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Why Do Babies Fight Sleep?

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Is your baby fighting sleep? It is bedtime but for some reason you little one is crying and not wanting to go to sleep. This can be extremely stressful for a parent to deal with.

There are lots of reasons why your baby could be fighting sleep.

Your baby could be overtired – There is usually a timeframe where your baby could doze off and if you miss this timeframe then your baby could simply be too tired to fall asleep easily. It is important to allow a baby to fall asleep when they need to. If you try to keep them up for longer to try and get a full night sleep it can work against you and they can end up being too tired to sleep.

Your baby might not be tired enough for a sleep –Babies tend to sleep when they need it and it is unlikely that a baby has had too much sleep. As babies grow in to toddlers they require less sleep time and more awake time. It could be that your toddler can get through the odd day without a nap or that they could be too excited by their surroundings to have a nap.

Your baby could be going through separation anxiety – Separation anxiety usually starts at around 9 or 10 months and can continue until your baby is 2 years old.  Your baby does not want to be away from you and they link going to bed as being in their own room on their own and know if they fall asleep they won’t be with you.

Tips to stop your baby fighting sleep

Moving Bedtime

Your baby could be fighting sleep for any of the reasons above therefore you need to ensure that you time bedtime right. You may need to move bedtime later or earlier.

Discover a nap routine

As your baby gets older you may need to introduce an established nap time to ensure that your little one does not get overtired from all the play or have too much sleep in the day.

Adjust your babies feeding and nap times

Sometimes it is just worth fiddling around with your babies feeding and sleeping time to get an idea of what works best.

Ensure there is a different atmosphere in the daytime compared to the night time

It is important that when it is daytime everything is noisy and the TV is on, you hoover and talk as much as possible even if your baby is napping then at night time things should begin to calm down for your baby, perhaps turn the volume down a little on the TV and talk a little quieter this will keep you baby calm and get him or her to settle down a little easier.

Give your little one enough space

Give enough space to your baby so that they don’t become to needy and also to allow them to self sooth and be comfortable on their own.

Is Your Baby Crying in their Sleep?

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Your babies cries are usually quickly rectified by giving them a bottle or changing their bum however when your baby is crying in their sleep it can be upsetting and a little bizarre. What is your baby dreaming about to make them cry? Is it possible for your baby to have nightmares and dreams just like us?

All babies have dreams but babies can only dream about what they know about. Babies don’t know about murderers and nasty people yet so they won’t be having nightmares about that. Your babies’ dreams and nightmares are much more likely to be about their experiences throughout the day. Many scientists say that very young babies process any experiences they have learnt during the day when they go to sleep and a nightmare can be as simple as a memory of your leaving them for a point in the day.

It can be difficult if your baby is crying in their sleep at night. It is hard enough the baby waking for feeds but if your baby is crying for no reason it can be frustrating.

Night Crier

There is a term called “Night Crier” this term is used if your baby is over 4 months old and cries at least once a night. If your baby wakes most nights, it is worth going to the doctor or mentioning it to your midwife so that they can carry out the appropriate tests.

It can be difficult for new born babies to understand sleep cycles and differentiate from day time and night time. It is important for your baby to have an established bedtime routine and ensure that is carried out each evening.

There is a chance that your baby has colic, please see my page colic symptoms for more information.

Tips to help your little one

Bed time routine helps babies feel more relaxed.

  • Get baby familiar with their bedroom, a lot of new parents make the mistake of decorating the nursery and then never going in the room with the baby until they are ready for their own room. It is important that your baby is comfortable and happy in their own bedroom. Make sure you change your babies bum in their bedroom from day one so that they get used to their surroundings.
  • Ensure nappies are clean before bedtime.
  • Give your baby a bottle just before bed.
  • Try and keep the noise down at bedtime.
  • It is important to not appear stressed around your baby, babies can sense when their mother is upset and stressed and this is a contributing factor to sleepless nights.
  • Remain calm when your little one is stressed