I love helping families navigate the first year (or two!) of sleep for their little ones. There is so much bad information that has made its way into our cultural norms. I consider it my job to discover if there could be an issue blocking sleep for baby (colic, teething, reflux, hunger etc). If instead, it is the physiological normal waking every 2-6 hours my job is instead to encourage parents to do whatever works for their household. There is nothing wrong with nursing, rocking, wearing, cuddling, dancing or singing a baby to sleep. It is all biologically normal, as is waking up in the night for the first few years!
Parent Mantra: THIS TOO SHALL PASS!
If total hours of sleep are close to normal- you are doing things right and your child will continue to thrive under your loving care.
Unfortunately normal infant and child sleep has been forced into schedules. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the parent of an infant who is waking at night ask “what am I doing wrong?” – Nothing. It is biologically and culturally normal for a 2 month old, 4 month old, 10 month old, or 16 month old wakes in the night and needs you, they are “normal” and so are you!
