At 2am as 9 month old Amy cries out for the fifth time that night, her mum staggers down the passage, her mind dim with sleep and feels around in Amy’s cot for her dummy, wishing that just once, she could sleep for longer than 3 hours at a stretch. She is baffled by her little one’s nighttime antics and wonders where to start.
The answer is simply to start with the basics. Amy at 9 months old is likely to be waking from one of the five reasons below. To being the process of sorting out sleep problems, start here:
Teething – Almost every mother has at one time or another blamed her baby’s poor sleep on discomfort from teething. But the reality is that teething and sleep are not so intertwined. The eruption of a tooth only disrupts sleep for a night or two. The idea that teething affects sleep before six months of age is highly unlikely because teeth erupt in most babies between 6 months and a year. Try to decide if your baby is teething during daylight hours (not in the blur of a night waking). To know if your baby’s teeth are disrupting his sleep, watch for these signs:
- He has a lot of mucous and drooling
- His poos smell acidic and vinegary and may cause a mild nappy rash
- He is gnawing on non food objects (not related to self soothing or tired signals)
- You can FEEL and SEE a tooth under the gums
- 0-6 weeks – your baby will need a feed almost as often at night as during the day initially and by 6 weeks should be stretching a little longer each night.
- 6-17 weeks – your baby may start to regress and wake more often due to growth and nutrition requirements. He is not being naughty – he is simply needing a little extra food – you should not introduce solids at this age – rather increase the day feed frequency a little, offer an evening cluster feed and expect a slightly shorter stretch of sleep.
- 17 weeks – 6 months – if your baby was sleeping well until this stage and he starts to wake more often, he may be needing some extra sustenance in the form of solid food. Introduce solids when you feel he is ready.
- After 6 months and into the toddler years – night waking may become an issue if your baby is not getting all the protein, essential fatty acids and iron he needs. Address these areas if he wakes a lot at night.