Baby waking multiple times a night? Here are the 3 common causes babies over 4 months are waking…

If your baby is waking every couple of hours at night, you’ve probably been searching endlessly for answers as to why. Maybe they used to sleep for longer stretches and now you’re seeing every hour on the clock, or maybe they’ve always been a ‘bad sleeper’… regardless of the reason, please know you’ve done nothing wrong! Night waking is completely normal. Babies and children (and adults!) naturally wake throughout the night as they move between sleep cycles. The aim isn’t necessarily to stop your baby from waking - it’s about understanding why they are waking fully and what they need when they do.

Here are three of the most common causes I see when supporting families with babies aged 4 months and over.

1. They’re waking because they need something

Before we start looking at sleep habits or routines, it’s important to consider whether your baby is waking because they genuinely need something.

There are lots of perfectly normal reasons a baby might wake overnight, including:

• Hunger - especially for younger babies who still need several night feeds.

• Discomfort - are they too hot, too cold, need a nappy change or, are teething/ not feeling well.

• Comfort and reassurance - sometimes your baby simply needs to know you’re there. Your babies temperament can play a part in their sleep.

• Developmental changes - if they are learning to roll, crawl, sit or stand you may find they want to practice their new skills in the night!

With this in mind, not every night wake needs to be “fixed”. There will be nights when your baby wakes because they need you, and that’s okay. There may also be periods where your baby wakes more frequently because they’re going through a developmental change, feeling under the weather or simply need a little more reassurance.

Equally, not every wake has to result in a feed.

If your baby has fed recently, is growing well and there are no concerns around their feeding or weight gain, you may find that they don’t need to feed at every single wake. I’d suggest trying to settle them back to sleep with lots of comfort and reassurance first and see what happens.

Try not to compare your situation with others. The important thing is working out what your individual baby needs and what feels manageable for you as a family.

2. Their daytime and night-time sleep isn’t quite balanced

The amount of sleep your baby has during the day can have an impact on how much sleep they need at night.

Think of your baby’s sleep as a 24-hour picture, rather than looking at naps and night sleep completely separately.

If your baby is having lots of daytime sleep, they may simply have less sleep pressure built up by bedtime. For example, if your baby is sleeping for a long stretch late in the afternoon, they may not be ready for another long stretch of sleep just a couple of hours later. This can result in night wakes or false starts. Essentially, if your baby needs 14 hours sleep in 24 hours, but only needs 10.5 hours over night… their daytime sleep should equate to 1.5 hours… any more than this, will mean they will wake early, or wake more often at night.

On the other hand, too little daytime sleep can also cause problems. But not in the way you think…

An overtired baby can find it much harder to settle to sleep. Being extra tired won’t cause them to wake, but it could make re-settling them to sleep harder and longer, with more emotions to navigate.

This is where looking at your little ones mood, sleepy cues and wake windows can be really helpful - rather than wake windows in isolation. If your little one is showing clear signs that they are tired, you don’t need to keep them awake just because an app says they have another 20 minutes left in their wake window! Similarly, if they seem happy and energised, don’t force a nap just because a generic schedule says so.

Instead, try to look at the bigger picture:

How much sleep is my baby getting across the whole 24 hours?

Are their naps working well for them?

Are they going to bed tired enough?

Sometimes a small adjustment to daytime sleep can make a surprisingly big difference to the night.

3. They’re finding it difficult to get back to sleep without your help

This is one I talk about a lot with parents - many babies who wake frequently are fed, rocked or cuddled back to sleep when they wake. There is absolutely nothing wrong with helping your baby to sleep. However, if this is no longer working for you, it maybe time to make some changes.

Babies naturally move through sleep cycles overnight, just like we do. At the end of a sleep cycle, they may briefly wake or become more alert before moving into their next cycle. Some babies are able to settle back to sleep without much help. Others need a little support.

If your baby falls asleep:

• Feeding

• Being rocked

• In your arms

• With a dummy

• With you lying beside them

• With a hand on them

• Or with another form of support

They will likely need this exact support to fall back to sleep in the night. Gradually reducing this support over time will allow them the opportunity to learnt o fall asleep with less support. If you’re happy to feed your baby to sleep and it works well for your family, you don’t need to change it just because someone else tells you that you should.

The question to ask yourself is:

“Is this still working for us?” If the answer is yes, brilliant.

But if you’re finding yourself waking every hour or two to repeat the same thing that helped your baby fall asleep at bedtime, and you’re exhausted, it might be worth looking at whether this is contributing to those frequent wakes.

If it is, you don’t necessarily need to make a huge change overnight. You can gradually reduce the amount of support you are giving your baby and give them opportunities to practise settling in a slightly different way. Small changes can make a big difference.

Need a Little Help Unpicking Your Baby’s Sleep?

If you’re exhausted from frequent night wakes and don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. There are so many other parents feeling the same as you right now - and I was one of them too!

Sometimes it can be really difficult to see the bigger picture when you’re running on broken sleep yourself.

If you’d like some support to unpick your little one’s sleep challenges and work out a plan that feels right for your baby and your family, I’d love to help.

You can get in touch with me to arrange a free 15-minute discovery call, and we can chat about what’s happening and whether sleep support could be helpful for you.