Lengthy Night Wakings
Is your baby waking overnight for 2 hours and refusing to go back to sleep?
Apart from feeding, developmental progressions are by far one of the most common reasons babies wake. If you've eliminated hunger, teething, sickness, and temperature, then chances are your baby is going through a developmental leap.
In some cases, babies can stay awake for up to two hours during the night — happily playing, babbling, or practising their new skills. They generally start to protest when it's time to go back to sleep, as they've become tired, frustrated, and incapable of falling back to sleep unassisted.
How you manage this has everything to do with how your baby sleeps once the leap is over. If your baby is capable of falling asleep independently, you want to continue to encourage that — even during times of protesting.
Tip 1: Stall
As long as your baby is not in any distress, there is no need to respond to your child being awake. You cannot force your baby to sleep — all the rocking, feeding, and patting in the world won't work if they're going through this phase.
The best thing you can do is let them be. Once they become tired, they'll either go back to sleep on their own, or start crying. If the cries continue past 10 minutes, offer some comfort to help your child go back to sleep.
Options for Comforting Without Creating New Habits
- Ensure your child has their comforter (and a dummy if they have one)
- Shush from a distance or through the monitor
- Pat the mattress beside them
- Pat them until they are calm (not asleep)
If all else fails, you can offer a small feed or some rocking before placing your baby back into their bed — preferably slightly awake.
Don't Create Unwanted Habits
Try to avoid anything you wouldn't have previously done — extra feeds, co-sleeping, rocking, and so on. This sets the stage for your child to wake every night to receive the same treatment. If they get rewarded with extra feeds and additional cuddles when they wake, they may continue to wake every night.
On a positive note: it will pass. Don't change anything — don't add night feeds, don't change the way you respond. Just ride it out. If it hasn't passed in a week or two, then it's worth looking at other factors.
Other Reasons Your Baby May Wake Through the Night
Hunger
Your baby may have gone through a growth spurt and is making up for lost calories during the night. To address this, boost calories during the day by either increasing portion sizes or offering milk more often.
Teething
Babies will often wake during the night when teething — even if they don't show teething signs during the day. Unfortunately, teething symptoms can last up to two weeks without you even seeing a tooth break through.
Sickness
It's normal for your baby's routine and good sleep habits to go out the window during times of illness. They'll need more nurturing, love, and cuddles — and that's okay.
Temperature
Temperature plays a major role in your child's ability to sleep through the night. Keep the room temperature consistently between 19–22°C and dress your child in suitable layers. Babies and toddlers can't use blankets, so steer clear and either swaddle them in a wrap or use sleeping bags.
Overtired
A child who doesn't nap well during the day can often become overtired. A baby who goes to bed overtired generally experiences a difficult time falling asleep, followed by a restless night and an early start to the day.
Catnapping can be an indication of awake time being either too long (overtired) or too short (under-tired). Sticking to an age-appropriate routine and paying close attention to your baby's sleep cues and wake windows will help avoid overtiredness.
Babies who are overtired will often show these signs:
- Clinginess and fussiness
- A "second wind" — or for toddlers, appearing hyperactive
- Waking 45 minutes after going to bed for the night
- Easily frustrated, constantly whinging or crying
Under-Tired
Too much day sleep. The same applies in reverse — if your baby is spending hours upon hours sleeping during the day (generally more than 2 hours at a time), you may experience early rising too.
Babies only have so much sleep they need in a 24-hour period. If your baby spends more time than they need asleep during the day, they'll wake either through the night or early in the morning to compensate.
Following an age-appropriate routine and not allowing your child to sleep for too long at any one nap should eliminate this.
Babies who are under-tired will often show these signs:
- Crying at nap time
- Resisting a nap
- Waking through the night to play
- Early rising