My firstborn had a traumatic birth and was in NICU for a week after birth - I definitely think it contributed to him waking up every hour at night untill 14 months. He also has a very demanding personality type. I also do not sleep very well and ended up being so tired I couldn't go off to sleep during the night or day when the baby was sleeping. I felt as if going insane! Sometimes I managed to sleep for maximum 3 hours a night. I must admit this was the most difficult time in my life. And nobody really understands what you are going through - I felt very lonely. With my second baby I will definitely ask for more help if it goes the same route. I did not cope at all. I also once pushed the baby down in his cot very hard from absolute tiredness and frustration - can not believe I let it go that far... My best advice is to get domestic help or at least someone who can be with you at home during maternity leave - a grandmother or friend.

This sentence resonated woth me: "Unfortunately, there’s a stigma attached to talking about sleep deprivation amongst new mothers—an unspoken ‘if you can’t cope, there must be something wrong with you, just deal with it’ attitude." I wish mothers would drop their 'I-can-deal-with-anything" attitudes - it would do them and other mothers so much good. At least then they will be able to properly support each other. My first-born was 'n normal baby and the experience of adapting to this little human being was terrible for me. Yes, you love your baby, but an enormous and sudden change (no matter how prepared you think you are) takes place in the life you've been used to. And the sleep deprivation (and caring 24 hours for another human being) does not make things better. Just be honest about it - why can't we accept that we are only human?

My 2nd born is 21 months and has just started sleeping through the night (4 nights out of the last 8). He was waking up to 5 times a night, and sometimes would just wake up at 2am, and stay awake til 5am. I also have a 6 year old who demands a lot of attention. I was finding I was only heading to bed at 11pm, to have the youngest wake up 5 minutes later. Then some mornings getting back to bed at 5am, and the alarm going off at 5:45am. It really was affecting my marriage, my eldest son, my work, and most of all my sanity! I cannot let him cry, because then he wakes up eldest, and annoys hubby, and drives me insane. I found a product at Dischem, and don't know if this is what has helped, but he has improved since he started taking it. It's called Quietude (I think by Borain). I don't wish sleep deprivation on my worst enemy - I think I've aged about 10 years in the past 21 months, my nerves are shattered, I'm constantly angry, tearful, snappy, and cannot concentrate. Good luck to anyone suffering!

Having had first-hand experience of sleep-deprivation from the time I brought my 2nd born 'bundle of joy' home from the hospital, and having to deal with the pain of a Caesarean at the same time, made hell seem like paradise! This (sleep-thief), breast-fed baby woke every hour / 90 minutes for a feed, had hectic reflux so couldn't be put to sleep after a feed (had to wait 30-40 mins) and was generally a niggly, demanding baby. Add to that an elder child who needed his mother too, an unsupportive husband who preferred the pub to the chaos and kids at home, parents who lived in another province...it's a wonder I never ended up in the looney bin! My sense of humour, my business, and taking each day as it came saved me. Although I can understand why some mothers actually physically harm their kids. Sleep deprivation is the worst torture one can possibly endure.

Nobody can understand the effect lack of sleep has on one until they have experienced it. I also had a tough time with my first born, who would scream from about 6pm until we both passed out (me invariably sitting up and holding her on my chest) at around 3am. This went on for weeks and weeks. I had nights when I also shoved her back into the camper cot and stormed out of the room to the other side of the house, because I felt like I was going to kill her. The line between caring for your child and doing serious damage is so very thin when you have been living on 1 to 2 hours of sleep a night. That is why people say, sleep when baby sleeps - Its the only way to get through it. That, and asking for help. Give your child to someone else for and hour or two, so that you can rest.