Sleep Like a Baby

The idiomatic expression “to sleep like a baby” is one that I didn’t used to question.  But after further examination, I realized that this idiom doesn’t make any sense at all. 

After a long day of hard work, people often say, “Man, I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.”  If that’s true, they are going to be pretty unhappy come the morning. 

Babies are known to wake up for middle-of-the-night feedings and diaper changes.  They’re also known for waking up in tears, which is a problem I doubt most idiom-users encounter.

Babies are not the deepest of sleepers.  They’re quite light sleepers, in fact—just think of how quiet everyone in a house needs to be after a baby is put to bed.

So, unless you want to be fussy and tired the next day, you probably don’t want to sleep like a baby.