All About Night Wakes
One of the most frequent questions I get asked as a Sleep Consultant is “when will my baby sleep through the night”?
The honest answer to this is: never.
What, never?!
Children, like adults, never actually sleep through the night. We all have night wakings. The difference is whether or not you can put yourself back to sleep.
Newborns have 2 sleep cycles that mature around 3 – 5 months of age. Once matured, infants then have 4 sleep cycles, just like adults. When the transition comes from one sleep cycle to the next, arousals happen and that is normal! Once your baby can fall back asleep “on their own” you typically start to see fewer wakes and may even see their naps lengthening.
Now, when your baby is waking up frequently throughout the night AND they know how to put themselves back to sleep without assistance, it can have you asking yourself whether it’s habit or hunger. There are a few ways we can figure this out. If your child has eaten well throughout the day and they are over 6 months of age, it likely could be because of habit, especially if they are feeding to soothe. Alternatively, if they are younger than six months of age, they may need that feed! If they take a full feed and fall back to sleep for another good chunk of time (4+ hours) that is a good indication that they were hungry. If they wake up again after another 50 minutes or so and you are sure they are not hungry, then that wake-up could be due to habit.
Keep in mind, there could also be many other reasons that your baby is waking up at night, these include dirty diapers (especially in younger infants), sickness, or even if they are uncomfortable due to temperature.
To limit the amount of night wake’s your little one is having here are a few tips:
Don’t feed if they aren’t hungry – even if it gets them back to sleep. This will create a habit that can quite some time to break.
Move towards putting your baby down for naps and bedtime awake vs. sleeping.
Follow awake windows during the day with an age-appropriate bedtime.
Ensure your baby is having adequate naps. During the first year, infants 4-11 months should be napping a total of 3-5 hours during the day.
If you’re still unsure how or when to intervene for night wakes, please reach out to book a free 20-minute discovery call or a consultation.
