You ever think about the phrase “sleep like a baby”? Because honestly, babies wake up crying every couple of hours, no matter how much they sleep. So why do we use it to mean deep, peaceful rest?
Maybe it’s nostalgia—or just the idea of innocence and vulnerability we associate with babies. But the phrase ignores the brutal reality: babies don’t get good sleep. They get interrupted, chaotic sleep. And adults who get those same night wake-ups? They’re tired, frustrated, desperate for normalcy.
So maybe “sleep like a baby” is less about how babies actually sleep, and more about our wish for a kind of reset—something pure and unburdened. A reminder that language often glosses over complexity to create comforting myths.