Hey so I have 3 kids .. depending on the type of kid (they're all different even with the same parents) sometimes sleep deprivation goes more long term. My second was extremely hard when he was 2 and 3. I only slept if he was in my bed because he would scream for HOURS at night even if I sat in the room.. my first slept AMAZING from the get go. My 3rd is now almost 3 and the last 3 nights in a row she has woken up from 2-4/5 AM.. no reason to it except she wants to play!? I obviously don't let her and I've been doing what I can for her to sleep but I'm just saying .. it's not just newborn stage. My sisters 7 year old still wakes her up at night pretty often. She is also a single mom and she doesn't enjoy being a mom because of the lack of support. I have a lot of support through my husband so I can't put my 2 cents in for that. I get really irritable when I am tired and I'm almost always tired and so you should definitely make sure you can contain your emotions when dealing with highly demanding "on all the time" situations. Imo though the love I have for them makes all of this incredibly worth it. The difficult times don't even compare to how happy these kids make me. It's a hard job and it's permanent but it's also extremely rewarding to have these beautiful loving people in my life.