The Hell of The Unsleeping Child

My child is a little over a year old. My child does not sleep.Maybe for an hour or two. Three tops. But that's it. His longest stretches are during the day. We have had aunties of all ages giggle sweetly, tell us it's normal, that we have to "tickle his feet to keep him awake during the day tee hee hee". I have never wanted to scream at an auntie before. It's not cute. It's not funny. My child does not sleep.Before he was born, I was walking miles a day, exercising, counting my calories. I was starting to see the light, my resting heart rate and blood pressure were falling closer to the normal range. I was feeling more optimistic after having been the main caregiver to his older brother, now 4. That has all stopped. My health is poor again. I am pale. My temper is short and sometimes screamy. My child does not sleep.Doctors have told us there's nothing to do, that some children simply don't settle into nighttime habits until later. We have put blankets that smell like us in his crib. Rubbed him with hippie dippie essential oils before sleep. Turned off all screens and distractions hours before bed. Reading. Singing. Warm bottles. Cold bottles. Co-sleeping. Night nurses. Teething salves. Ice rings. My child will not sleep.My wife and I don't see much of each other anymore. One of us must sleep with him, hold him, rock him or he wails like he is become Despair itself. We take shifts, usually half and half each night. I worry about her driving to work after not enough sleep. She worries about my patience for tomfoolery. Our child does not sleep.Our intimate life has basically stopped. On occasion, we go out to dinner or see a movie. Neither one of us has made it through a film in months. We usually don't make it to the third act break because, in the darkness, despite the noise, we fall into a slumber. A week ago, I slipped and fell and nearly cracked my head open in the shower because I fell into a micro nap while standing under the warm water. Our child will not sleep.We rock and comfort him. We sing him songs. We hope. We pray. Even I, who am not a God-fearing man, have started to appeal to a deity, in the hopes that he or she, master of creation, will see fit to give our child rest. Those late night / early morning hours. They are lonely and frustrating. He tosses and turns, even when we take him into our bed, which we would never have done before. During the day, I cannot place words. I forgot William Shatner's name, the name of a city adjacent to where I was born. On occasion, out of fatigue, I cycle through the names of pets long gone, trying to remember the name of our dog, or a kitchen utensil, or a piece of pop culture trivia that would have easily come to mind before. Three days ago, I pointed at a mountain, and told my wife to look at "...the. Hill. With the snow on the pointed part. Over there. The. Hill." "The...mountain?", said. "Yes," I said, and started to cry. I am afraid soon, I will not remember my own name.Our child does not sleep.Our child does. Not sleep.Our. Child. DOES. NOT. SLEEP. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2ikwUKl