Schedule / RoutineI remember during my entire pregnancy with my first born, my husband would lovingly joke that it was twins.
My eyes would pierce him with an annoyed look because in my opinion, he had no idea what he was wishing for.
See, I became a big sister at age 14 to twin brothers. And boy, oh boy, did I see my dad and step-mom struggling with baby sleep disruptions through those first years.
My dad looked in a permanent state of exhaustion.
So, back to present day, after our son was born and my husband looked in the mirror after three days, he realized what an egregious wish that was!
Twins are of course and enormous blessing, but man, so many baby sleep disruptions to rule out and coordinate.
My top baby sleep disruptions to rule out (and how to troubleshoot).
1. New environment or travel.
This was the culprit of our most recent sleep disruption. We had been traveling for a month in the states before our move to Japan. After that we were in a one bedroom lodge while we waited for housing. All of the inconsistencies and big changes were obviously wearing on my son, and it came in the form of sleep disruptions.
Solution. Like I talked about in my post How to Help your Baby Sleep Better During Travel and my other post Baby Sleep Debt Recovery, learning to use routines is the best card you can play.
Routines comes in the form of ‘lovies’, a good schedule, a sleep rhythms, and a familiar crib or pack and play.
At age 6 months, we started offering our son a ‘lovie’ in the form of a baby blanket and a small stuffed animal (Note: please consult with your child’s health care provider to determine when it’s safe to put items in the crib with your baby just to be sure).
Now at 13 months, those 2 lovies pretty much cue him for sleep no matter where we are. And the only time we allow him to have those 2 ‘lovies’ is for sleep or when we are dealing with a unfamiliar situations that may be trying or stressful for him. We do use them on long car trips and airplane flights to help him along.
We also use the same pack n’ play everywhere we go. Even if another one is available to us, I almost always bring my own. We bought this Carters Velour Playard Fitted Sheet
. It’s super comfy cozy.
Additionally, we also added a small amount of extra foam padding to the pack and play mattress since our one-year-old son would be sleeping in it for 6 weeks during our travel. That was too long to sleep on a cardboard mattress in my opinion (Again, please talk to your health care provider to determine what is safe to put in your baby’s crib). This was a personal choice for us.
Try to continue with a good predictable schedule and sleep routine even when you are traveling or moving. This can help immensely.
Read more about getting a good schedule and sleep routines here:
- My Top 10 Baby Sleep Tips
- How to Help your Baby Sleep Better During Travel
- How to Help your Baby Nap Better – Part 1
2. Temperature.
Is your baby too hot or too cold? I use my baby’s toes as a gauge. After he wakes from a nap or nighttime sleep, one of the first things I do is feel is toes. If his toes are too warm or cold, I usually have my answer.
Solution:
This may seem obvious but you can adjust the temperature in your house accordingly. You can also use a wearable blanket or swaddle. I personally love the Halo brand and we’ve used it since birth. They come in fleece or cotton and have used both.
My baby seems to run cool so we used the HALO SleepSack Micro-Fleece Swaddle
and the HALO SleepSack Micro-Fleece Wearable Blanket
and we’ve loved them both. There are also cotton versions available. The best part is they never fall off, so no need to worry if your baby still have his blanket on. I’ve also used layers of clothes and socks to help my son stay at a good temperature during sleep.
3. Hunger and growth spurts.
If your baby normally sleeps well, and then wakes in the night, it is safe to always assume it is a hunger issue and feed your baby. If your baby is hungry, you should always feed your baby.
Solution:
Feed your baby, change a diaper if needed, and then lay your baby back down to sleep after using your sleepy words and a few snuggles. If hunger is related to a growth spurt, it can last anywhere from several days to one week.
After one week, if your baby is still waking, it is probably safe to move on to other causes. Once you move onto other causes, go ahead and try some of the techniques I listed above. (See also: How to Sleep Train Using Babywise and How to Lay your Baby Down Awake, but Drowsy)
Move on to other causes only, of course, after your baby hasn’t received night feedings for some time and doesn’t need night feedings. If your baby is still receiving night feedings due to nutritional and growth needs, you should definitely continue with night feedings.
