How to solve sleep problems in babies and toddlers
Once your baby is sleeping through the night you’ll feel hugely relieved that difficult nights are now a thing of the past – but just as your young baby’s sleep patterns are influenced by developmental issues, older babies, toddlers and preschoolers also can have sleep problems related to their age and stage.
What’s waking your older baby?
Many parents find their older baby starts to have disturbed nights again once she starts
teething. While some babies sail through this milestone, others suffer a great deal of discomfort that makes it difficult for them to settle if
teething pain disrupts their sleep patterns.
At around
six months, your baby also should be able to
sit up and this can cause problems since she’ll be able to do this at night if she wakes instead of drifting back to sleep. You may find that she cries because she hasn’t quite figured out that she can lie back down again and go back to sleep. The same issue may arise when she starts to pull up.
Older babies also are on the move, either
crawling or
walking – and this causes them to expend much more energy. It could be that night waking is related to the fact that your baby is burning off more calories than you realize and is feeling hungry overnight. Ensuring she has enough snacks and milk feeds planned in around solid foods after she is weaned may help to avoid hunger pangs waking her up.
What’s waking your child?
Toddlers and preschoolers also are prone to irregular sleep patterns. Even though you might expect them to have a steadier sleep pattern they still sleep fairly lightly, and spend more time in
REM (rapid eye movement) ‘dream stage’ of sleep than adults. This type of sleep is lighter and they’re more likely to wake during the night because of this.
Children this age also have a much more developed imagination and they can be disturbed by fears and
nightmares. Even though they are now more independent they could still be feeling anxiety at the thought of being separated from you when it’s dark. Thee fears can be exacerbated by a move to a big kid bed.
It could also be that she simply isn’t tired enough to sleep through, especially if she attends a daycare center or preschool where a long afternoon nap is built into the schedule. Some research on the amount of physical activity preschoolers enrolled in center-based programs get suggests it falls far short of being adequate. A recent study found that 89 percent of the children who took part were sedentary and that teachers rarely encouraged them to be physically active, even when they were playing outside.
What to do
If your child is
getting up at night, it’s important that you don’t give into her and let her come into bed with you, however tempting it may be in order to get a decent night’s sleep. Sleep quality is important for you as a parent: if you’re tired you’ll be irritable and impatient and if you work outside the home long-term exhaustion will impact on your work performance. But sleep quality also impacts on your child – she also will be cranky and her health and wellbeing could suffer if she doesn’t get restful sleep. While letting her sleep with you might be the obvious short-term solution, the fact you will likely disturb each other means that neither of you will get the sleep quality you need.
Your older babyBe consistent in laying your older baby back down to sleep, without picking her up to comfort her or making eye contact with her, as this will only satisfy her desire for attention and make her more likely to persist in crying for you. If her unrest coincides with teething, make sure she has plenty of toys to chew on during the day, to help soothe sore gums, and try gently rubbing teething gel on her gums before she goes to bed.
If she is waking because she is hungry, look at her
weaning/feeding schedule. Is she ready to move onto lumpier, more filling foods? Is she eating enough meals and are you filling her up in between with enough
snacks? If you’ve cut back on milk feeds because of weaning your baby, keep in mind that she still needs at least 16-20 ounces of milk a day in between feeds.
Your toddler and preschoolerAgain, be consistent in taking your child back to bed and telling her it’s still sleep time. Tell her that you’ll come back to check on her in five minutes – it may help reassure her to the extent that she drifts back to sleep before you have to actually make the trip. If you do have to check on her it’ll pre-empt her getting up to come to you.
She should be old enough to tell you if she’s uncomfortable – too hot or too cold, for example. If the dark is a problem, use a nightlight in her room and make sure there are some lighting her route to the bathroom if she needs to get up to use it during the night. Giving her an emotional prop can help with nightmares – hang a dream catcher over her bed, or fill a plastic spray bottle with ‘monster repellent’ (water with a few drops of perfume added) and have her spray the room before lights out.
Moving a
toddler to a big bed often can trigger sleep problems because there no longer is a physical boundary (the crib sides) keeping her in bed. If her crib is large enough, consider putting her back in there to sleep and trying the bed again a couple months down the line when she’s a little more mature. Otherwise a bed gate can re-establish the boundary.
If you suspect your child’s daytime nap might be interfering with her sleep, start weaning her off it. If she’s at daycare or preschool, ask if they can do the same, and if she is being given plenty of time to tire herself out racing around in the yard. If there is scope, ensure your child gets some physical activity at home in the late afternoon – but be careful not to schedule it too close to bedtime as she could find it difficult to wind down.
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 01/03/2009