Why do babies often wake up at night?

Author of the article

Ekaterina Rakitina Doctor Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum, Germany

Reading time: 4 minutes

AA

Article last updated: 05/06/2019

Many parents are familiar with the problem of poor children's sleep. And, no matter how difficult it may be for the mother, this phenomenon should be regarded as a variant of the norm. An excellent, sound night's sleep in 4-month-old babies is more a rarity than a rule. Pediatricians often consider neurological disorders to be the cause of a baby's restlessness at night. They refer the child for a consultation with a neurologist, who usually prescribes medication. But disturbing sleep is not always associated with disorders of the nervous system.

Causes of a child's restless sleep

If your child begins to have difficulty sleeping at night, and this is permanent, and specialists do not detect any pathology, try to help the baby yourself.

Analyze a number of recent events, think about why the baby began to sleep restlessly at night. This will help determine the cause of the newborn's nighttime restlessness. And there may be several reasons.

1. A physiological feature when shallow sleep prevails over deep sleep. This phenomenon is not uncommon for a 4-month-old baby.
2. Character traits.
3. Wrong daily routine.
4. An environment that is not conducive to sleep.
5. Deterioration of the child's well-being.
6. Various changes in the baby's life.

But whatever the reason, we must fight it. After all, a little person needs good sleep. Only at night is the baby able to fully rest and gain strength.

Why does a child refuse to sleep?

A baby's sleep changes at 3 months. At this age, babies begin to become interested in everything that happens around them, as a result of which their daily routine may change. From a recent “sleepyhead”, by the age of three months a baby can turn into a fidget who sleeps poorly during the day and is capricious at night.

Sleep disturbances in infants occur due to various reasons.

If a child at 3 months begins to sleep poorly during the day and at night, the reasons may be as follows:

• disease;
• family situation;
• organization of recreation;
• mode failure.

If day or night sleep is ignored and there is no effect from motion sickness, the child’s well-being should be assessed.

Need to analyze:

• whether his appetite has changed;
• how many hours did the baby sleep last night;
• number of awakenings.

If a 3-month-old child sleeps poorly, regardless of the time of day, he may have a fever, a tummy ache from colic, or teething. Health problems primarily cause sleep disorders. Therefore, if a 3-month-old child sleeps restlessly at night and hardly rests during the day, you need to contact a pediatrician, who will try to find out the reason for what is happening and tell him what to do.

Some babies strive to sleep on their stomach almost from birth. Many young mothers follow the lead of their baby, believing that this position soothes stomach cramps. But experts are categorically against this approach.

The method of lying on your tummy for a few minutes during the day, but not sleeping in a similar position, solves the fight against flatulence. Of course, all children are individual, but a child should not sleep on his stomach at 3 months. This prohibition applies to all children under six months of age.

If your baby sleeps on his stomach, he may not wake up from a lack of oxygen caused by inhaling vomit or nasal congestion. This position also negatively affects the formation of his spine.

In case of frequent conflicts in the family, the baby begins to experience anxiety, which also affects his daily routine. What to do if a 3-month-old child sleeps little or poorly during the day? Perhaps think about the home atmosphere. In a family where calm and peace reign, all conditions have been created for the harmonious development of the baby.

Also, the fact that the baby does not sleep well at night is affected by the microclimate in the children's room. High ambient temperatures, dry air, too warm bedding - all this leads to restless sleep. It is not difficult to solve this problem by creating conditions for a comfortable stay. A mother will not encounter the fact that her 3-month-old child sleeps poorly and anxiously if the room temperature is about 22°C and the humidity is more than 50%.

And another reason why your baby’s sleep suffers is a busy day or overstimulation. For example, a baby may sleep restlessly because of guests who arrived the day before or a large number of new impressions. Active knowledge of the world consumes enormous resources of the child’s body, so it is not surprising that against this background, a child’s daytime or nighttime sleep at 3 months will be temporarily affected.

Additionally, the problem when failures occur in the mode appears due to the fact that the baby has confused day with night. This situation is familiar to most parents. If a child at 3 months sleeps a lot during the day and rests in the form of intermittent sleep for 40 minutes at night, then he does not feel the difference between the times of day

In this case, it is important to show him this difference by establishing the baby’s daily routine.

