We’re all familiar with the phrase “sleep like a baby,” which generally has positive connotations. But why is that? Don’t babies cry and wake up a lot? The term could refer to sleeping peacefully, unaware of the weight of the world. But it could also mean using sleep training techniques, like parents do for little ones.
Sleep-training practices, such as swaddling and sucking, reflexively calm infants. They are usually only utilized until infants grow bigger and learn to self soothe. But it can be hard to self soothe as a stressed grown-up, which might be why adults like Lala Kent are trying to imitate the sleep strategies devised for infants.
Always desperate for a better night’s sleep, we took a page from Lala’s book and tried to adopt sleep training tactics, like a warm bottle before bed, an earlier bedtime, and a pacifier. But as we know, earlier bedtimes aren’t for everyone, and there might be a reason only babies sleep like babies.