struggling on little or interrupted sleep is horrible. but i think your DD is completely normal - well, going by what i've read on BB & my own experiences with my DS!
my DS woke overnight every 45m-2 hours until he was about 18 months. his day sleeps were completely hit & miss until he dropped to one day sleep (and i can't remember when this was - maybe between 12-18 months?). but the good news is that now he sleeps beautifully - he is 2.5 now & sleeps for about 10 hours overnight with a max of one wake up (which is just for a quick cuddle or he jumps into our bed for the rest of the night - he even brings his own pillow with him) and has anything from 1.5-3 hours for a nap during the day.
to cope i used to sleep with DS on a mattress on the floor in his room. that way i could feed overnight without having to get up. this was from about 9 months - 20 months. after i weaned him he slept in our bed for a while & then he just decided that he'd rather sleep in his own bed. after 20 months of a feed before sleep/to sleep he just needed a cuddle, now we have some cuddles, sing a couple of songs & i give him & teddy a kiss and leave the room while he's still awake. i never thought this day would come!!
if you're looking for something to read that makes you feel like you baby is 'normal' then i'd recommend pinky mckay's book 'sleeping like a baby'. while this book doesn't offer heaps of ways to try & change the situation, it helped me to make peace with the ways things were & that i was happy to carry on in a gentle manner.
i don't think you need to worry about the lack of sleep/interrupted sleep doing your DD any harm - i worried the same but DS never seemed to suffer in meeting milestones/his development.
i know it seems like it will never end at the moment but i promise they do change - i'm still kind of surprised at how DS' sleep has changed without any real input from us. but i feel very happy that he's got to this point without us forcing anything on him.
and
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