Hushabye

About your baby

Age

Born early? (weeks before due date) Schedules run on adjusted age — we'll correct for this.

Twins or multiples?

Single baby Twins / multiples

Compared with other babies, yours seems to need…

Less sleep About typical More sleep

Healthy same-age babies genuinely differ by hours per day (Zurich percentile study). "Less sleep" shifts the whole plan to a smaller sleep budget — often the fix for mid-night parties and 5 am starts.

Where everyone sleeps

Where does baby sleep at night?

In our bed (family bed) Cot attached to our bed (sidecar) Cot / palna in our room Own room

What do you want long-term?

Keep co-sleeping — just sleep better Move baby to a cot in our room Own room, eventually

Co-sleeping is not a problem to fix. An 18-year longitudinal study (Okami 2002) found no adverse outcomes from early bed-sharing — the goal here is better sleep in whatever arrangement you choose.

If baby shares your bed, tick only what is genuinely true — every night. These are the safety factors; the plan scores them honestly, so don't tick hopefully.

Nobody in the household smokes Baby sleeps beside mother — not between two adults, not next to siblings Firm mattress — no deep-sag gadda, sofa or waterbed; no gaps at wall/headboard Adult pillows and heavy blankets kept away from baby Baby is lightly dressed and never swaddled in the shared bed Adults in the bed are always sober — no alcohol, no sedating medicines (incl. sleep-inducing cough syrups)

Your day right now

Desired morning wake time The anchor of the whole schedule. Keep it fixed (±30 min) daily.

Current bedtime (asleep, not routine start) Be honest — the median Indian bedtime is after 10 pm. The plan meets you where you are.

Naps per day right now

Night wakings on a typical night

How long does falling asleep take at bedtime? The single best clue for whether the schedule is right: 10–20 min is the sweet spot; instant knockout suggests overtired, 45+ suggests undertired or bedtime ahead of the body clock.

How does your baby usually fall asleep at bedtime?

On their own, awake Drowsy but awake Fed (nursed / bottle) to sleep Rocked, held, patted or walked Lying next to a parent

This is the highest-leverage question. In Indian data (Reddy 2021), 45.6% of babies feed to sleep and 31.6% are rocked — and these associations, not the shared bed, drive night wakings.

Night feeds currently

Feeding

Breastfed Combo Formula

Has your pediatrician okayed dropping night feeds?

Yes No Haven't asked

Sleep setup

Baby sleeps on their back Room is pitch black at night (can't see your hand) Continuous white noise / fan sound all night We do the same 20–30 min wind-down every night TV and screens are off in baby's room for the last hour before sleep Still swaddled (arms in) Has started rolling A parent could sleep elsewhere for a few training nights

Pacifier

No pacifier Yes — replaces it alone Yes — we replug it

Your approach

How much crying can your household work with? Be honest — include grandparents and anyone else who responds at night. The approach everyone can hold consistently beats the one that sounds best.

As little as possible — slow, hands-on methods only Some protest is okay if we're right there — stay beside baby and fade out gradually Timed check-ins — brief reassurance at growing intervals Fastest, most crying up front — minimal intervention after goodnight

Baby is in daycare / with a caregiver whose nap schedule is fixed

What's going wrong?

Frequent night wakings Waking before 6 am Short naps (<45 min) Wakes 30–60 min after bedtime Awake 1–3 h in the middle of the night Takes forever to fall asleep Naps only on us / while held / in the jhula

Anything going on right now?