Sleep

The P2B Sleep Podium

When I talk sleep with parents, I always talk about what P2B calls the sleep podium.

✨ What is the P2B sleep podium?

Parents are often so focused (and said in the nicest possible way — sometimes a little obsessed) on getting their baby to sleep that they will do anything to make it happen. Rocking, feeding, bouncing, late-night drives, climbing into the cot, midnight pram laps… trust me, I’ve seen and heard it all.

But what many parents don’t realise is that babies, just like adults, move through sleep cycles. Between each cycle there is usually a brief waking period. To sleep longer, your baby needs to transition into the next cycle — and that can take anywhere from 3 minutes to 20–30 minutes.

This is where the podium comes in…

🥇 Gold — 1st place = Sleep
The ultimate goal. That magical sleep everyone wants!

🥈 Silver (white gold!) — Unstimulated rest
The next best thing to sleep is quiet, calm rest in the cot. If your baby wakes and is happy, leaving them there gives them the opportunity to link sleep cycles and drift back off. And if they don’t? That’s okay — their bodies are still resting.

This is why I recommend a calm, “boring” sleep space. No mobiles above the cot. The less stimulation there is, the greater the chance your baby will resettle or come out of the cot feeling refreshed.

Think of it like collapsing on the couch for 20–30 minutes after a long day — it might not be sleep, but it’s still restorative downtime. Or now when your little one gives you a 20 minute powernap which allows you some much needed downtime? It is that rest, that downtime, that allows your body to recuperate. No it isn’t sleep but it is the next best thing. If your baby is happy in the cot leave them be.

🥉 Bronze — Abort sleep
Rushing in the moment your baby stirs — even when they’re happily chatting or playing — can interrupt that natural cycle-linking process. You teach them that they must have someone there as soon as they wake, you aren’t giving them a chance to link their cycles and their little bodies by the end of the day will be overstimulated and overtired which can lead to a very difficult night settle. Over time this can lead to overstimulation, overtiredness and tricky night settles.

Just some gentle food for thought from P2B

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