Our experience was that the first 4 or 5 months is exactly like that. You learn to cat nap, sleep and soothe the baby in short shifts. Think of it as being in t

Our experience was that the first 4 or 5 months is exactly like that. You learn to cat nap, sleep and soothe the baby in short shifts. Think of it as being in the military now. Dads (co-parenting ones anyway) need to expect to be partial zombies at work for a while if they are giving Mom proper breaks at night. One mistake my niece made: While you are drilled about "breast milk is best" until you feel like an abusive parent to think otherwise, sometimes babies reject mother's milk. Talk to your pediatrician but formula might make it easier on everyone. I'm sure everyone has suggested the "What to expect..." books. They offer tons of baby hacks that could make your nights easier. Also, being exhausted and mad at the adorable screaming ball of primal needs is normal (sometimes) but if it lapses into post-partum depression, that's a serious thing that involves tsunamis of hormones and brain chemistry. You can't expect to jolly her out of that and needs to brought to the attention of a professional. Hang in there. Our oldest had colic which required nearly round the clock rocking but once we hardened ourselves to the daunting routine and got tuned to what he wanted we were able to zombie-shuffle our way through.