5 Myths About Baby Sleep That Are Keeping You Up at Night

Still wondering why your baby won’t sleep through the night?

You might be falling victim to one (or five) of the most common baby sleep myths. From putting cereal in the bottle to refusing to wake a sleeping baby, there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

As a baby sleep consultant who’s worked with hundreds of exhausted families, I’m here to debunk the biggest myths keeping you up at night—and tell you what actually works when it comes to infant sleep.

They will sleep when they are tired

Just like you do when you are scrolling on Tik Tok for a sleep solution at 3am.

We’ve all heard them—those classic baby sleep “tips” passed down from well-meaning relatives, internet strangers, and someone’s aunt who swears her kids all slept 12 hours by 8 weeks.

Let’s be real: if any of them actually worked, you wouldn’t be reading this at 3am while rocking a baby with one leg and Googling “how to break sleep regression” with the other.

It’s time to clear the crib. Here are 5 myths about baby sleep that are not only unhelpful—but may be what’s keeping you up at night (besides your baby, of course).

1. “Never wake a sleeping baby.”

Look, we’re not saying wake them up just for fun. But some babies need to be woken—especially in the early days.

• Long naps can mess with night sleep.

• Newborns sometimes sleep through feeds they actually need.

• Day/night confusion? Wake ‘em up and reset the rhythm.

🔔 Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do for your future self is wake the baby now so they sleep later.

2. “Just keep them up all day and they’ll crash at night.”

This is called the overtired boomerang, and it never ends well. What actually happens?

• Baby gets wired, cranky, and overtired.

• Cortisol floods the system.

• Bedtime = chaos, not rest.

Think of babies like sourdough: they need the right amount of rest at the right time, or the whole thing falls apart.

3. “Put cereal in the bottle—it’ll help them sleep longer.”

This one’s a classic... and a hard no. Infact it can make sleep worse and also skew the milk amounts.

• It’s not recommended under 4-6 months.

• It can be a choking risk.

• It doesn’t improve sleep (studies show it’s basically a placebo for desperate parents).

Feeding solids isn’t a magical sleep potion—sorry, Nana.

4. “They’ll sleep when they’re tired.”

You mean like adults who scroll TikTok for 3 hours instead of going to bed?
Yeah, no.

Babies need structure and timing. Sleep cues are subtle, windows are short, and missing them can mean a scream-fest instead of a snooze.

Overtired babies sleep like tired CEOs: badly and with attitude.

5. “If they don’t sleep well, it’s your fault.”

Nope. Not today, guilt gremlin.

Babies are complex. Sleep is developmental. And even with the perfect schedule, environment, and feed… some nights will still be rough.

You are not failing. You are just parenting a small human with zero respect for circadian rhythms.

💡 Final Word:

It’s not about tricking your baby into sleep with old wives’ tales.
It’s about understanding their biology, supporting their rhythms, and maybe—just maybe—getting a full cup of coffee in the morning.

Want real sleep help that actually works? You know where to find me.