Getting little ones to sleep through the night is parental Holy Grail, isn’t it?
And if you have more than just one child, this becomes even more important – yet also, I think most of us find, more tricky. Which is why so many new parents are walking around like sleep-deprived zombies.
However, maybe we just need to learn a trick or two? According to a New York City mum, it seems like she has cracked the code of getting her four children under the age of two to sleep through the night.
One bedroom, four kids – everyone sleeps
Taking to Instagram, Courtney Barry (@drcourtneyortho) recently shared some of her sleep secrets recently, and revealed that all four children – who share one bedroom – were sleeping through the night by just six to 10 weeks old.
The mum, who has been open about her surrogacy journey, says people can’t believe her timeline for having babies, and how close in age they all are (two of Barry’s children are twins).
As for their sleep routine, the mum explains:
‘Every single one of our children were able to sleep through the night between 6 – 10 weeks old.’ she shares in her reel.
‘We live in a two bedroom apartment in NYC, which meant at one point, all 4 of our children were going to share 1 bedroom, so it was important that we got them to sleep through the night. It’s lights out at 7:30pm in this household.’
Barry, who works as an orthodontist shares that she and her husband, Matthew, routine rely on consistency when it comes to their kids’ sleep.
‘Our approach centers on a predictable wind-down after dinner [such as a] bath, calming activities, same bedtime, [and] keeping bedtime consistent every night,’ the mum-of-four said in an interview with Newsweek.
The New York mum is also upfront that support played a role, and reveals they did hire a night nurse during her babies’ newborn phase, something she said was invaluable as both she and her husband are juggling demanding jobs
The bedtime sleep routine that works
The mum says that the cornerstone is predictability for their fail-safe nighttime routine. Every evening follows the same rhythm: dinner, cleanup, bath time followed by bottles and books, then lights out.
In the caption of her reel, the mum-of-four explains further how they do things:
1. We stick to the same night time routine: 5:30pm dinner —> clean up —> 6:45pm bath time —> bottles + books —> lights out at 7:30pm. This way the kids know what’s coming and that it’s time to sleep.
2. We make sure the little ones fully finish their night time bottle. A full belly = a full night’s sleep. This means we also make sure their afternoon bottle is not so close to their bedtime bottle.
3. We make sure the littles ones’ last nap is not too close to bedtime. This way they won’t be wired before bed.
Works when travelling too
Even when traveling, Barry told Newsweek that they try to stick to the same schedule, staying as close as possible to their home time zone.
‘The underlying principle: well-prepared, well-timed routines reduce night disruptions and help kids adapt quickly,’ she said.
The mum also says she is equally intentional about physical readiness for sleep – clean diapers, nighttime diapers when needed and making sure babies finish a full feed before bed.
Afternoon bottles are spaced carefully so the babies are hungry enough at bedtime, and last naps don’t run too late, reducing the risk of wired, overtired evenings.
As for nap time, the working mum says this can be tricky, but they have found a method that works:
‘The older kids do not nap as long as the younger babies, so we need to ‘ninja swoop’ in to grab some kids while making sure we did not disturb the other babies!’
