Here’s how to get your baby sleeping 10-12 hours a night, even if you feel like you've already tried everything

Mama, I see you. You’ve tried everything — early bedtimes, late bedtimes, adjusting naps, rocking, feeding, that sleep training book or course, blackout curtains, sound machines… yet your baby still wakes again and again. 

You’re exhausted, frustrated, and left wondering: What am I missing?

In this episode, I introduce the Story Map, your baby’s personalized blueprint for sleep, and show you how to uncover the root causes of night wakings and short naps, so you can create a plan that ACTUALLY WORKS because now you know what to fix. 

 By listening, you’ll discover how to finally create a predictable, repeatable sleep process that actually works — for nights, for naps, and for years to come.

You’ll get outcomes like:

• Understanding why your baby wakes at night, instead of guessing.
  
  
• Learning how to help your baby sleep 10–12 hours consistently, even if past methods failed.
  
  
• Gaining clarity on your baby’s unique sleep needs, including, nights, naps and sleep associations.
  
  
• Identifying the exact triggers keeping your baby awake and what to fix first.
  
  
• Stopping chaotic trial-and-error and finally having a calm, repeatable bedtime process.
  
  
• Eliminating bedtime battles so evenings are peaceful instead of stressful.
  
  
• Lengthening naps and improving daytime sleep to support better nights.
  
  
• Knowing how to identify real hunger vs. habit feeds at night.
  
  
• Feeling confident, empowered, and rested, so your mood, marriage, and daily life improve.
  
  

By the end of this episode, you’ll see that restful sleep isn’t a dream — it’s possible for your baby and for you.  

You can work with me personally to make this happen in just 2 weeks.

BOOK YOUR CONSULTATION CALL WITH ME: HERE

Transcript

Welcome back to Get your baby to sleep with Restful rhythms! I'm your host, Valerie Holm and listen, — I know you want your baby to sleep 11+ hours at night so you can finally feel human again. You want to put your baby down at bedtime, know they’re actually going to sleep, and be able to walk out of that room without wondering how many times you’ll be back in there tonight.

Let me guess — you’ve already tried it all: the early bedtime, the late bedtime, adjusting their nap schedules, the rocking, the feeding, the blackout curtains, the sound machine, the sleep sack. You’ve tried Googling at 3 a.m. and scrolling Instagram for hacks. And still, your baby wakes up. Again. And again. And again.

And you’re left wondering… What am I missing? Why does nothing work?

Here’s the truth: the answer to finally feeling rested and helping your baby sleep through the night isn’t about chasing the ‘perfect’ schedule or tossing random tips at bedtime. That only leaves you — and your baby — frustrated and exhausted.

The real solution is knowing your baby's unique sleep patterns and needs. 

 This helps you find the root cause of your baby’s sleep struggles so you can create a process that actually works — not just once, but over and over again for naps, for nights, and for years to come.

And that’s exactly what I call The Story Map. In today’s episode, I’m going to break this down for you so you know exactly what it is, why guessing doesn’t work, and how the Story Map is the key to your baby actually sleeping 10–12 hours a night.

Hi, I’m Valerie Holm, a certified pediatric sleep consultant and fellow mama who’s been in the trenches of sleep deprivation. I know what it’s like to hold your baby all night long because she refuses the crib. I know what it’s like to sit on the bathroom floor crying, wondering if you’ll ever feel like yourself again.

But I also know the freedom that comes when your baby learns how to sleep independently. I’ll never forget the first morning I woke up, my baby was still asleep, and I realized I had actually rested. It changed everything — my mood, my marriage, my confidence, my ability to just be me again.

And that’s why I created my three-pillar method. The very first pillar, the foundation, is the Story Map. Today, I’m breaking it all down: what it is, why guessing doesn’t work, real-life examples from the mamas I’ve helped, and exactly how the Story Map uncovers what’s keeping your baby awake so you can finally fix it.

And mama, if while you’re listening, you’re thinking, wow, this is exactly what I need, I’d love to walk through this with you personally. You can book a consultation call with me. On this consultation call, we’ll sit down and talk about what your baby’s sleep currently looks like, what you would love to see instead, and how your family dynamics fit into the bigger picture. From there, I’ll share exactly how I can support you in making this happen in just 2 weeks. The link is right in the show notes.

