"Is your baby sleeping through the night yet?"

Ummm....probably not...especially if "through the night" means the same night hours that you keep. Different babies have different needs and different patterns. As your baby gets older, they will generally have longer stretches of sleep; a 4-week-old for example, might sleep as long as 5 hours compared to just a couple weeks ago when they needed to wake every 3 hours. But sleep regressions, where a baby who was sleeping for "long" periods at night suddenly starts waking more frequently, are also common. So let's change the relevant question to: 

Are your baby's sleep patterns working for you in your current phase? 

If the answer is yes, then "our baby's sleep is working for our family for now" is a great answer to the question up top.

If the answer is no, can you narrow in on what isn't working well? For my first baby, I didn't really mind waking up a few times at night while I was on maternity leave; my days were flexible around the baby. Until...a couple weeks before I went back to work, I realized that soon I would need to function during the day. We started with instituting a routine for getting our baby to settle to sleep faster, which was good for all of us.

I thought we'd be able to re-use all our tricks for baby #2; but she turned out to be a different person (and a different sleeper). I personally coped by reading a lot about sleep; or at least the first couple chapters of a lot of baby sleep books until a friend recommended The Happy Sleeper (which just felt like it would work for our family). If reading hundreds of pages about sleep while you doze off doesn't sound like your jam, there are some other tools and experts that might be able to help:

• Apps: If you’re a “In God we trust, everyone else must bring data” type, tracking sleep habits may reveal information over time that you can’t appreciate at the moment and can provide helpful background if you decide to engage a sleep consultant. A couple options to check out include Baby Connect and Huckleberry. A notebook & pen or Google doc can also work fine. Note: there are lots of apps for supporting sleep with white noise, lullabies, “shushing”, and monitoring features.
• Sleep consultant services: A sleep consultant can streamline information and tailor a plan for you, shifting some stress to an expert in baby sleep patterns and solutions. Some services (like Taking Cara Babies, Sound Sleepers by Natalie Fay, Bella Luna Family, Well Rested Mamas) provide virtual guidance - from content you can review at your own pace to zoom consultations. Others offer in-person services for a high-touch, personalized solution in your home with your set up.  

At the end of the day (or middle of the night), do what feels EASIEST for you.

Remember the ABCs to help prevent SIDS:

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) safe sleep guidelines are to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Sydrome (SIDS). These recommendations are particularly critical in the first year while your baby is developing head/neck control and body movement.

Alone - Your baby should have a dedicated sleeping space - a crib with nothing in it: only baby & a tight-fitting sheet. No fluffy blankets, stuffies, crib bumpers. AAP recommends that your baby is in your room overnight or within hearing distance for naps for the first 6 months.

Back - Lay babies down on their backs. 

Crib - your crib should have a firm mattress that does not indent. Most of us want to get a couple years out of our cribs; make sure the mattress height can be adjusted as your baby grows. Cribs should be placed away from dressers, windows with cords/curtains/drapes. Avoid frames on adjacent walls. 

If you put your baby down somewhere else for naps, make sure that is also a safe space; for example, use a pack n’ play in your living room. Avoid couches, soft chairs, swings, carseats*.

*I haven't met a parent who hasn't had a baby fall asleep in their carseat. It happens. Often we pray that it will happen. Ditto for baby carriers and strollers. The key is to stay near your baby and move them to an "ABC" space when you can.