In this episode, I’m joined by Rachael Shepard-Ohta, founder of Hey Sleepy Baby, for an honest look at what’s actually normal when it comes to baby sleep. Rachael started Hey Sleepy Baby in 2020 when she was newly postpartum with her second baby, and now as a mom of three, she has become a trusted voice for parents who want an alternative to sleep training.

We talk about why sleep training doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing decision. After several personal failed sleep training attempts at four months old with her own child, she finally accepted that she’d just respond to him when he needed her. A few months later, he slept through the night on his own. No program, no pressure—just development and biology doing what they’re supposed to do.

Rachael explains why babies are meant to wake throughout the night and how none of us truly sleep in uninterrupted stretches. She also shares how the lack of maternity leave in the U.S. pushes so many parents toward sleep training sooner than they might naturally choose. As a former teacher who had to return to work early, she felt that same pressure herself.

We dig into the myth of self-soothing and how temperament plays a major role in whether a baby can fall back asleep independently. It’s not a reflection of your parenting. It’s simply who your baby is. We also get into the fears around attachment and why the more important question is how different approaches impact a child’s stress response rather than whether sleep training is inherently right or wrong.

Rachael breaks down what sleep regressions actually are, why they are normal, and why sleep training often isn’t a one-time fix. Illness, travel, and developmental leaps usually require re-training. She also shares a surprising statistic about how much more sleep babies actually get after being sleep trained. And finally, we discuss red flags—what’s normal, what’s not, and how the way a baby wakes can tell you far more than the wake-ups themselves.