Working moms — please tell me I’m not alone.

My 6-month-old wakes up many times at night. We co-sleep and don’t plan to sleep train. The challenge is that when he wakes, he only wants me — he keeps crying with my husband but settles instantly when I take him (which secretly feels nice 😅).

I’ll be resuming work in a few months and he’ll start daycare, so I’m wondering how I’ll function if nights stay like this. Did it get better for anyone with time?

I love co sleeping! Doing it with my 3mo and did it with me 5yo. The frequent waking only got better when we started changing feeding habits so that both girls ate their max calories during daylight hours, which means prioritizing eating over sleeping while the sun is up. We’re already at 4 hour night stretches with the little one. We also do night time essential oils, a strict bedtime routine with a lavender bath each night, and an early transition to darkened bedroom with white noise. All extremely helpful for setting up long sleep stretches each night

Not alone! I still cosleep with my 2 year old. I realized when I got him at night (we also breastfed, not sure if you’re night feeding or not), I could get him back to sleep faster and we slept better. I just went to bed as early as possible and my husband handled cleaning up for the night/prepping for the morning and next day. That worked for a while, but after a bit I realized I was done night nursing, so my husband did a few overnights with me in another room. The first two were rough, but then he settled into it just fine.

Not alone. My child slept pretty well from about 3 months to 8 months but then spent the next year wanting me at night .She would sleep in her bed until maybe 1am and then have so much trouble settling back. I got to where I would sit in a recliner and hold her / nurse her / sleep there for 3-4 hours a night. We couldn't do co sleeping because she wanted to nurse and she absolutely refused to nurse lying down.

It felt crazy but we all actually got the best sleep when I just resigned to sleeping in the chair for half the night.

It did eventually get better. She is 3 and bedtime itself is still a mighty struggle but she generally stays in her bed all night, and if she gets up she's usually fine seeing her daddy which helps me sleep.

Honestly, you just get used to functioning on a little less sleep. Catch up as much as you can on the weekend but otherwise your body will just move into that “norm” and you’ll be surprised at what you can do! I felt like after a year, they start to become even more routined so his naps and his overnight sleep are now much more consistent.

It didn’t get better for me — I ultimately caved and sleep trained (a modified Ferber method with check ins) at 7 months. The first night was the hardest, but after 30 minutes he was asleep and slept 11 hours (after previously waking up 6+ times a night). After 5 days, he would just smile and coo at us when we put him in his crib, and close his eyes by the time we got back to the monitor. It’s been life changing for us. (On the occasions he does wake up and cry in the middle of the night, we do go to him and usually give him Tylenol if he’s been teething and a pacifier).

Just sharing my experience in case it helps. Only you know what’s right for your family.

3 kids and this was the way it went for us. Over time all of mine started sleeping more through the night but it varied when that happened. If you are unwilling to not co-sleep or sleep train then your options are pretty limited as is your spouse’s ability to help.

You can still a functional zombie 🧟‍♀️ just kidding but maybe actually true too 😂