This week on The Night Feed, I’m diving into one of the most divisive and emotionally loaded topics in modern parenting: sleep training.

More specifically, the question so many mums end up Googling through tears in the middle of the night: Is cry it out actually harmful?

We talk about why this debate feels louder than ever, how social media has turned baby sleep into a moral battleground, and what the research from the past decade actually says about sleep training and attachment.

I read a listener email from a mum caught between exhaustion and instinct, unpack what people really mean when they say “cry it out,” and gently walk through the science around attachment, stress, and cortisol without fear-mongering or judgement.

This episode isn’t about telling you what to do.
It’s about making space for nuance, reality, and compassion for yourself.

Because most parents aren’t choosing a method, they’re choosing survival.

In this episode we talk about:

• Why the sleep training debate feels so intense right now
• What “cry it out” actually means (and why it’s not one thing)
• What the research says about sleep training and attachment
• Stress, cortisol, and what gets misunderstood online
• Why shame, not sleep methods causes the most harm
• A gentler way to think about sleep decisions in early motherhood

Self-care tip:
I share a simple but powerful idea for new mums: creating a “closing ritual” for your day to help your nervous system stand down, even if the night is broken.

If you’re listening in the dark, feeling torn, tired, and unsure you’re not alone. And you’re not doing this wrong.

I’d love to hear where you land on this.
You can email me, message me, or drop a comment.

thenightfeedpodcast@gmail.com

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Welcome back to The Night Feed. I’m Charlotte, and this episode starts with a bit of a rant because honestly… some days that’s where we’re at.

This week’s unpaid sponsor is scrolling when the baby sleeps. You know the drill. You finally lay down, baby’s settled, and suddenly you’ve lost 45 minutes to your phone and feel worse than when you started.

In this episode, I talk about an unintentional screen-free day and then we get into your messages.

A listener writes in with an apology to the parents she once judged before becoming a mum herself. It’s honest, funny, and painfully relatable. A reminder that you don’t truly understand the mental load of motherhood until you’re living inside it.

We then talk about what’s trending right now. The rise of posts called Things No One Warned Me About Postpartum. Not shock content. Not advice. Just quiet truths. The loneliness. The boredom. The grief for your old life alongside the love for your baby. The anger at systems and expectations. The relief of finally hearing someone else say, did this happen to you too?

This episode is about naming the parts of postpartum life that were filtered out for years. Because once something has a name, it stops feeling like a personal failure.

Self-care this week is simple. Once or twice a day, take five to ten minutes with no phone while your baby is settled. No scrolling. No fixing. Just being.

Keep your emails, comments, messages coming thenightfeedpodcast@gmail.com.

Support the show

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed

Welcome back to The Night Feed. I’m Charlotte, and this episode is for the mums who feel like motherhood keeps getting louder; more rules, more opinions, more pressure, just when you’re already running on empty.

The emotions book: The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas.

💌 Weaning Without Losing Your Mind
A listener writes in about feeling overwhelmed by weaning: purées vs baby-led weaning, allergens, schedules, and Instagram meals that look better than adult dinners. I talk about how I approached weaning, how much I leaned on instinct, and why there isn’t one “right” way, just what works for your baby and your family.

😴 Contact Naps & “Bad Habits”
Another mum asks whether she should be “working on” putting her newborn down, or whether contact naps are something to lean into. I share my honest thoughts on early sleep, habit anxiety, and why meeting your baby’s needs isn’t creating problems, it’s parenting.

💭 The Biggest Lies We’re Sold as New Mums
I read through a brilliant thread on the propaganda many of us fell for; from drowsy-but-awake myths, to thinking baby sleep can be fixed, to realising just how unsupported mothers actually are. It’s validating, funny, and painfully true.

📈 What’s Trending: Analog Motherhood
Doing less. Trusting more. Stepping away from constant optimisation and back toward intuition.

🧹 Self-Care Suggestion:
Have a clear out — physically or mentally. Less stuff, less noise, less pressure.

Keep your emails coming: thenightfeedpodcast@gmail.com

Support the show

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thenightfeed