Most families come to me after months of trial and error. They’ve tried earlier bedtimes — meltdown. Later bedtimes — still wakes. Feeding more in the day — still up at night. One mama told me it felt like spinning a giant wheel of fortune at bedtime, hoping to land on something that worked.

HERE’S WHY THESE THINGS DON’T WORK: every single one is based on someone else’s baby. Something you read online, something a friend swears by, something your pediatrician casually suggested. But YOUR baby isn’t their baby.

The problem with guessing is that it’s random. And random doesn’t meet YOUR baby’s unique needs or give them the consistency they need to sleep well. 

Think about it this way: it’s like trying to bake a cake by throwing random ingredients into a bowl with no recipe. Sometimes it kind of resembles cake, but most of the time it’s a total mess. That’s what guessing feels like when it comes to your baby’s sleep.

THE REALITY IS THAT YOUR BABY IS SO DIFFERENT THAN JILL’S BABY DOWN THE STREET. Maybe your baby struggles with connecting sleep cycles, maybe they have strong sleep associations, maybe naps are throwing nights off. If you don’t know the root cause, you’re just tossing darts in the dark.

When I sit with families, I can usually pinpoint 2–3 root causes within the first few minutes of speaking with you. And once we fix those, everything changes. Babies start sleeping longer stretches. Bedtime battles melt away. Because it’s not random anymore — it’s intentional.

So what exactly is the Story Map?

Think of it as your baby’s blueprint for sleep. It’s the process of gathering every little clue — like puzzle pieces — and putting them together so the whole picture makes sense.

When I create a Story Map with a mama, we look at:

– How her baby falls asleep. Is rocking or feeding always required? That’s a sleep association. Sleep associations matter because they create expectations. If your baby always falls asleep at the breast, they’ll expect the breast every time they wake, and need that to go BACK to sleep again. Same thing with rocking! They will need that  thing to go back to sleep again.

– Where the wake-ups happen. Maybe it’s 11 p.m. on the dot, or about an hour into bedtime. Or they are waking up every couple of hours. The timing of those wake-ups is actually a huge clue. It tells me whether your baby is struggling with connecting sleep cycles, relying on a sleep association, or battling overtiredness.

– How naps affect night sleep. Short catnaps often mean an overtired baby who can’t connect cycles at night.(PROOF): one family I worked with had a 6-month-old taking four 30-minute naps a day. Once we started practicing some self-settling strategies, naps stretched from 30 minutes to 60–90 minutes — and night sleep improved within just two nights.

– What the environment looks like. Light, noise, temperature — they can all help sleep or sabotage it.. (PROOF): I had a mama with a 5-month-old waking every 90 minutes. Her baby was napping in a bright living room with the TV on. Once we moved naps into a dark, quiet space and set a consistent bedtime routine, her baby went from waking every 90 minutes to sleeping six-hour stretches in just a few nights.

The Story Map solves problems you don’t even realize are connected.

It shows you if night feeds are true hunger or just habit.

It uncovers why your baby always wakes at the exact same time. One mama’s 8-month-old popped awake at 2 a.m. every single night. Once her Story Map revealed a rocking-to-sleep association, we worked on self-soothing strategies — and the 2 a.m. wake disappeared.

It explains why bedtime feels like a battle. Sometimes, shifting bedtime by just 30 minutes makes the difference between an hour of screaming or peaceful sleep.

Here’s the outcome:

– Your baby falls asleep faster, easier and sleeps longer stretches. 

– You have a reliable, predictable process instead of chaos.

– You stop second-guessing yourself.

– And your whole family finally gets to rest.

So mama, if you’re exhausted from guessing and you’re ready for clarity, the Story Map is your starting point. It identifies your baby’s patterns, pinpoints the root cause of night wakings and short naps, and gives you a clear plan that’s rooted in their unique needs — not random guesses or what worked for Jill’s baby down the street.

If you’re ready to finally stop guessing and start getting the sleep you and your baby need, book your consultation call today. On this consultation call, we’ll take a close look at what your baby’s sleep currently looks like, what you would love to see instead, and how your family dynamics all fit together. From there, I’ll show you exactly how I can support you in making this happen in just 2 weeks. The link is in the show notes, and I can’t wait to guide you through this transformation.