So those are my top baby sleep disruptions that we’ve experienced and worked through over the past year. I know there are probably many more, so if you’ve experienced a sleep disruption, I’d love to hear how you worked through it! Please do share in the comments so we all can learn.
More baby sleep tips.
- Top 10 Baby Sleep Tips That Will Help You Get More Sleep
- 8 Infant Sleep Facts Every Parent Should Know
- Best Baby Sleep Tips for Longer Naps
- 5 Month Old Sample Routine for Busy Moms
- 1 Year Old Sleep Schedules From Parents
I remember panicking when my son experienced a sleep disruption…until I learned that for him, it was almost always a growth spurt. I nursed him a few more times overnight for just a couple of days, and then he was back to his usual self. Phew!
I always panicked as well. I thought, “Oh my, now I have to troubleshoot and figure this one out!” With growth spurts, I did exactly the same thing. Just fed him and after a few days we were back on track.
Disruptions can be so stressful because you think NO BACKSLIDING…. and then it goes back to normal with consistency. Ha 🙂 Great post 🙂
I used to worry a lot more about disruptions when Jameson was younger than I do now. Him becoming older has helped with my anxiety A LOT! Now our sleep routines are so ingrained in him that it’s really pretty straightforward to get him back on track after we fall off balance. Usually within a day or two things are good. Being incredibly consistent over the past year is now paying off immensely!
I just checked out both posts on sleep disruptions. My son was always a pretty consistent bad sleeper. He had lots of sleep disruptions and they were never at the same time. Have you ever heard of the wonder week book/app. It’s an app that discusses how there are specific times in a baby’s first year that he’ll experience significant brain development. In some babies, this can lead to a lack of sleep. I have to say, the app was always right on. Anytime he was having a difficult time sleeping, it said he was in a “storm cloud” on the app. For traveling, I like your tips on bringing the same things. I always bring my son’s sound machine everywhere we go.
I have heard of the Wonder Weeks! It’s been on my to do list for quite sometime time now, but I frequently reference the chart. That’s a great tip to add to the sleep disruptions list…sometimes it is a developmental milestone that causes issues.
I loved reading about this today. My girlie is 11 months and has been waking up at 2-3 every other night and won’t go to sleep without food. We try to soothe her while she’s in her crib but it doesn’t work. Not sure if it’s teething or loneliness or hunger.
Sleep disruptions are tough to navigate sometimes. It certainly could be any of the three you listed. I usually start with hunger and move forward from there. If it is going on for a prolonged amount of time (>1 week) I usually move on to other sources. You could also think strategically about her food intake during the day: add in a snack during the day or I’ve even known moms to offer both milk and a solid food snack before bedtime. This seemed to offer them confidence that night waking was not a hunger issue if their kids were stuffed full during the day. Hopefully, it works itself out soon!!
did you ever deal with the 45 minute intruder. My baby girl is 9 weeks old, she can fall asleep fine on her own for naps but 45 minutes into it she wakes up and the only way to get her back down is with the pacifier. I am afraid I am going to create a habit but it is the only way to extend her naps!
I would keep doing what you are doing 🙂 It sounds like you are doing a great job. Getting the sleep is more important than no sleep and the biggest thing is getting her to fall asleep on her own when initially going to sleep for naps or bedtime. So that’s amazing that you have accomplished that already. If you’ve troubleshooted through all the potential disruptions and she is merely struggling with sleep cycle transitions, then a paci is totally fine. We opted to use the swing for one long nap per day. Using a sleep prop mid-nap isn’t a bad thing and it’s a much easier habit to break down the road. Around 3 or 4 months, watch for her sleep to settle and things to improve on their own. The biggest thing that eliminated the 45 minute intruder from our life was 1. teaching my son to fall asleep on his own (which sounds like you are doing) 2. Being able to roll over at 16 weeks and sleep on his tummy and suck his thumb easier. I always laid him down on his back, but he insisted on rolling over. So this was a really long answer to basically say, I think you should keep doing exactly what you are doing and hope her naps improve in a month or two when sleep starts to settle.
Thank you for your quick answer, it was encouraging!
You’re welcome 🙂