Reasons For Night Wake Ups

Are you struggling with night wake-ups? Or, is your child starting to wake up in the night and you aren’t sure why? 

I have been there and it’s hard to not overthink it, questioning why these wake-ups are happening.

Sometimes your child can have a bad night, but if it continues to happen, it can be exhausting. 

I have been there too.

In this post, I will discuss some reasons why these frequent wakings may be happening and explore some solutions.

Why these wake-ups occur: 

Did you know that it is NORMAL for your baby or toddler to have wake ups in the night? This is because their body does briefly wake them up in between sleep cycles. However, the key is to ensure that your child is able to fall back asleep after such wake-ups occur. If your child is struggling to do so, there may be some underlying reasons.

The Most common reasons why your child may be waking up in the night include: 

-they were overtired at bedtime

-they were undertired at bedtime 

-they need more support going back to sleep

-an age appropriate sleep regression may be occurring

-teething 

-illness

-fluke or just having an off- night

1.Overtired 

When babies or toddlers are overtired, their bodies actually become stressed and as a result, their bodies will want to enter into fight or flight mode in order to survive. By doing so, their bodies’ release cortisol and adrenaline to activate fight or flight mode. This heightened state makes it harder for them to fall asleep because it naturally decreases the melatonin production. Typical signs that your child is overtired can include:

Typical Signs that your child is overtired can include:

-Falling asleep right away 

-Crying to fall asleep and taking a while to fall asleep 

-Showing tired cues before bed

-Hyperactive before bed. (commonly seen in toddlers) 

-Waking up crying, and harder to console 

-Restless sleeping 

-Having a hard time falling back asleep after a night feed

-Waking up early in the morning between 4-6 am.

In situations of overtiredness, babies might initially fall asleep but after one sleep cycle  (which is about 45-60 minutes after bedtime) they might wake up and struggle to fall back asleep. This is called a false start. It can take up to 2-3 hours for these stress hormones to go away and to allow the body to relax, and produce melatonin to help babies fall back asleep. 

In these situations, short activities aimed at calming the child could prove useful. A very short bath might be an option if they are really struggling. Alternatively, turning on a reading light and reading a book or singing a few songs might help to calm them before putting them back to sleep. 

If you think your child might be hungry, you can try feeding them but make sure they do not fall asleep while feeding. We want to avoid a situation where your baby or toddler begins to think that they cry for a long period of time in bed, you will nurse/feed them to sleep. This stops the association from crying and being fed to sleep. This will make it easier in the future. 

2. Under tired 

Having a consistent bedtime helps the body to release melatonin and prepare for sleep. For children, a consistent bedtime will make it easier for them to relax and fall asleep. However, other factors are equally important including sleep pressure, how long your child has been awake and how much they have napped during the day. All of these can affect their ability to fall asleep. 

You want to look at how long it takes for your child to fall asleep and what they are doing during this time. It is important to know what is normal for your child when they fall asleep when they are under or overtired. Typical times for a baby to fall asleep are between 5-15 minutes and your toddler may be a bit longer but typically under 30 minutes. 

Signs your child may be under tired: 

-Taking longer than normal to fall asleep; more than 20 minutes.

-Usually happy or playful when trying to fall asleep. But some babies do cry when they are undertired, this may be their way of vocalising or trying to realise extra energy before sleep. 

-Not showing any tired cues before bed. 

-Waking up between 11pm-4am, happy, babbling/talking, but also possibly crying. 

-Waking up earlier in the night for their night feeding

-Struggling to fall back asleep after a night feed

-Waking up earlier in the morning, usually 45 minutes or less, happy and ready to start the day. 

3. Needing Support 

When your baby or toddler is struggling to fall asleep independently this can cause them to have more wake-ups during the night. If your child is used to needing help falling asleep, they will look for this same support when they wake up in the night. For example, if your baby or toddler falls asleep independently or with a pacifier, but they got used to having support during wake-ups at night. 

You can still offer feedings in the night, even if you are sleep training or have an independent sleeper. You just want to make sure your feedings are at least 3-4 hours apart, and that they are staying awake for these feedings and not using them to fall back asleep. If you need help with weaning night feeds, check out my blog to help you with this process and how to read your baby’s cues. 

