'Sleeping Through the Night' Is Not What You Think It Is
"Sleeping through" has become a parenting milestone. But the research suggests it is a far more varied, gradual, and later achievement than the cultural narrative implies.
Your baby waking at night is almost always normal. Here's what's actually happening — and what the research says about it.
"Sleeping through" has become a parenting milestone. But the research suggests it is a far more varied, gradual, and later achievement than the cultural narrative implies.
Babies wake at night because of how their sleep system is built — not because of what you're doing wrong. Understanding the biology doesn't fix the exhaustion, but it does change the frame.
This is not a how-to. It is a letter for the parent sitting in the dark, convinced that everyone else's baby is sleeping and something must be wrong with them.
Newborns don't sleep the way adults do, or the way parenting books sometimes imply they will. Understanding what's actually normal can help.