Baby & toddler sleep

A nap on your chest is soothing, normal, and safe — as long as you stay awake. Here's the one scenario that turns a sweet contact nap dangerous, and how to enjoy them without worry.

A sweaty, damp-haired sleeping baby is usually just a warm baby. Here's why it happens, the real risk to watch for (overheating), and the signs that mean it's worth a call to the doctor.

From around 28 weeks, falling asleep on your side — left or right — is safest; going to sleep on your back is linked to higher stillbirth risk. In early and mid pregnancy, position doesn't matter. Here's what the evidence shows.

You're watching your sleeping baby's chest rise and fall in quick bursts, then pause, and your stomach drops. Newborn sleep breathing is normally fast and irregular. Here's what's normal, the periodic-breathing pattern that scares parents, and the signs that mean call now.

When a good sleeper abruptly starts battling naps and bedtime, it's usually a developmental leap, a wake-window mismatch, or overtiredness — not lost sleep forever. Here's how to tell which, and what helps.

Short, single-cycle catnaps are incredibly common, especially before about 6 months. Here's why the 30-minute nap happens, when it sorts itself out, and the few times a short napper is worth a call.

Once your baby can roll both ways on their own, the AAP says you don't have to flip them back. Here's exactly what that guidance means, what still matters (back to start, bare crib, stop swaddling), and when to call.

Those sudden arm-flings and twitchy jerks as your baby drifts off are almost always the normal startle (Moro) reflex and benign sleep myoclonus. Here's what's normal, and the specific contrast that means call the doctor.

Waking every couple of hours feels brutal, but in the early months it's exactly how newborn sleep is built. Here's why it happens, when longer stretches tend to arrive, and the signs worth a call.