Seven factors which affect your baby’s sleep the most

There are a few things which need to happen and taken into consideration for your baby to sleep well. (As well as he/she developmentally and age-appropriately can).

You can work on and tweak everything which affects a baby’s sleep apart from your baby going through their developmental milestones (even though these period are particularly trying, we wouldn’t want them not to take these big developmental leaps). As well as separation anxiety which is a healthy and essential part of his development, it means your baby is learning that he is separate from you, it also shows you have a healthy attachment.

1. Health, illness and pain
2. Developmental
3. Separation anxiety
4. Routine and stimulation
5. Sleep hygiene and sleep environment 
6. Hunger and thirst
7. Comfort and reassurance

1. Health, illness and pain

Just as we find it hard to sleep when we are unwell or in pain, understandably babies are affected in the same way, perhaps even more so. We often know what it is that will help us sleep better in times of illness and can help ourselves, e.g., pain medication, a soothing drink for a sore throat, water for a dry mouth when suffering from a blocked nose, etc. Babies can’t, and as their carers, often by trial and error, we have to figure out what is upsetting them.

When it comes to babies, there are quite a few on the list, e.g., reflux, silent reflux, trapped wind, allergies, food intolerances, eczema, digestive pain, teething, etc. Before anything else happens, your baby has to feel comfortable and well in himself to be able to begin sleeping well. It is unlikely that your baby will sleep well if he is in pain, discomfort or is ill.

2. Developmental

A child develops rapidly in the first 0-2 years; within this time babies and toddlers have to learn, figure out, process and make sense of a lot in a short space of time. It’s no wonder that at specific periods of significant developmental changes and reaching substantial milestones that your baby may seem more clingy, unsettled, restless and that their sleep is affected.

3. Separation anxiety

Most babies go through separation anxiety between 8-11/12 months; it’s typical and completely healthy. Separation anxiety is your baby learning that he is separate from you, but still not yet able to understand that you haven’t disappeared forever once they can’t see you, even if you’ve only just popped into another room. It makes sense that this anxiety is carried through to sleep times and often affects naps and nighttime sleep. It may mean that your baby needs more comfort and reassurance going down to sleep and wakes more often during the night looking for your presence, love and reassurance. Even though this phase can be a difficult one, it is important to realise that it’s just a phase, it will pass. By giving your baby the extra reassurance they are seeking, you will help them make sense of what they are experiencing and feeling; which will help them self-regulate their feelings and emotions as they grow older.

4. Routine and stimulation

Your baby’s routine needs to match your baby’s age. A baby of 8 months old will not do well on a routine for a 6-month-old. The difference in just a month or two is significant and can cause both you and your little one a lot of stress if you don’t adapt and grow with your baby. During this time you need to check and adjust:

-Awake times
-Stimulation needs
-Meal and milk times
-Number of naps and nap timings
-Your bedtime routine and the time at which you put your little one down for bed

5. Sleep hygiene and sleep environment

I could write a whole book on this one point alone. The environment (or room) in which your baby sleeps, plays a significant part in how well she sleeps and is often wholly missed or overlooked by parents. I can’t stress this enough. The way your baby’s room looks, sounds and feels affect her sleep just as much as it affects your sleep.
I’m not going to get all woo-woo on you, but every space has a ‘feeling’ or an ‘energy’ to it. You’ve likely felt this before when waking in a gorgeous, spacious room or area and immediately noticed how good it feels, similarily walking into a dark, dingy, cluttered space will give you a different feeling.

Not only that but you should think of your little one’s room as a baby bears cave. Cool, dark and quiet. No one likes to sleep in a hot room, with noise disturbing them and daylight streaming in (signalling your body to wake up).

Keep an eye on your baby’s room temperature; aim for 18-20’C. Use the correct tog sleeping bag and dress your baby appropriately clothes-wise. Use 100% cotton bedding and sleepwear. 100% organic cotton is breathable and soft on baby’s skin and is passed through several processes to remove germs and bacteria helping to prevent dust mite growth.

100% organic cotton also helps absorb moisture from your sleeping baby, keeping them dry and comfortable, helps regulate their temperature and gives them a sense of comfort.

Make sure there are no labels which could aggravate sleep. Cut all the tags off.

In warmer weather If keeping your little one’s room at 18′-20’C is not possible, use a fan in your baby’s room to keep the temperature down, facing the fan away from your baby.

Use White Noise to drown out indoor noise such as you moving around the house, cooking or tidying up, family members chatting/ playing etc. as well as outside noise which may be disturbing your baby such as cars, planes, trains, dogs barking, dustbin men etc.

Use blackout blinds to make your baby’s room as dark as you possibly can. There should be no outside light streaming in for sleep times, including naps and no lights left on overnight. If you need to use a night light, the best to use is a red light as it doesn’t inhibit Melatonin (the sleepy hormone). It doesn’t promote it either, so where possible keep lighting off during the night.

6. Hunger and thirst

We know that it’s normal for babies to wake during the night because they are hungry, but are often made to believe that babies of (insert number of months) should be able to sleep through the night unaided without milk.

However, this just isn’t true, and it’s very misleading. No one knows your baby better than you do, how could someone who has never met you or your baby know what your baby’s hunger levels at night are in any given moment, whether that be at 4 months or 14 months. They can’t, and they don’t. There isn’t an exact time where your baby ‘should be’ sleeping through the night. It’s different for all babies. Some parents see a full nights sleep earlier than others; while some will only see their baby sleep through much later on.

As well as waking out of hunger, it’s also possible that babies wake out of thirst, especially if their room is too warm, if the heating is on overnight or if they have a cold or blocked nose and have to breathe through their nose. Unlike us, they can’t reach to their bedside table for a sip of water or give their nose a relieving blow to help decongest; they need us to help interpret their needs and to meet those needs.

7. Comfort and reassurance

As well as hunger and thirst, babies use a feed as comfort and reassurance. Giving babies the love and attention they need helps raise healthy, confident and well-rounded adults.

Darcia Narvaez PhD says an adult who suffered through Cry It Out (CIO) as a child can experience social anxiety and awkwardness, social panic, depression, frequent illness and irritable bowel syndrome due to the vagus nerve being affected negatively. The Vagus nerve is now known to relate to multiple systems in the body, including digestion. (The vagus nerve is “tuned up” by responsive parenting in early life when the child’s body/brain learns to self-calm from caregiver comforting). An adult who was left to cry as an infant can also suffer from poor autobiographical memory which can be detrimental to social life, for example, when you forget that you’ve met someone or personal information about them.

A Physiological Review (McEwan, 2007) showed that extensive distress in early life is related to having a smaller hippocampus, a part of the brain that is critical for memory consolidation.
A study (Grosjean & Tsai, 2007) showed that neglected kids have poorer memories, including working memories (how much you can hold in your mind at one time) and poorer autobiographical memories    (information about oneself and personal experiences).

To find out more about how I can help you get your baby sleeping as well as he/she age-appropriately can. Contact me here for a free phone consultation.