Orthosomnia May Be Making Your Baby's Sleep Worse

Baby sleep is one of the biggest challenges parents face, and when a baby doesn’t sleep, parents are desperate for answers. But Dr. Natalie Barnett, an expert in pediatric sleep, told Newsweek there's a line parents should walk when it comes to seeking answers for getting their baby to sleep through the night.

"Folks are a lot more interested in sleep than what they were a decade ago, but people, too, can become obsessed about sleep, which is what we want to avoid," Barnett, the VP of Clinical Research at Nanit and the founder of the Nanit Lab, told Newsweek.

Nanit recently completed a study of over 100,000 users to analyze how well babies aged 0 to 8 months slept across the United States. Barnett said she has ideas about why babies are sleeping through the night better in some areas than others, but more research is needed to nail down exactly why it's happening, because the results surprised her.

The study analyzed baby sleep scores, and Barnett said it was important for the company to develop a single metric for parents to see. She said the goal was to give parents an easy, quick way to see how well their baby slept to avoid parents becoming too involved and stressed about their baby’s sleep.

"We know that sleep is as important to their baby’s development as nutrition and exercise. And so whilst we want them to be focused on sleep and we want to be prioritizing sleep, we don’t want them to be obsessed by sleep," Barnett said. "The last thing that we want to do is to be creating orthosomnia."

What Is Orthosomnia?

Orthosomnia is the obsessive pursuit of perfect sleep, and Barnett told Newsweek it's not helpful for parents to become obsessed with their baby sleeping all the time perfectly.

Babies can pick up on the stress their parents are feeling, which can signal to them that they aren’t safe or are in danger. Every parent of a baby who hasn’t slept knows it’s hard to control stress over a baby not sleeping, but it won’t help a baby sleep better if a parent is stressed over analyzing how well a baby is sleeping.

The amount of time parents should spend focused on sleep, according to Barnett, is the same amount of time they spend thinking about brushing their teeth.

"It is something that is a priority. You wanna do it every day. You wanna make sure you have the right toothbrush. You want to make sure that you’re flossing. You want to make sure that you’re seeing your dentist regularly, but it’s not something you obsess about every day or spend hours at work thinking, ‘Oh God, okay, I've got to make sure that I'm brushing this tooth better,'" Barnett said.

Barnett wants parents to check the sleep score, see if their baby had a good or bad night, and then move on with their day.

When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night?

"When do babies sleep through the night?" is frequently one of the top Google searches related to baby sleep, and for good reason. Every parent wants to know when they will get to go to bed at night and wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning. The answer isn't a definitive one, though, unfortunately.

Generally speaking, babies start sleeping through the night around 3 to 6 months. But some babies may start sleeping through the night earlier than others, and this can be tied to how much they eat during the day, with bigger babies able to eat more and sleep longer.

By 8 months old, Barnett told Newsweek that most babies can go longer stretches at night without needing to be fed.

How Long Does a Sleep Regression Last?

Now, it's easier to tell parents whose babies are sleeping through the night not to be obsessed about sleep, and it's very difficult as a parent whose baby isn't sleeping well to not obsess over why they aren't sleeping.

And even babies who were previously sleeping well through the night can go through a regression and suddenly start waking up multiple times a night.

Barnett noted that these regressions typically signal that a physical milestone is about to happen and usually last only a few days. She urged parents not to give up a routine during a regression and said it’s a sign to "stay the course."

"I would love parents to really understand that the more consistent you can be with your daytime schedule, your bedtime routine, and how you’re responding to your baby at nighttime, the easier these sleep disturbances are going to be, and the faster that you can get your baby back on track," Barnett said.

What States Are Babies Sleeping Best In?

Nanit's study found that babies with the highest sleep scores live in states in the northeast, with five of the top 10 states in the northeast. Maine had the highest sleep score of 87, and South Dakota and Alaska had the worst sleep scores at 83.6 and 83.9, respectively.

The study analyzed duration, efficiency, and consistency, along with how many times parents had to go in to soothe their baby. Barnett said it was "really interesting" that states that are more urban and suburban had higher sleep scores than rural states.

"We saw that in these heavily urban areas that these babies were sleeping really well," Barnett said. "Having raised three boys in New York City, it was kind of validating to see these babies in New York City sleeping really well."

Why Are City Babies Sleeping Better Than Rural Babies?

Barnett said more research is needed to determine exactly why babies in certain areas sleep better than those in others. But, she said, it's possible that access to childcare, better parental leave policies and flexible working arrangements could be contributing to why babies are sleeping better.

"If you can't get home until 8 PM because your shift doesn't finish until then, your baby may tend to go to bed a little bit later," Barnett said.

While it may sound contradictory that babies in New York City sleep well because of all of the noise, Barnett said the constant hum of the city almost acts as a white noise that babies are exposed to from birth.

"And in a more rural area, you kind of hear every little thing which can potentially wake babies up or be a little more disturbing," Barnett said.

Is Rocking Your Baby to Sleep Bad?

Another top Google search when it comes to baby sleep is sleep training, and there are a lot of different schools of thought about the best way to put a baby to sleep.

One belief is that parents should put their baby down in the crib while the baby is awake because it teaches babies to be independent sleepers.

Others deeply object to sleep training and believe that it's natural for a baby to want to sleep with their mother.

At the end of the day, Barnett said that as long as the baby is in a safe sleep environment, parents should do what is best for their family.

"If you are rocking your baby to sleep and then putting them down in the crib and they're already asleep and they sleep all the way through the night, I could not care less how that baby fell asleep at the beginning of the night," Barnett said. "But, if you were rocking your baby to sleep, they’re falling asleep in your arms, and then they're waking up 15 times at night calling out for you to go and do the same thing to get them back to sleep, that is what I care about."

Parent visits during the night are a good indication of a baby's ability to self-soothe, Barnett said, which is why the Nanit study analyzed that specific metric. She said babies that can put themselves back to sleep in the middle of the night and be "independent sleepers" get better sleep, and by extension, parents get better sleep.

Barnett noted that it doesn't mean parents have to sleep-train their baby to become an independent sleeper. She recommended establishing a consistent bedtime routine, since sleep is a learned skill that some babies can pick up without dedicated training.

Throughout the conversation, Barnett mentioned several times that there will always be times when babies need more from their parents at night.

It could be that a baby is sick or going through a regression, and Barnett said it's okay to visit your baby in the middle of the night when it's necessary.

"[What] I really love to say to parents is that there are shoulds and there are choices. There’s very few shoulds," Barnett said. "Your baby needs to be fed. Your baby needs to be loved by at least one person, and I really would love to keep your baby safe. Everything else, it's very much a choice, and we want to give you as much science-backed information as we can … but really, it's kind of up to you."

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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 6:00 AM.