4. Regression 

 As previously discussed, a sleep regression can also be a typical reason for night wake-ups. Typically, regressions happen around the ages of 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 18 months, 2 years, and 2.5 years old. They can last as long as 2-3 weeks or could be short as each child reacts differently to sleep regressions. I, personally, find that if a child has been sleep-trained, sleep regressions are shorter than 2 weeks.  If they last longer than that, there is usually another reason for these wake-ups.

A common time for these wake-ups are around 11pm and 4 am.

If your child is waking at these times, try increasing the wake window before bedtime by 5-10 minutes if they are under a year old and by 10-15 minutes if they are over a year old. If your child is struggling to fall asleep at bedtime and crying to fall asleep, then I would do the opposite and try to shorten the wake window by these times, rather than increasing them. 

5. Teething

Teething can also be a factor for a night time wake-up. These wake-ups usually only happen for 1-2 days prior to the tooth popping through (when you can see the white of the tooth) and the few days the tooth is breaking through the skin. Each child handles teething differently but it is quite common for it to be a painful process for children.

These wake-ups can happen throughout the night, especially between sleep cycles and early mornings. While you can help your child through this process using various teething techniques, for the purposes of sleep, it’s important to make sure they aren’t overtired when teething. Putting them to bed early (especially if they don’t nap as well) might help them connect their sleep cycles more easily during this period. 

6. Sickness: 

When you know your child is sick, you want to make sure they are getting enough sleep as this is when their body is healing and repairing. Your baby or toddler may need more sleep during this time, so an early bedtime can be very helpful. It can also help them to sleep better at night and connect their sleep cycles more easily. 

Even when they are sick, continue to put them down independently at bedtime. An early bedtime can be helpful to ensure they aren’t overtired that they and have the coping skills to put themselves to sleep. If they are struggling throughout the night, or have a fever, you can use your judgement and help them through this time in order for them to get the sleep they need. Do your best to not bring them into your bed. 

For more information read my blog on how to handle sleep when your baby or toddler is sick (link blog).

7. Hunger

 If your baby is hungry, or used to being fed in the night, this can cause night wakings. If you are struggling to wean night time feedings or you’re just not sure how to start, check out my BLOG on how to help you with this. 

If your baby is waking up for a feeding in the night, you want to make sure they are staying awake, having a good long feeding and are not using the feeding to fall back to sleep. After the first month of age, your baby can probably go 3-4 hours between night feedings. Once your baby is 3 months old, I don’t recommend feeding after 4am because this is the hardest time for them to fall back to sleep due to decreased sleep drive, lower melatonin levels and lighter sleep cycles. If their body gets used to having a feeding around 5-6 am, it can start to create a pattern of early morning wake-ups where they stop going back to sleep and start the day at this time. This early morning wake up can be hard to correct. I would start with waking them up at 4 am for the last night-time feeding, then eventually weaning the feeding and, if necessary, helping them sleep until the desired wake up time. 

Signs of hunger: 

• Waking up crying 

• Going at least 3-4 hours between feedings

• Having a long feeding, actively drinking/swallowing

• Not struggling to fall back to sleep after the feed 

8. Habit

Babies and toddlers can start to wake up out of habit at the same time(s) each night. This can happen from a regression, being sick, or for a feeding. I most commonly see this with night-time feedings, when you start to see the feeding is happening at the same time each night. This doesn’t always mean that they need feeding at this time, even if they are showing you all the signs. It can be a habit where their body is used to feeding at this time and they are just waking up out of habit to have this feeding. If you believe that is the case, I would wean this feeding and push it to a later time. 

Recap: 

Overall, the best way to determine the reason for your child’s night wake-ups is to see if anything new has changed in their schedule, identify their tired cues before bedtime, determine how they are falling asleep and when their wake ups are happening, and evaluate how you respond to those wake ups. 

Be consistent with what you are doing. Bad nights do happen, so give it a few days before switching the schedule or wake windows. 

If you are still struggling with night wake-ups and are not sure how to fix it, reach out to us and we can help you troubleshoot this problem.