Is your baby largely content during the day? Is he feeding well and gaining weight? Is he producing plenty of heavy wet nappies and opening his bowels regularly (daily - 2 or 3 times - in the first 6 weeks)?

Then he's probably sleeping enough! 

I'm not coming here to tell you 'yes' or 'no' or 'well done' about how much and how well your baby is sleeping...I can't do that from this side of a screen and with no information about your baby or family.

There is so much misinformation around, often based in the sleep-training world, that babies should be sleeping 12hr nights, 7-7 by x weeks or months, napping 2 hours at lunchtime by y months and no more than 3 naps by z...and yes, lots of babies may fit that mold. But not all will. Yes, all the statistics may be really helpful for some, reassuring them and giving them a structure and expectations for their baby's development. But they might not be helpful for you...

You may, dare I say it, have a happy cat-napper...a baby who prefers to spend the day dozing off for 30 minutes and then rocking around for an hour or so before catching up on some more zzzz's. Conversely you may have a baby who naps loads in the day - to the point that kindly friends and neighbours are suggesting you need to stop her as she'll never sleep at night... - but then sleeps a full 8 hour stretch from 10pm-6am. 

Humans come as a variety pack. We're not all the same (how boring would that be!). Some of us are perhaps night owls who can seemingly last on very little sleep overnight and be perfectly functioning at work or school the next day. Meanwhile, others may struggle after a full 9hr stretch and need a mid-afternoon nap to get them through the day! Babies are the same. They haven't read the chart in that book or on that website that said they need to sleep 16 out of the 24 hours in the day...or examined the routine in that book that said their first nap should be no more than 40 minutes at no later than 9:30am. They also have no idea what a 'wake window' is so I wouldn't rely on those.

What they do know is how to communicate they are starting to get tired, or that they are 'very tired, please for the love of all things adorable, put me in my bassinet' or 'please cuddle me to sleep because I need some reassurance right now'. They also know how to tell you, often less cheerfully 'I'm sorry, i know you wanted me to sleep independently for a bit so you could eat lunch but I did 40 minutes, and I am still tired, but I need a cuddle', because, yes, sometimes, a nap might not happen in one long chunk. But they also know how to open their eyes after 30 minutes, kick around until your face appears above them and they smile to let you know they're done with sleep for now! They've refuelled their tank. They'd like to play...or maybe some lunch.

Your little one may very well go through phases of doing a combination of all these versions of sleep with every growth spurt and developmental 'leap' leading to a whole new world of the un-known in terms of when, how, where or what sleep will be!

Is this a little frustrating when the phrase goes 'sleep like a baby' and the baby bibles tell you how important it is to not 'wake a sleeping baby' when yours seems to happily wake after seemingly not very long....?

Well, yes. But also, your happy baby is telling your something. They're answering the question at the top of this page for you. For them, they're sleeping enough. For you, perhaps not...But remember, it won't be forever. Grab your village, grab your sleep coach, and grab your tea (I don't do coffee)...oh and grab a nap when you can! Soon they'll be teenagers and you'll wonder how you ever thought they didn't sleep enough!