Cork's Lucy Wolfe joins forces with her daughter for parenting podcast 

“How is your baby sleeping?” That’s a question that will send shivers down the spine of many a parent, but for Lucy Wolfe, the trials and tribulations of children’s sleep are all part of the day job.

Lucy, a well-known sleep practitioner in Cork, offers support for families struggling with sleep issues. She has published two books on the topic, produces tailored sleep plans for babies and children, and is currently undertaking a PhD on maternal perspectives on sleep.

She has also recently launched a new project that is especially close to her heart – a podcast with her daughter, Ellen, entitled The Making (and Unmaking) of Mothers After Midnight, which delves into the many and varied experiences of mums navigating their babies’ sleep, often in the small hours.

“I initially became a sleep practitioner because I struggled with my own child’s sleep,” recalls Lucy. She’s referring to her eldest child, not podcast co-host Ellen, although she too was “a horrible sleeper”.

Ellen stresses that now, at 21, she “sleeps like a teenager”. When Lucy’s eldest was a baby, she continues, “there was no internet – it was dial-up internet at best – and actually there were no supports. When I went to the GP and I asked her to put me in touch with someone, she said, ‘there is nobody’. And I just remember thinking that this couldn’t be possible, it couldn’t be true.”

The favoured infant sleep method of the time was so-called ‘controlled crying’, where parents are encouraged to teach their babies to sleep independently through allowing them to cry without comfort for timed intervals. “I felt there had to be a better way,” reflects Lucy. “Any way other than that”.

When Lucy had Ellen, she began to realise that she wasn’t alone with sleep struggles.

“Everybody had trouble. Everybody had struggles with their sleep, and it felt like an epidemic... And so I just kind of thought, you know what? This isn’t being serviced.”

Lucy decided to retrain to, as she puts it, “become the person who wasn’t there for me”. She has now been practicing for 15 years. She works with families from the perspective that every child and situation is different, and so tailors her plans accordingly.

“It’s about the scaffolding that’s put in place in front of any approach. That’s what’s important. It isn’t really the approach itself, except that I do believe wholeheartedly that if we’re going to do anything, it has to be completely responsive and completely accompanied.”

Lucy is committed to continued professional development, saying: “In the time I’ve been practicing, I have changed my own practice so much because you’re moving with what you’re seeing from a one-to-one basis alongside the research and evidence as it is emerging.”

Lucy has more than 88,000 followers on Instagram, and when she and Ellen put the call-out for mothers to share their stories about baby sleep on the new podcast, they were inundated. It’s clear that new parents everywhere are struggling with sleep issues, and in many cases, are desperate for solutions. As with everything else in 2026, people are turning to social media for help.

While safe sleep is, of course, paramount, what baby sleep can look like varies from family to family. This is something that the new podcast explores. “Sleep is multi-dimensional,” says Lucy, “and as a result, the episodes are”.

Issues discussed include cultural differences around sleep, bed-sharing, and feelings of resentment that can spring from sleep struggles - “there’s a healthy mix of everything”.

Everyone’s experience is different, but the podcast will be relatable to anyone who has had a baby.

“I think that for parents,” says Lucy, “it’s about trying to figure out what feels right for you. And what feels right for you won’t feel right for someone else. You’re evolving, you’re adapting, and you’re revising.”

In each episode of the podcast, Lucy and Ellen speak to a different mum about their perspectives on their own baby’s sleep, as well as their specific experiences of being up with the baby in the early hours of the morning – a time that can feel especially isolating for the sleep-deprived mother.

Whilst dealing with the negatives of sleep struggles – the “unmentionables”, as Lucy calls them – the overarching message of the podcast is one of hope. The mums are invited to name their episode. “A lot of the episodes are [named things like] ‘It’s Going to Get Better’, ‘It Passes’, ‘You Don’t Need to Worry About That’”, says Lucy, “and I think there’s a reassurance in that.”

Lucy has wanted to do a podcast for some time. Ellen came on board due to her interest in broadcasting. The final year law student is about to start a Master’s course in journalism this September – Lucy’s co-host, she also produces the podcast, taking charge of all the recording, editing, and other behind-the-scenes work. Ellen was inspired by her mum’s work to pursue a career in broadcasting.

“I think it’s so nice,” she explains, “whenever we go to [Lucy’s baby sleep] events, the mums all queue up and share their stories, and she listens and she hears them. It’s a community every time.

“And afterwards you see them all go and get coffees together, and they just build something. There’s something so precious that comes from telling their story. I just love people telling their stories.”

While this is Lucy and Ellen’s first joint project, they have completed courses together over the years – including a podcasting course – and both share a passion for golf. Ellen has accompanied Lucy to TV and radio interviews since she was a young teenager and caught the broadcast buzz in the green rooms. “I’ve been around this a long time now... I’ve seen lots of different things like TV, radio, all the different avenues, and I’m like, maybe I want to be on the other side of that.”

The podcast explores not just baby sleep, but the identities of the women interviewed. A question asked by Ellen and Lucy in each episode is, “were you made or unmade after midnight?”

Lucy explains why this – the theme of the podcast – is an important question to ask.

“People have this idealised version of mothering and the modern woman is invested in preparing and researching and planning. And then one of the most devastating things that happens is that it’s not what they thought it was going to be.

“The fantasy of what they thought [motherhood would be] has to give away to the actuality of it. I suppose that really is what informs that whole sentence of being made and unmade.”

Lucy and Ellen hope that the podcast can be a comfort to mothers – and fathers – and perhaps a companion too, to those listening after midnight as they soothe their wakeful baby.

“I think it would give you company, permission and reassurance without being one school of thought,” considers Lucy. “I think that parents listening to it could hopefully take some consolation, and I hope it’s not too serious either – that there’s humour in there too – and that it’s listenable.”

The mother and daughter duo have really enjoyed working together on this project. “As a mum,” reflects Lucy, “did I ever envisage (a) this is what my life would involve and (b) that I would get the chance to work with one of my children in this way?”

With the first season of the podcast currently being rolled out, Lucy and Ellen are now considering what may be next for their partnership. They’d love to do a live show, or perhaps adapt the concept to other issues. Whatever’s next for the pair, they are both very happy to continue with the podcast.

“I would like to keep this going. If people are still willing to tell their story, we’re still willing to record and put it out there!”

• The Making (and Unmaking) of Mothers After Midnight is available on all major podcast platforms. See: https://lucywolfesleepplans.com/