Long night waking occurs when a baby is unable to fall asleep, often resulting in extended wakefulness.
Children often wake up content and play in their crib or try to fall back asleep. In other cases, they wake up crying, and after they calm down, they remain fully awake. Parents often notice that the baby is trying to fall asleep but struggles to do so. This frequently leads to frustration and crying. It is also frustrating for the baby when parents try every possible method to get them to sleep.
Long periods of nighttime wakefulness become extremely tiring and exhausting for both the baby and the parents. Nighttime wakefulness especially affects the increased fatigue of both the baby and the parents the following day. It’s important to recognize that fatigue decreases our ability to concentrate and increases the likelihood of accidents.
The good news is that we can avoid many long periods of wakefulness in our baby at night by properly timing daytime naps, maintaining good sleep hygiene, and ensuring adequate daytime sleep. The bad news is that some nighttime awakenings occur naturally and cannot be avoided.
Signs of long night waking from 1:00 to 3:00 AM
- Baby wakes up and plays or calls out to you, stays awake for a while, and then falls asleep, or starts fussing.
- Waking is accompanied by prolonged crying.
- The baby repeatedly wakes and falls asleep.
Possible Causes
- Too much daytime sleep.
- Developmental milestones.
- Dropped naps or early transition to fewer naps.
- Nursing or milk that wakes the baby.
- Teething or illness.
Too Much Sleep or Naps
A common cause of nighttime awakenings is that the baby may have slept too much during the day or was put down for a nap too late. At night, during a major sleep transition phase around 1:00-3:00 AM, when sleep is lighter, the baby may wake up and try to make up for the daytime wakefulness they missed. Interestingly, the baby might nap well during the day and fall asleep at night without any issues. However, at night, they might wake up and be fully awake, or wake up and start crying after a while because they know they should be sleeping and want to fall back asleep but can’t. This can lead to frustration.
What can also happen is that the baby’s overall sleep needs have suddenly decreased or they need less sleep. Check the amount of sleep your baby should be getting at their age and the recommended amount of daytime naps for their age, and assess where you stand. Be mindful if the baby is being pushed around too much and for too long in a stroller during the day and ensure they have enough space to practice their skills.
Developmental Wakefulness – Sleep Regression
Children need to process all the new experiences in their short lives. Sitting, walking, standing, first words, sentences, as well as the way they play and think, all impact the baby’s sleep. Some children process these major life changes during the night. It is completely natural if your little one starts talking in their sleep, walking around the crib, clapping, sitting, or jumping at night, and then either starts crying or lies back down and goes back to sleep. Wait and don’t intervene. Enjoy it. A baby jumping in the crib or talking in the crib in the middle of the night can be quite amusing. My Karolínka is a typical baby who experiences everything at night, and the 18-month regression showed up in our case as a week of talking in her sleep, followed by either whining or falling asleep on her own and sleeping longer in the morning.
Skipping Sleep, Too Early Transition to Fewer Naps
Children, and their circadian rhythms, go through several phases of sleep and wakefulness at different stages of life. If a child misses one of these phases, their body may make up for it at night. For example, if your 12-month-old baby starts napping only once a day and is not ready for this change, they may experience prolonged nighttime wakefulness as their body compensates for the missing daytime sleep phase.
Breastfeeding That Wakes the Baby
This type of nighttime wakefulness is less common, but I have encountered babies around one year old and older who slept through the night except for one breastfeeding session. After this feeding, however, they became fully awake due to the feeding and stayed up until they were tired again. After stopping the breastfeeding, this issue usually resolved itself within a few days. Check why babies wake up at night.
Teething
Some children also struggle with teething, most often with eye teeth or molars. However, not every tooth eruption causes prolonged nighttime wakefulness, and teething is not the cause of several months of wakefulness.
Remember, it’s okay to seek help. My team of advisors/psychologists and I are here to offer sensitive and professional advice.