Hmm, this is a hard one. I'm not sure that it's happy mum=happy baby. Rather happy mum finds it easier to deal with unhappy baby, iykwim. After a sleepless night, it is hard work to be patient and deal with a wilful and stubborn 3 yo and I quite often find that if I don't deal with it properly things get worse. But after a good nights sleep I can deal with just about any trantrum DD1 can throw at me and by dealing with it properly she can calm down a lot faster.

It's hard because we want to do whats best for our children, but we do also need to look after ourselves so that we can do that. Yes it is helpful to have support to deal with what we are going through. Sometimes that support means having someone help with the kids so that you can have a rest. It's not a bad thing to have time out to yourself if you have someone to watch the kids.

Not sure if that's what you're after.