Oh, Mamas – those every-hour-of-the-night wakes are TOUGH! I get it. I have been there. And, sometimes, truly, the answer is time. Time, age and development is sometimes what is needed for babe to get past those multiple wakes each night and sleep through.
But, sometimes it’s more than just time. In many cases there are some very specific reasons a baby may be waking all through the night, and a few important changes could be getting your whole family more rest!
Let’s talk about what those might be:
- Hunger: First thing’s first – it’s very, very normal for newborns (children under about 14 weeks of age) to wake during the night to feed. While, certainly, some children are ready to sleep through the night prior to this (yes, whether formula-fed or breastmilk-fed – see our podcast episode with Lactation Consultant Azura Goodman on this!), others (many!) still require overnight calories leading up to this age. If babe is waking in the night for feeds, my advice is that you a) change babe’s diaper first (this can “delay gratification” and help babe begin to settle more quickly upon waking rather than anticipating a feed the moment you walk up to their crib!), b) feed near a dim night light or lamp, so you can watch that baby is staying awake during the feed (the goal here is to get the calories, but avoid a feed-to-sleep association that may keep baby waking very frequently to then feed back to sleep again), c) keep baby awake the whole feed (tickle toes, cool cloth on the cheeks if needed!), and d) put babe back in their crib awake after the feed, so they have a full belly but are also learning to go to sleep independently.
Once baby is out of the newborn stage, you may find they are waking less at night to feed, because they are awake more in the day and can more easily maximize their daytime calories. If babe is still waking multiple times per night once out of the newborn stage, there could be some other things going on. Read on!
- Overtiredness: If baby’s “wake windows” between naps throughout the day, or in particular their wake window before bed at night, are too long, and baby gets overtired, this can often lead to night wakes. When we’re exhausted and overtired, we all often have a harder time settling into a nice, deep, restful sleep. So, really aim to stick to age-appropriate wake windows for your child, and work on getting them to bed before they become overtired, to combat this. Find more about wake windows in our blog post on this!
- Sleep Props: What’s a “sleep prop?” Essentially what we mean here is any external stimuli your baby needs in order to get to sleep that they will then inevitably need in order to get back to sleep, every time they are in a light stage of sleep and wake up. This might be rocking to sleep, feeding to sleep, replacing a pacifier to go to sleep, or being in a bed with you to sleep. While all of this stuff might get baby to go to sleep initially, it also keeps babe from learning how to go to sleep independently. And, again, if baby can’t go to sleep on their own at 7 p.m., they are also not going to have a way to get themselves back to sleep at 11 p.m. (and 1 a.m….. and 3 a.m…. and 5 a.m. – you get where I’m going with this!). This is where, if you’re feeling like your family needs a change to its current sleep situation, a sleep coaching strategy to help babe develop independent sleep skills can begin to translate to longer naps, easier bedtimes, and sleeping through the night. Because, once baby can settle independently at bedtime, they start to settle on their own at all those little light stages of sleep throughout the night as well! What does that mean? It means now everyone in your household gets a full night of rest!!
Want to chat more about sleep coaching solutions – reach out! We’ve got you, Mama.
