You open your bleary eyes yet again and glance at the clock. Sure enough, your little one is crying for you and it’s only been about 45 minutes since you last tucked her in. If this scenario sounds eerily familiar, it can be helpful to commiserate with friends about your challenging sleeper.
If you seem to be the only one struggling with a wakeful baby, it’s easy to conclude that all of your friends’ kids sleep perfectly every night. It’s unlikely that you are the only parent with a difficult sleeper, though.

What’s Normal
You’ve probably heard numerous stories about baby champs who sleep for 12 hours each night. These little angels go down for naps and at night without a peep and the parents don’t hear from them again until well after sunrise. This sleep schedule may be a beautiful thing – but it’s also far from normal. Typical babies wake at night, due to hunger, discomfort and simple sleep cycles. If your baby is waking periodically throughout the night, rest assured that your little one is likely showing normal baby behavior.

Every Family is Unique
It’s easy to look at other families from the outside and make conclusions based on the tiny snapshots you see. You only get glimpses of the actual landscape of a family and of how the family unit operates, though. Because every child and every family is unique, resist the urge to compare your child and family with other children and other families.

Look for Support with Baby Sleep Issues
As you navigate your way through the maze of baby sleep issues, any support and empathy you can find from other parents, friends and family will help you. Baby sleep issues can be challenging for any parent, especially when you add sleep deprivation to the equation. The ability to share experiences, trade tips and receive support during your struggles can help lighten the load. Seek out other parents who indicate that all isn’t perfect in their sleep world. You might run into these other zombie parents at baby and toddler groups, the supermarket, the park or right within your neighborhood. Make a connection with these parents so you can encourage each other, listen to the horror stories and celebrate the sleep victories.