Free UK self-help
You are not doing it wrong.
Most parents who go looking for help with their child's sleep are describing something completely normal. This site explains what is normal, what you can try if you want to change something, and where to get real help in the UK.
Waking in the night is normal
It is not a sign that your baby is unwell, that you have made a mistake, or that you have created a bad habit. Waking is what babies do, and there is good reason to think it protects them: being able to rouse from sleep is thought to be one of the mechanisms that guards against sudden infant death.
One of the largest studies to look at this followed babies at 6 and 12 months. Between 27.9% and 57% of them were not sleeping through the night, depending on which definition was used, and there was no significant link between sleeping through and mental development, motor development, or their mother's mood, at 6, 12 or 36 months.
Or browse by topic
Every section is broken into short pages, so you can find the one thing you need without reading the rest.
Safer sleep for babies
The rules that reduce the risk of sudden infant death, and honest, practical guidance on co-sleeping rather than a simple "never".
What is normal at each age
Most parents looking for help are describing something completely normal. Here is what sleep actually looks like, and how wide the normal range is.
Ways to help your child sleep
Settling methods, each with the steps, what the evidence really shows, and who it may not suit. None of this is compulsory.
Common sleep problems
Troubleshooting for the specific thing going wrong tonight.
Sleep and additional needs
For disabled and neurodivergent children. Why sleep is often different, what to rule out first, and how to get specialist help.
Looking after yourself
For mothers, fathers and partners. Sleep loss, mental health, and staying safe when you are running on empty.
When to get medical help
Red flags in plain words. What needs 999, what needs 111, and what can wait for the health visitor.
UK support directory
Every helpline and charity, with registered charity numbers, opening hours and what the call costs. All checked.
If you only read one thing tonight
- Your baby sleeps on their back, every sleep In a clear, flat, separate sleep space, in your room for the first six months, with the room between 16 and 20°C. Nothing else in the cot.
- Never fall asleep with a baby on a sofa or armchair This is the one that catches exhausted parents out. If you think there is any chance you will fall asleep during a night feed, feed in a bed you have already made safe rather than on the sofa.
- If the crying is getting to you, it is fine to put the baby down and walk away Somewhere safe, close the door, and come back in a few minutes when you feel calmer. Never shake a baby.
- Nothing else on this site is compulsory Bedtime routines, settling methods, dropping night feeds: these are choices, and different families make different ones for good reasons.
Need to speak to somebody now?
Baby under 12 months, crying or not sleeping: Cry-sis on 0800 448 0737, free, seven days a week, 9am to 10pm.
Child 12 months or older: The Sleep Charity's National Sleep Helpline on 03303 530 541 (standard network rate).
A disabled child, any age: Contact on 0808 808 3555, freephone.
If you are struggling to cope: Samaritans on 116 123, free from any phone, day or night, all year. None of the sleep lines are open at 3am. See the full directory.
How this site is written
There is a lot of advice about children's sleep, and much of it makes parents feel worse. We have tried to do three things differently.
- No judgement, and no moral categories. There is no such thing as a good baby or a bad habit. A baby who wakes is a baby.
- We say what the evidence actually shows, including when it is weak, contested or missing altogether. Several popular techniques have never been properly tested, and we say so rather than quietly dressing them up.
- We name our sources on every page, so you can check them yourself. Where an organisation's helpline has closed or never existed, we say that too.
Everything here is written for mothers, fathers, partners, single parents, adoptive and kinship carers, and anyone else doing the nights. More about this site and how we check things.
Where this comes from
- The Lullaby Trust, safer sleep advice, for the safer sleep summary.
- Baby Sleep Information Source (BASIS), University of Durham, for infant sleep biology and arousal being protective.
- Pennestri et al. 2018, Pediatrics, for the figures on sleeping through the night and development.
- ICON, the UK programme on infant crying, for the never-shake-a-baby guidance.
- NHS, helping your baby to sleep.
Last checked 1 August 2026. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child, speak to your health visitor or GP.