Using Props
The use of props to help a baby fall asleep, is the number one reason a sleeping baby wakes up at night (something I learned from the Sleep Sense Program) Here are some common props or sleep associations:
- Bottle or breastfeeding to sleep,
- Rocking to sleep
- Swinging to sleep
- White noise machines
- Movement in a carseat or stroller.
- Even the *pacifier if your baby is dependent on it.
Anything your baby relies on to fall asleep, she will also need when she wakes up at night. She will not be able to soothe herself back to sleep, without that particular prop. Your baby should always go to sleep awake, *without any props. Trust me, your baby will find a way to soothe herself. When Brianna was in the HALO SleepSack , she would rub her face against the sheets. She would turn her head side to side, until she fell asleep. She now sways her hand across the sheets back and forth. The texture of the sheet soothes her, and she falls asleep. That would never cross my mind as soothing, but that's what she does. We even bought her these velour sheets, which she absolutely loved.
By teaching your baby to fall asleep on her own, and getting rid of sleep props, you will solve most, if not all of your sleep troubles. I am not suggesting, by any means, to be cold or harsh to your baby. As a matter of fact you want to do everything you can, to comfort your baby before bed. Kisses, hugs, and cuddling, that's the best part of our bedtime routine! You want to do that to make your baby feel safe, secure, and loved. Just don't make that the reason they fall asleep. Here is my article about sleep associations.
***A few notes I need to make. You don't want to impose anything strict on a newborn. You need to give them some time to transition. When you first bring your newborn home, you may need some props such as a white noise machine. It can help your baby associate night with sleep-time, since babies have an immature circadian rhythm (more on that below). Certain props such as womb sounds, will also help your baby transition into the outside world, remember they are very confused when they finally make their grand entrance.
***Another note, is on the use of the pacifier. I encourage the use of a pacifier because it has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS. However, if your baby is crying in the middle of the night because it fell out, and you need to go and put it back in, then you might want evaluate if you really want to use it. This is a personal choice, one you will have to make weighing your pros and cons. I thought Brianna was reliant on the pacifier, then I put her to the test. I took the binky away, and let her fall asleep without it for a few nights, and she didn't cry for it. So I knew she wasn't relying on it. She falls asleep with it, but doesn't care when it falls out. So I decided to keep it. I think I would of kept it either way, at least for the first few months because of the whole SIDS thing. Tell a nurse something reduces SIDS, and she's not going to think twice.
Circadian Rhythm
It's also known as our biological clock. It's a 24 hour pattern of biological activities that occur in our body. The sleep-wake cycle is part of that circadian rhythm. In the sleep-wake, our body releases certain hormones during nighttime to help us fall asleep. It also releases daytime hormones to make us wake up. Babies are born with an under developed circadian rhythm. That's why when you bring them home from the hospital, they sleep during the day, and are awake at night. Also, don't forget throughout your pregnancy, your baby was rocked to sleep during the day by your movements. You most likely felt her movements at night, when she was awake! So what can you do to help your little night owl? Just keep your baby on a regular feeding cycle. Keep the blinds open, turn on the t.v or radio, and just go about your day as you normal would to help create an association with daytime. Then at night, obviously the exact opposite. Quiet all noise, turn down the lights, and establish your bedtime routine. Be patient it can take some babies up to 8 weeks to know the difference between day and night. To complicate things even more, melatonin (the sleep hormone) is not produced until a baby is about 3 months old. So don't get discouraged, it takes a while for a baby to settle into this world.
Startle Reflex
Also known as the Moro reflex, is a normal infantile reflex. When some stimulus causes the baby to startle, the legs flex and the arms stretch out. This stimulus can be a loud noise, an unexpected touch, or a bad dream. This reflex lasts only a few seconds but can wake a sleeping baby. Some babies can drift right back to sleep others will completely wake up. This reflex usually diminishes by 4 months of age. Until then the Swaddle SleepSack is great. Those nifty velcro patches were intended to keep the babies arms inside and prevent wakening from the startle reflex. Don't believe me? Check it out! I watched Brianna, completely wake up from the startle reflex over and over. Her arms would fan out and she was awake! That's when I decided to put her in the Swaddle Sack. She slept so much better.
