No, My Baby Doesn’t Sleep Through the Night

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I’m just gonna be very real right now. I have a beautiful nine-month-old daughter with the sweetest personality. She is such a joy. But she has never been a good sleeper. She doesn’t sleep through the night—not even close. And it has been  r o u g h  lately, y’all.

I don’t have advice.

This isn’t a“10 tips to help your baby sleep through the night” article. This is an “I’m going through a tough time, and I bet some of you are, too” article.
Solidarity, mamas.
My daughter only naps well if she’s being held. She sometimes wakes so many times at night,I lose count. My husband and I have to take shifts with her in order to get some sleep. And whenever it’s my shift, she will not go back to sleep unless she nurses first.
So here I sit in bed, hunched over my baby, waiting for her to finish eating so I can go back to sleep.
A few days ago, we had her nine-month doctor’s appointment. I had been hoping the iron test they do would show she’s low in iron because I’ve read that can cause restlessness at night. The test showed she has normal iron levels. I felt defeated. I was banking on this. That had to be it. I knew we were going to start getting some sleep once her iron levels stabilized.

Sooo… Now what?

We’re back at square one. We’ve tried pretty much everything. We’re exhausted and run down.
The light at the end of the tunnel for me is that I know this is temporary, that she will eventually start sleeping better. But when people ask, “how’s she sleeping?” it just doesn’t feel good to have to tell the truth.
One of the girls in our youth group at church prays for Karalee to sleep every single night (thanks, Sara), but it seems like God isn’t listening.
Is this payback for me doing this exact same thing to my mama when I was a baby? (I’m so sorry, Mama.)
I know that this will one day be just a blip in our life, but right now it’s hard. And it’s okay to acknowledge that it’s hard. If you’re going through a hard time with your little ones, too, I understand. I know what that’s like. You’re not going to hear the cliche “you’re gonna miss this one day” or “at least you don’t have twins” or “just wait until you have two kids” or “at least you get to stay home” here.
This parenting thing is hard, no matter the stage you’re in, how old your kids are, how many kids you have, or what kind of job you have.
But you’re doing a great job. Those babies love you so much. Keep it up, mama.