Physiology of a 4 month old baby

It is generally accepted that a newborn sleeps at night, waking up only to feed. Yes, and during the day there should be a long rest. But it is not always the case. If you look at it, shallow (sensitive) sleep takes up more time than deep sleep. Such sensitivity does not allow the child to fully rest. The child wakes up from every rustle. Perhaps the house is located close to the roadway, or noisy neighbors live nearby.

Don't forget about night feedings. After all, the child wakes up to them without an alarm clock or reminders. But not all children can fall asleep on their own after a meal. Some people need help in the form of a mother’s lullaby or ordinary strokes. At 4 months, the child is already able to understand such manipulations and get used to them.

Solution

Many pediatricians recommend co-sleeping in such cases. It is enough for the child to move for the mother to feel it and take action (give him something to drink, lull him to sleep, change his diaper, etc.). There are options for pull-out cots for an adult's bed. This way, in the future, it will be easier to wean the baby from sleeping together at night with his mother.

But there are also experts who are categorically against such an event. Sleeping in the same bed with a child also carries a great danger in the form of the possibility of suffocation of the baby while feeding in bed and further falling asleep. To avoid this risk, it is better for the mother to come to the child at his first request. But during the day, such children need to be given maximum attention so that the baby feels cared for. If this is a physiological feature, everything will soon recover on its own. All you need is patience and understanding on the part of the parents.

The appearance of diaper rash

A 4 month old baby spends a lot of time lying down.
He hasn't really learned to roll over yet. And some don’t even try to do this. If you like to wear diapers often, this is an additional impetus for irritation on the baby's skin. The baby may not sleep well during the day precisely for this reason. Putting on diapers means maintaining hygiene. But many parents think that using such a magic trick frees them from frequent washing of their butts. This is not entirely true. Rather, it frees you from frequent washing of clothes. But the main function of diapers is convenience for the child. It is correct to wear this attribute while the baby is sleeping or on the road. During home wakefulness, you can remove it so that the child can take air baths.

All the same, when the baby poops, you need to change the diaper and wash the baby. After all, a newborn’s stool has an acidic environment and quickly corrodes delicate skin. And it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to sleep with severe diaper rash.

Character traits of a 4 month old baby

It's no secret that a baby's character is formed in the womb. And if a child from birth shows increased demands on the attention of adults and environmental conditions, this is difficult to change. Such children can be overly impressionable and susceptible. Of course, you can slightly smooth out the manifestations of character, but you cannot change them radically. Analyze whether you are paying enough attention to your child.

Solution

During the day you need to communicate more with your baby. It is better to put him to bed in his parents' bedroom, although in his own crib. Some try to accustom the baby to separate apartments from a very early age. But this option can only be used for naps during the day. At night, do not leave the child to sleep separately, let him feel that his mother is nearby.

If your baby has difficulty falling asleep and is restless, organize calming procedures before bed. When bathing, add a decoction of motherwort or valerian to the bath. A light massage will help you cope with the problem of anxiety very well. Let these be ordinary strokes, but this will also give a good effect. During the day, spend more time with your child in the fresh air, and in the evening, protect your baby from noisy games. You can even organize a kind of ritual, repeating actions. Include good night wishes for all family members here.

Other reasons

But more often than not, a 4-month-old baby does not sleep well at night, not only because of sleep regression. Mom has not yet mastered all the intricacies of caring for the baby and, quite possibly, makes mistakes that significantly reduce the quality of night's sleep:

