Most pediatricians agree that as of 6 months old a baby can sleep through the night without waking to feed. That being said, if this were actually happening, then I would be out of a job. There are 3 reasons for frequent night waking that I would like to address in the blog post.
ONE reason for extra night waking that I would like to mention will apply to some but not all. This is due to frequent feeding during the day. If you are feeding a baby every hour or two during the day then I recommend working to slowly reduce frequency of daytime feeding. If a baby is used to "snacking" during the day then they will continue to snack all night. Lengthening the time in between feeding by 15 minute intervals over time is an effective strategy.
ANOTHER reason for extra night waking, especially if the little one wakes up particularly upset and struggles to get back to sleep, is due to being over tired. Often parents think, my baby or toddler is waking in the night, maybe I should put them to bed later in order to prevent these extra wake-ups. Unfortunately this only makes kids MORE tired and MORE likely to wake up and struggle to get back to sleep! I highly recommend following a schedule once a baby reaches 4 months old since the circadian rhythm is fully developed at this age. This will ensure that the little one is getting enough sleep. Send me a message here if you would like and age appropriate schedule recommendation.
THE MAIN REASON for frequent night waking is due to sleep associations. Sleep associations are the term used for "the thing your little one needs to fall asleep. " Some of the most common sleep associations are rocking and feeding to sleep. Others can be pacifiers, driving in the car, walks in the stroller, contact sleeping, you name it! There is nothing necessarily wrong with a sleep association. If you love co-sleep and your little one has a sleep association to parent snuggles then this is a positive sleep association. But if your little one wakes up ever two hours to breastfeed when you know that they should be able to sleep longer stretches then this would be seen as a negative sleep association.
If you would like to make changes in sleep, particularly to break off a sleep association, then please send me an email about sleep consulting and we can chat about strategies that work for you and your family. I lean towards more gentle strategies as an attachment based sleep consultant as opposed to more harsh strategies that involve crying. The good news is that I can give you a strategy to solve the frequent night waking and I can do it in a way that suits your family's needs.
If you have not yet joined the Facebook group Greater Vancouver Baby Sleep Help then I recommend you join this group!
Click this link to book a virtual sleep consulting info session.
Doula and Pediatric Sleep Consultant
Courtney Giesbrecht
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