2-year-old with sleep apnea awake 4–5 hours every night — we’re exhausted

Hi everyone, I’m honestly at the point where I don’t know how to keep going. Our 2-year-old daughter has diagnosed sleep apnea and has struggled with sleep since she was around 7–8 months old.

She falls asleep in her own bed and room, but wakes up almost every night and stays awake for hours — lately 4–5 hours straight. Before this, it was around 2–3 hours, which was already tough enough.

My partner and I take turns at night, but she often wakes me even on “her” nights because our daughter won’t settle with her. So I basically never get a full night of sleep. We’re both running on fumes, and it’s affecting work, health, and our relationship.

She’s snoring, restless, and we’ve noticed pauses in her breathing. The ENT suggested trying a steroid nasal spray for 2 months, but we decided not to because of possible side effects — so we’re trying to manage this in other ways for now.

Has anyone else had a toddler with sleep apnea or long “split nights” like this? How did you cope, and what actually helped?

Any advice, reassurance, or shared experiences would mean a lot.