1. Uncomfortable bed. The baby should not be placed on soft mattresses or feather beds. The mattress should be firm enough to provide good back support. No pillows, especially down ones! There is no need to teach your child to sleep in a cradle or stroller, otherwise it will be difficult to transfer him to a crib. Bedding is made only from natural fabrics.
2. Stifling air. The air in the baby's bedroom should be cool, with a temperature no higher than 18-20 ° C and humidity from 50 to 70%. It is difficult for a baby to breathe in a stuffy room. His narrow nasal passages become clogged with crusts formed from thickened mucus. The child experiences a catastrophic lack of oxygen. It is quite natural that he wakes up and cries.
3. Overheating. Many mothers are very afraid of “freezing” their baby and wrap him up endlessly. Indeed, infants get colder and should be dressed warmer than adults. But if the baby sweats all the time, then he will get sick even more. Overheating overloads the cardiovascular system, disrupts thermoregulation that has not yet fully formed and provokes the appearance of miliaria, and later dermatitis.
4. Binge eating. An increased appetite does not mean that the baby can’t be limited in food. Night feeding should in no case contain complementary foods (if you are already giving it) or a high concentration of the formula. It is difficult to control how much milk a baby has sucked from the breast, but overeating during breastfeeding is extremely rare.
5. Hunger. And this problem is more often faced by nursing mothers, whose milk supply decreases due to overwork and constant lack of sleep, and it is no longer able to satisfy the child’s growing appetite. This can be checked by control weighing. And if it turns out that the baby is malnourished, then it is better to replace evening feeding with formula. And at night let him suckle at the breast, in which more milk will have time to accumulate.
6. Tight swaddling. Every day the child becomes more and more active. He already quite consciously controls his arms and legs and is able to turn around in bed at night. If in the first months of his life tight swaddling reminded him of lying in a cramped womb and calmed him down, now it can cause protests. Try loosening the diapers at night or avoiding them altogether.
7. Poor quality diaper. The source of many problems: frequent awakenings at night, diaper rash, dermatitis. There are no small details in this hygiene product: a bad filler does not completely absorb moisture or does not do it quickly enough, a loose fit of the elastic bands allows urine to come out, too tight - it injures delicate skin, low-quality material creates a greenhouse effect. Therefore, if you use diapers, then buy them only from trusted manufacturers.

But all these reasons are relatively easy to eliminate. And if you take the necessary measures, then even against the backdrop of ongoing sleep regression, the baby will fall asleep faster and rest longer.

Unfortunately, there is another factor that immediately affects the quality of sleep - illness or pain.

Wrong daily routine

With the birth of a baby, parents lack adequate sleep and rest. Some mothers try to adjust their child to their limits. But this is absolutely forbidden. If you change your sleep and wake schedule every day, the child’s body will not be able to get used to it, and then night restlessness is guaranteed.

The baby's routine must always be followed by the hour. In addition, those children who are not at all tired during the day may sleep restlessly. If energy consumption is low, the child will sleep poorly at night. Do not interfere with the baby’s activity during the day, but in the evening, on the contrary, try to calm him down.

Solution

Let the baby sleep at certain hours. You need to put it down at the same time in the evening. Organize walks in good weather between feedings. Soon the little one will get used to this schedule. His biological clock will work.

Organize active games during the daytime. At 4 months, most babies begin to roll over. Encourage your baby to turn with his favorite toy; when he reaches it, let him hold it. It's good to have a variety of plastic or soft toys on hand. The child is already quite curious and strives to touch objects of interest with his hands. Place it on your tummy more often, and place your favorite toy a little further away. Although the child cannot crawl yet, he will try to reach the object. Such simple manipulations replace gymnastics for the baby. They make him physically tired and he may sleep soundly at night.

The baby is 4 months old, what is happening with sleep?

One of the frequent requests for individual consultations with me: a child at 4 months began to sleep poorly.

This is not a very easy period and every child goes through it.

The reason for this: the child begins to sleep like an adult. Previously, after falling asleep, he immediately entered the deep sleep phase. And now he first falls asleep in a shallow sleep, when “he can wake up from every silent rustle” and only after 20-30 minutes does he enter the deep phase of sleep.

Nowadays you can increasingly come across the name - sleep regression or sleep crisis (read the article Sleep regression at 4 months>>>). But I don't like this word.

Immediately there is a feeling of a problem, of difficulties that mothers urgently run to solve.

But the child is constantly growing and going through crises.

1. Started crawling?
2. Learning to sit?
3. Taking your first steps?

All this affects the child’s character and his sleep. But you don’t run to the hospital to be prescribed medicine to treat crawling, do you?

So it is with sleep crises. They are closely related to the psychological characteristics of a child’s growing up.

