Thoughts on Baby Sleep

This is Papillon's new favorite way to sleep. Hands on her face.
It's adorable.
All baby sleep is adorable.
(Excepting that sleep that prevents them from eating enough food to survive off of. That sleep is not cute. It's scary. But we are beyond that now)

I didn't realize until Papillon came along, how much emphasis in the early days of parenting was placed on sleep. In my experience, when people meet your baby they ask two things (three, if they are not sure if its a boy or a girl). First: How old is he/she? And second, some form of: Does he/she sleep well?

I have found that what matters the most when answering this question are not the facts that you are stating, whether its 5 hours at night or 12. Rather, the important part is the spin.

For example...

"Papillon gets up as early as 6:45, naps 3 times a day for as little as 35 minutes each time, and then gets me out of bed at least once, sometimes 2 or 3 times a night"

vs.

"Papillon falls promptly to sleep around 8pm, gets up only once, sometimes twice, a night for a quick snack, falling right back to sleep afterwards. She gets up for the day around 7, and typically takes 3 naps ranging from 35 minutes to 2 hours."

Both could describe a typical day for Papillon. Only the first will likely elicit a response such as "Oh wow, I remember those days. You gotta sleep when you can!". And the second will have people concurring with your statement that she is a "good sleeper". I prefer giving the second response.



People also want to know, Does she sleep through the night?

I would say, Yes, she does, with a snack break here and there.
Some people would say No, officially I haven't slept 8, or even 7 hours at a stretch since she was born.



From time to time, I find myself worrying that Papillon's sleep habits are not as stellar as they could be. Usually, this is after I have met a baby who sleeps "better" than Papillon. And I think to myself, just a few days of "sleep training" and I could get 7 or 8 consecutive hours of sleep! Let's start tonight!
But then, I meet other babies, who are not letting their parents sleep at all; those parents look at me enviously, and I worry less and am thankful for my baby who sleeps as well as she does without being trained.

Now, do I think that its possible she sometimes gets up for a midnight snack just because she wants to see me? Yes.

Do I think that will need to stop at some point? Yes.

Will breaking that habit involve letting her cry in the middle of the night? Probably.

Am I opposed to sleep training? Nope. I just haven't felt like we have needed to with Papillon. We might still; and another baby with another temperament might warrant sleep training much earlier. Only time will tell.

Do I think Papillon is capable of making it through an 8 hour night without a snack at this point? Sure.

Do I worry that I might be spoiling her with midnight snuggles? Occasionally. But her middle of the night, half asleep snuggles spoil me too. I love them.

Over all though, I am not worried. She is only 5 months old. She gets enough sleep to make her happy. And I (usually) get enough sleep to function without a nap or caffeine.
Why worry about fixing something that doesn't seem to be broken?