Going Out to Dinner with Kids While on a Sleep Schedule
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep?
I’d argue that there are few things in a new parents life that are harder than dealing with a baby that won’t sleep. Those hours in the middle of the night when you are battling sheer exhaustion while trying to soothe a crying baby can cause feelings of desperation, frustration, isolation, and hopelessness. The unpredictability of knowing your baby will wake but not knowing when, is enough to leave any parent on high alert, at all times.
For the majority of new parents, baby sleep does not come easily. There are many reasons why your baby may not be sleeping well:
- Teething
- Ear ache
- Dirty diaper
- Hunger
- Gas
Temperature
The physical and environmental causes of sleeplessness are numerous (I’m sure you can fill in even more reasons than I mentioned). But, there is one reason that a baby won’t sleep that we see most frequently.
Learning How to Sleep
In our experience, the reason most babies don’t sleep well is because they haven’t learned how. The process of going from awake to asleep can take practice. In addition, in order to do so a baby’s needs must be met. This means ensuring proper timing of sleep and feeds, clean diaper, and comfortable sleep wear.
In the journey to sleep, it’s important to consider exactly how a baby falls asleep. If a baby falls asleep by eating, rocking, bouncing, etc. then the child will associate those activities with falling asleep, and will rely on them to fall asleep, or fall back to sleep, all the time. While these are the things that most parents attribute to helping their baby sleep, ultimately, they can be the culprit with why a baby won’t sleep through the night.
The solution for drastically reducing the frequency of sleep disruptions requires an analysis of sleep environment, sleep schedule, routine, nutrition, and consideration of a child’s unique sleep needs. By addressing all these things, you can help sleep come more easily for your child, and this allows space for a baby to practice going from awake to asleep on their own.
Other Causes of Sleeplessness
I mentioned many other reasons why a sleep disruptions might occur at the beginning of this article. It’s unreasonable to think that night wakings will never occur – your baby is human! Illness, hunger, etc. become easier to identify when night wakings are not the norm. If you have addressed how your baby falls asleep and they are regularly waking for just one night feed, or not waking to eat at all, you can be sure that if your baby calls to you in the night there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
While you’re in the thick of it with sleepless nights, know that this a phase that will pass. You aren’t alone and help is available if you should need it.