my brain and body have returned to normal—it’s like the sleep deprivation never happened.
You’re in the hardest phase right now, but soon enough, you’ll look back and think, ‘Wow, that was intense.’
If you’re breastfeeding, consider looking into the Safe Sleep 7 guidelines if bed-sharing seems like an option for you. I found that even with the frequent wake-ups, bed-sharing allowed me to get decent sleep. And despite what you may hear, bed-sharing didn’t prevent my baby from eventually sleeping through the night, so don’t worry about creating a ‘bad habit.’ That’s just a myth.
@Whitney Did you initially find it difficult to adjust to sharing a bed? I’ve made a few attempts, but I never seem to fall asleep at all. I feel locked in the snuggle curl position, and the weight of a large blanket is another adjustment. I suppose I’m just an extremely sensitive sleeper. Like mother, I suppose, like son