For example:

At 4 months, the child fell into a shallow sleep, he has not yet fallen asleep deeply, and you, out of habit, have already put him down and are in a hurry to leave the room to do housework;

The child wakes up immediately.

He already understands that you are gone, but he does not know how long you will be gone. Therefore, every departure is regarded as “I was abandoned.” This is another reason why a 4 month old baby sleeps poorly.

• At 6 months, a child often does not get enough sleep due to teething, and during the day he gains new impressions (read the article on the topic: What should a child at 6 months be able to do?>>>). Therefore, the sleep schedule goes to hell again;
• At 9 months, the baby actively explores the world around him, learns to speak, communicate with loved ones and peers. Every day of the little restless one is filled with emotions that the child’s psyche is not yet able to cope with (article on the topic: What can a child at 9 months do?>>>);
• At one year of age, the child begins to develop his first childhood fears (darkness, loneliness, sharp sounds). He already understands and experiences a lot, but he cannot explain everything. As a result, sleep suffers again.

You will learn about the peculiarities of a child's growing up, his rhythms of sleep and feeding, the rules of upbringing, from the online course My Favorite Baby: Secrets of the Development and Raising of a Child up to One Year>>>.

If you haven't watched this course yet, now is the time to do so.

It will not be possible to overcome the sleep crisis at 4 months unless you work through a moment of psychological calm.

And this includes care, development, education and communication with the child.

It is not difficult to understand that you are faced with a sleep crisis at 4 months and that it is the cause of poor and sensitive sleep, because obvious signs appear:

1. The child actively resists being put to bed - be it during the day or at night (read the article on the topic: Baby does not sleep well during the day>>>);
2. He no longer wants to sleep in the crib alone, he constantly demands your presence;
3. You can put the baby to sleep with “auxiliary tricks”, such as rocking or breastfeeding, but it’s not possible to put the baby to bed. Wake up immediately;
4. He began to sleep lightly in a car or in a stroller, during walks, and wakes up from the slightest extraneous noise. For example, from the barking of a dog, the sound of a horn or a ringing mobile phone;
5. A 4-month-old child sleeps poorly at night, begins to wake up frequently, and becomes capricious when put to sleep again. This is especially noticeable if such a baby previously slept soundly like an angelic sleep all night;
6. Morning awakening can become extremely early - 5-6 am, and the child is already awake.

By the way! This first sleep crisis may begin later if the baby was born premature - in proportion to the period of prematurity. For example, in seven-month-old babies, regression may occur at about 6 months.

An environment that is not conducive to sleep

If your baby begins to have difficulty sleeping at night, analyze external factors.
Adults may not always be bothered by things that will stress a toddler. Anxiety and worries in the first months after childbirth are very exhausting for a young mother. She is happy to fall asleep any way, and even anywhere. For example, the hot air in the room will not be a hindrance for her, who is tired, but for a baby it will cause anxiety. Factors that provoke restless sleep in a baby:

1. Uncomfortable mattress.
2. Heat or draft in the room.
3. Uncomfortable pillow. At 4 months, the baby should sleep either on a small orthopedic pillow, or several diapers are placed under the head. There should be no down or feather products.
4. Too tight swaddling or uncomfortable pajamas.
5. Loud noises in the room (music, conversations, adults laughing).

These are the most common reasons why a child does not sleep well at night. To solve the situation, you need to analyze and remove the interfering factor. It is necessary to lay the baby in clothes made from natural fabrics. If up to this point there have been no problems with sleep, remember, perhaps the mattress was replaced? Any new attribute may prevent the baby from sleeping as well as before at night.

Of course, by the time the child is put to bed, any noise in the apartment should stop.

Well-being

If your child begins to have trouble sleeping at night, but is cheerful and cheerful in the evening, check to see if he or she is sick. The cause may be a common cold. Then you can’t do without medications and a pediatrician. Or perhaps his first teeth have begun to appear. At 4 months this is quite possible. And new and painful sensations are, of course, the cause of restless sleep.

It is worse if the temperature begins to rise. It is often difficult for parents to figure out for themselves why the thermometer began to show high values. After all, even teething can give such a reaction. Therefore, it is better to invite a pediatrician to your home, who will give the necessary prescriptions and determine why the child is sleeping poorly.