Why Your Baby is Not Sleeping Through the Night

If your baby is not sleeping through the night, it can cause a lot of stress on your relationship with your little one. Whether they have consistently been sleeping through the night or they have yet to snooze for more than a few hours at a time, there can be any number of reasons why they are waking. It can be a very hard task to try to figure out just why your baby is waking up. If only they could talk and tell you exactly what is going on it would be so much easier!

It might seem obvious, but the most common reasons why babies wake up at night are because of hunger and dirty diapers. Be sure to satisfy your baby by doing both of these. Always change their diaper first, then feed them. Diaper changes are sometimes too much activity for your baby, so get that out of the way first, then calm them down with a bottle if they seem hungry. Do not give them a bottle to put them to sleep. They can easily become dependent on this night time feeding, causing them to wake much more frequently for that middle of the night bottle.

When your baby wakes up at night and is not hungry and cannot be soothed, check their temperature. They might have come down with a cold or illness and they are in pain. If their temperature is over 100.4 degrees and they are under three months of age, between 3-6 months and their temperature is 101 degrees or higher, older than 6 months and their temperature exceeds 103 degrees, then you should call your child's doctor or take them to the emergency room or urgent care if you are concerned. Give them Children's Tylenol in the meantime to keep their temperature under control, and be sure to inform the doctor that you have already given them a fever reducer so they do not give them another dosage.

Some babies go through so much pain because of teething that it wakes them up at night. Some common signs that your child might be teething are a slight fever, rubbing their ears, grinding their gums, and drooling excessively. Baby Orajel or something similar can provide excellent temporary relief to their hurting gums. Teething rings are also helpful for them to chew on to reduce some of the pain.

In the early stages of your child's life, they may not know how to self soothe themselves just yet. They could be waking up simply because they need to be comforted by you. See if your child is satisfied by just patting their bottom or rubbing their back. Just enough to let them know you are close by.

To figure out your child's needs, perform a process of elimination. If you have fed your baby and they are still fussy, check their temperature. If they do not have a temperature, they might just need some quality snuggle time from you. Try to hold and rock your baby until they are relaxed enough to go back to sleep. If they still are not settled by that, check for diaper rash or skin irritants that might be bothering them. You know your baby best, so it should not be too difficult to figure out what they need.

If you are still unsure of why your baby is waking up at night, it might simply be because they are not tired enough to sleep! Have patience with your child and know that this time in their life is full of growing and learning. Every child is different, so learn how to help your baby sleep better at night. Every parent goes through something similar with their children, and it can be hard trying to figure out just what your baby needs from you.