Temperature
At one point Brianna started waking more frequently for a few days in a row, right at the start of winter. I noticed her little hands and feet were cold. Now it's pretty warm in our house. As a matter of fact, I slept in shorts and a tank top. Apparently that wasn't warm enough for Brianna. I had to adjust the temperature for her. When I did, she was back to her normal sleep schedule. The same thing happened in the summer when it got really warm out. At this point she was sleeping through the night, and I found her waking up a few nights...apparently it was too warm for her. It's only April, I thought! I never turn on the air condition this early! I had to put a low fan setting on the a.c. and that kept her comfortable. Babies are picky about the right temperature. We naturally regulated their temperatures for them, while they were in utero. Now, it's a little bit more difficult to get that temperature just right.
Hunger
Ok this may sound self explanatory but it's not. You may Think your baby is hungry, but she may not be. Here are some clues your baby is waking up because she is truly hungry:
1.She's wakes up whining at first, then transitions into a louder and louder cry. If your baby wakes up hysterical, she's probably waking up because she's scared or confused not because she's immediately hungry. Babies will wake up screaming if they fell asleep in your arms, and didn't go to sleep on their own. They wake up alarmed, wondering where they are, and where you disappeared.
2. She is waking up consistent with her daytime feeding schedule. Meaning if she's eating every 4 hours during the day, she will probably do the same at night. Now this can be purely out of habit, so continue reading to see if other clues are present
3. When your baby is eating, you hear loud, audible swallows. What I mean is, she is not just playing around, suckling a little here, a little there. She is truly drinking and actively eating. Some babies wake up from a sleep cycle, and just want to be soothed back to sleep, and the bottle or breast is obviously going to do the trick. Brianna was infamous for this for a while. She would wake up, suckle a little, and fall right asleep on me. I would slip her into bed and half hour to an hour later, she did it again. She wasn't hungry. She was using me as a soother!
4. Your baby stays awake during the entire feeding, and usually drinks a large bottle or feed from both breasts. A baby wouldn't be able to eat that much, if she was not hungry. If her stomach was full, she would probably eat a little bit and fall asleep on the bottle or breast. If that's the case she is using you or the bottle for comfort.
5.Here's the biggie, your baby falls asleep after you place her back in the crib awake! Now only a content baby could do that. If you fulfilled her need for calories because she was hungry, and she falls asleep knowing that she is back in her crib, then she was definitely hungry. Otherwise she would put up a fight and stay awake.
When Brianna was finally waking only to eat, I knew she was truly hungry. By now I learned the difference. She would guzzle her milk like it's the last time she would ever have it. She stayed awake the whole time with the sole intention of eating. She didn't play around, waste time, or fall asleep on the breast. When she was done (usually within 10min), I would place her back in the crib awake. She fell asleep right away, of course so did I, and we both woke up with a smile in the morning. And she did this until she was just about 8 months. I hated when people told me by baby should of been sleeping through the night a long time ago. Really? so I'm suppose to ignore her cry for hunger??? Trust me, I know my baby I thought, and I just continued to read her cues. When she was ready and mature enough to feel satiated throughout the night, she didn't wake anymore and that's that. Every baby is different. I even emailed the Sleep Sense Program who's opinion I truly value, just to make sure I was doing things right by still feeding her, and this is the response I got:
Hi Violet,
That is absolutely fine then as long as she is staying awake for it and falling asleep in her bed, on her own afterward. You're on the right path!
Best,
Regan Forsyth
Sleep Sense Client Support
Growth Spurt
We all heard about this right? Your baby grows at a rapid rate and needs to eat more. Common growth spurts are 7-10 days, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months give or take a little, they are not exact. Brianna must of hit ever single one of these. She was on a great sleep schedule, then all of the sudden started waking frequently. I knew it was only a growth spurt, because it only lasted 3-4 days. After a while, I loved growth spurts. Because at the end of each growth spurt, she would get right back on her sleep schedule, but slept a little bit longer. Just feed on demand during a growth spurt. If you are breastfeeding, don't worry about your supply being low. Your supply will actually increase to meet the demand of your baby. I always thought it was cool how that works. Don't forget to drink extra fluids, your going to be thirsty from all the feedings. And if you are bottle feeding, your partner can help with the extra feedings. Growth spurts can be exhausting but thankfully they don't last long.
