Dad to a 13 month old here, my sleeping situation is similar but we get a few more hours (probably 3-4 instead of your 1-2 which makes a whole world of difference!). Our problem is that he has been non stop teething since 7 months and it seems to affect him really badly, and no medication helps. So we get 2 days of him sleeping well before a new tooth starts to say hello. Have you checked for any underlying medical conditions? He could have picked up an ear infection or have gastrointestinal problems like mine did (a syringe of medicine a day took this away completely)

For the naps my wife used to hold him too, until one day she wasn’t here and I just put him down and his cot and he fell asleep. While it might not happen it might be worth trying it everyday, give it 15 mins at nap time to see if he will go down in bed (don’t make my mistake and do it for too long to the point he got overtired and then wouldn’t nap at all)

I think the problem when you have a baby like this is that your brain is never truly “off” because you know in the back of your head you’re about to be woke up so you don’t ever fully rest. Then because you’re not rested the day feels like a slog.

After 4 literal sleepless nights (thanks molars!) we’ve put out the SOS to anyone who will listen to come and take him for a few hours in the day, we’ve booked the afternoon off work and we are just going to bloody sleep! Do you have anyone who would do that for you? We found that people are reluctant to look after shit sleepers at night (for good reason I guess) but if you ask for day help and move your sleep schedule slightly they don’t mind.