With a practiced look, our old-school-cool pediatrician assures us that a baby can’t self-soothe their way back to sleep until at least six months of age. That, unfortunately, we’re not quite ready for the infamous and sometimes controversial phase of sleep training. Not yet.

“You’re almost there, I promise. Just keep doing what you’re doing,” he says, right before running out the door in his faded tennis sneakers to what I imagine is most likely either another Jimmy Buffet concert or an emergency racquetball match. Maybe both.

Together, my wife and I nod our heads respectfully, even though this piece of information runs counter to the emergency baby sleep book (there are thousands) that she bought at the recommendation of a recent Instagram post by one of her most trusted reality television celebrity friends.

Like many who have come before us, we’re seriously wondering how anyone gets a baby to sleep or stay asleep or sleep peacefully for many hours in a row.  

And so, today's story follows two sleep-deprived newbie parents, occasionally exhausted and bleary-eyed, at other times perfectly fine and filled with surprising energy. Together they find themselves right in the thick of it, learning how to navigate the changing-by-the-minute sleep schedule of a perfectly wonderful baby boy.

But what will it take for these two newbies to maintain their sanity? What percentage of their brain cells will be lost forever? And how do you put a baby down to sleep without waking them up?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, where have all the binkies gone?