Baby and child sleep

08/04/2026

The no.1 thing I ask my clients to focus on is their baby’s bedtime. We don’t actually work on the overnight wakes to start with.

Why? Because bedtime is when they will find it easiest to fall asleep. It’s much harder to get your baby to get back to sleep in the night. Help them at bedtime first and the rest can follow.

Two factors help your baby fall asleep at bedtime. Sleep drive & circadian rhythm.

Sleep drive will help them fall asleep when they’ve had enough time awake since their nap (that feeling when you’re trying to stay awake in the evening to watch a film but your eyes keep closing and your head is nodding, that’s sleep drive).

Their circadian rhythm and production of the sleep hormone melatonin, will also be favourable to falling asleep more easily at bedtime.

It’s hard to get a baby to fall asleep easily if they’ve napped too long/too late in the day. (Over tiredness is much less common imho).

🧸Have a bedtime routine that lasts 30-45 minutes, consisting of 3-4 activities you do the same, night after night. Eg. Bath, milk, story. Babies feel safe and relaxed when they know what’s happening next, feeling safe leads much more easily to sleep.

Feed with a bedside light on, not in the dark. Then cuddles & story. Lights off.

👶🏼And when you’re ready to give it a go, at bedtime only to start with, try settling them in their cot/sleep space after their milk feed and story. Probably wait until at least 5 months, and much later is great. You’ll know when the time is right.

The idea is they slowly start to feel safe and secure in their cot awake and can drift off to sleep in there, just as they do in your arms atm.

And this can lead to less overnight wakes because sometimes when they stir in the night and aren’t hungry or in discomfort, they feel safe and don’t always need to be in your arms to get back to sleep.

It won’t happen overnight and they’ll need a lot of physical and verbal reassurance to start with…Stay with them and there’s no need to time anything, be responsive.

To find out more and keep my baby sleep support in your feed, hit follow 💖

18/11/2025

Baby sleep when it’s cold, the do’s and don’ts…and save this post for later 🥰

The UK forecast is cold for the next few days and it can be a worry knowing what to dress your baby in overnight.

I always think it’s reassuring to know that baby’s usually sleep better in a cooler temperature anyway.

An ideal temperature for their room is 16-20 degrees Celsius. If you’re worried it’s colder than that, you could:

✅Dress your baby in an extra layer, eg a vest under their sleepsuit
✅Use a higher tog baby sleeping bag.
✅If bedsharing, a baby sleeping bag is recommended, keeping duvets, pillows, loose blankets completely away from them.

Not recommended for baby sleep:

❌Putting extra blankets over their sleeping bag.
❌Wearing a hat or outdoor clothes (babies use their heads to loose heat if they get too hot, so wearing a hat indoors can prevent them from cooling down if they need to).
❌Using adult bedding when bedsharing.

❤️follow me for health professional support with your baby’s sleep

05/11/2025

Baby naps causing anxiety?

❤️Save this post for reference later.

Babies sleep needs change all the time. Just when you think you’ve got it worked out they start resisting their naps or taking ages to fall asleep at bedtime. Sound familiar?!

If you’re worrying about your baby’s naps, perhaps they seem short or you think they aren’t having enough, it’s worth looking at the overall picture.

If they are pretty happy in the day, fall asleep quite easily with good stretches of solid sleep at night, then naps are likely good too.

Try not to focus on the wake window and nap charts too much, they’re a guide, not rules. If your baby is doing something a bit different that’s ok too.

16/10/2025

Share this with a mum who needs to know what an amazing job she’s doing ❤️

Advice for new mums is everywhere. Often conflicting. Everyone has an opinion. Usually 💯well meaning.

But it can be overwhelming and make her doubt herself.

So give advice if she’s asking but more than anything, give reassurance and remind her how amazingly she’s doing.

She’s probably sleep deprived, hormonal and being too hard on herself. Your reminder will mean the world. 🥰

10/10/2025

Do you ever feel like you’ve missed the advice on how to settle your baby in their cot?

This might be it!

Do you think you’ll give it a go?

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25/09/2025

❤️Hello new parent. This one’s for you…

There is only 1 rule you need to follow as a new mum or dad…

Rule: Your baby, your rules.

That’s it. And remember it’s a complete untruth that you can spoil your baby. Contact naps aren’t bad habits that you’ll regret. You won’t. I could go on…

(Is untruth an actual word?)

Listen to advice if and when you want and it sounds like something you can get behind.

But trust your own voice the most and believe that you know what’s best for your baby. Because you do.

🥰Send this to a new parent who needs to hear this today

13/09/2025

11/09/2025

I’m Rosy Whitwell, paediatric sleep consultant, registered nurse and health visitor. And I absolutely love my job!

My family is everything to me and all the motivation I need to keep pushing forward, trying harder and getting outside my comfort zone every now and then (teaching health visitor students soon being my latest scary project!).

I’ve raised two guide dog pups who are now working guide dogs. And I’ve adopted a guide dog pup who sadly couldn’t continue for health reasons.

I love a sunny holiday destination and I’m happy to be taken skiing as long as there’s plenty of coffee and long lunches (and a glass of French rosé in the evening)!

And I’m getting slightly more into gardening with age, out of necessity really!

Show this post some love if you’v got this far and follow me for gentle, age appropriate and practical advice and support from a health professional.

Thank you 🙏 🥰

28/08/2025

Here’s the tea on wake windows!

It can be helpful to know how long your baby/toddler can comfortably stay awake before needing to nap/bedtime (sometimes referred to as a wake window).

The reason it can be helpful is babies find it easier to fall asleep quickly and happily if they’re tired enough. So whilst “wake windows” aren’t really scientifically based, the biological drive to sleep is very much so!

Sleep drive, or pressure is that feeling you can’t fight when you’re trying to stay awake and watch something good on the TV, but your eyes keep closing and your body says no! Sleep!

It’s actually a build up in the brain of a chemical called adenosine, whilst you’re awake, and then gradually dissipates whilst you sleep.

Often babies need the shorter end of how long they can comfortably stay awake for in the morning, before their first nap, gradually needing longer awake before subsequent naps/before bedtime.

And just to say, some babies do something different from the charts. And that really is ok. Some days can be very different.

Try not to worry about things you can’t control and how long your baby does or doesn’t stay awake for is often out of your control.

Does your baby roughly follow these wake windows or do they do something wildly different?

Oh and p.s, I’ve left out baby’s first month as it varies so much, literally no point in trying to cover the variation in a chart!

Follow for gentle tips and actionable steps to easier baby bedtimes, naps and nights 🥰