New Developmental Skill
Your baby learned how to kick, roll, sit or stand and now they want to do it all night. Sound familiar? You can't stop a baby from exploring her new skills. For younger babies, the Swaddle Sack is great. You can use it up until your baby starts to roll. It keeps their little arms and legs inside. At first I felt a little weird about using it. Why should I restrain my baby? I thought. But you're not actually restraining your baby. You are keeping her snug, and preventing her from even getting the idea of kicking or swinging her arms. At first I was swaddling Brianna in a regular receiving blanket. It didn't take long for her to slip out of there. As soon as an arm or leg broke loose, she fully woke up to further experiment. With the SleepSack , that never even crossed her mind because, her extremities never came out of it. She slept so soundly in it. You see why I love this thing?
When Brianna learned how to sit and crawl, that's all she wanted to do. I would put her in the crib awake, and up she went. When this happens, all you need to do is gently remind your baby it's time to sleep. Then place her into her usual sleep position. Your obviously going to have to keep putting her into that position over and over, because chances are she's going to keep getting up. Keep conversation to a minimum, so that you do not stimulate her. Only repeat it's sleepy time if she really resists, whines, or fusses. Your baby could be testing you, to see if you allow her to play. Just keep placing her back. If you did your bedtime routine, and did everything else right, your baby will eventually fall asleep. Because guess what time it is ?...sleepy time, meaning she is already drowsy and tired. Your baby will soon tire out and give up, and fall asleep.
I also encourage lots of playtime on the mat during the day. This helps your baby practice her new skills, so she's not doing it so much at night. Unfortunately there's not much you can do when your baby is going through this part of development. Just wait it out, until your baby learns and masters the skill. She will soon go back to her regular sleep schedule. Learn more about sleep regression here
Teething
For some babies teething can feel like an itch, and for others it can be very painful. But either way, it's annoying and can keep a baby up. 6 months is the average time a baby gets her first tooth, but it can be way earlier or later. Bottom line, you will have to find some way to ease the pain. Talk to to your doctor about some options. You can also check out my article Chamomile for Babies. I have some really neat tips.
Light
Is there any light coming in the room? Perhaps it's a full moon, or your neighbor just bought a new garage light. Lights can really bother a sleeping baby, because they disrupt the sleep-wake cycle. Illumination suppresses Melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep. If that's the case, just buy room darkening or black out shades. Before we put Brianna in her own room, she slept 2 hours later in our bedroom which has the room darkening shades. That's when we knew we had to do something. She's one of those babies that wakes as soon as there's any bit of light. The shades are great, they keep the bright sunlight out. Some babies are more sensitive than others. Studies show that even a small amount of light can prevent you from going into sleep and staying asleep. You may have to get rid of the cute nightlight you registered for, or cover up the light on the smoke detector. I actually had to cover the green light coming from the baby monitor camera. I just stuck a piece of black tape on the light. I caught Brianna staring at it the first few nights we installed it, it was preventing her from falling asleep. It was such a tiny pin size light, but it still bothered her.
You can buy room darkening shades in Home Depot or Lowe's. You might have to custom order the black out shades, which don't permit any light. You can also check out these blackout shades. I have done some research and these look like they are great quality shades, that don't cost too much. They are less expensive than custom shades and also have great reviews.
Illness
It should be no surprise that a baby that is sick, is now waking in the middle of the night. Wether it's a cold, stomach bug, or just a fever, your baby will have a hard time sleeping due to the discomfort. Stuffy noses cause mouth breathing, and mouth breathing causes dry mouth, which in turn makes your baby wake more frequently. Fevers are also very uncomfortable, even for us adults, so think about what it does to our babies who can't communicate their needs.
If your baby is still waking, for reasons other than the ones mentioned above, you may want to try taking a free sleep report, to see what's going on with your child's sleep. You answer a few questions, and get emailed back a detailed report with suggestions on what to do. Check it out here.
