A–Z Glossary

Sleep diary

A record of sleep times, naps, and night wakings used to spot patterns.

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How many hours of sleep are needed

How many hours of sleep are needed

The practical number for most pregnant adults For a healthy adult, the consensus recommendation is 7 or more hours of sleep per night on a regular basis. That benchmark is still the most useful starting point in pregnancy because most pregnant people are adults, and pregnancy does not create a separate universal sleep-duration number that […]

Can dreams predict pregnancy outcome

Can dreams predict pregnancy outcome

What dreams can and cannot tell you Dreams can feel uncannily specific, especially in pregnancy, when bodily changes, expectations, and fears are all active in the background. But feeling meaningful is not the same as being predictive. A dream is a subjective mental experience shaped by memory, attention, emotion, and sleep architecture. It can reveal […]

Split Nights and Long Awake Periods

Split Nights and Long Awake Periods

What a split night means A split night is an extended period of wakefulness in the middle of the biological night, often lasting roughly one to several hours. The baby may babble, roll, feed intermittently, cry, or lie quietly while showing little sign of returning to sleep. The defining feature is duration and alertness, rather […]

When baby drops naps

When baby drops naps

What it means when a baby drops a nap Dropping a nap means that one daytime sleep episode is no longer consistently necessary for your child to remain well rested. The transition is usually gradual. A baby may sleep during one nap on some days and skip it on others, especially when the family schedule, […]

Weekday vs Weekend Baby Routines

Weekday vs Weekend Baby Routines

Routine Means Predictability, Not Precision For an infant, a routine is best understood as a pattern of repeated events rather than a strict timetable. Babies gradually develop circadian rhythm, the internal 24-hour biological timing system that helps organize sleep and wakefulness. In the newborn period, this system is immature, and frequent feeding, variable sleep duration, […]

Child wakes up at night and early waking explained

Child wakes up at night and early waking explained

What counts as normal waking during the night? Sleep is not perfectly continuous. Children, like adults, cycle through lighter and deeper stages, and they may briefly rouse between cycles. A child who turns over, mutters, opens their eyes, or calls out once and then settles again may simply be showing normal sleep fragmentation rather than […]