One of the most painful things about being a parent, especially to an infant, is the amount of times they wake up and need your attention. If you are someone who appreciates your sleep time, you are in for something else.
The only form of communication babies know at that stage is crying and when something is bothering them while sleeping, they will definitely cry. The whole process would be much easier if you knew what disturbed their sleep as you would rectify it, but because they can’t say, you need to have that knowledge by yourself.
Health experts specialising in baby care suggest a few reasons that might wake your baby up at night:
Hunger: The most common reason your baby would wake up in their sleep is that they need feeding. The Little Ones publication states that during the baby’s largest development period, they require significant fuel for physical and mental growth. “At this point, your baby will be entirely milk-fed (formula or breast) and milk is digested much quicker than solid food, so your baby will be feeding every few hours in the day and you can certainly still expect night feeds too.”
Brain waves: Dr Maida Chen, a pediatric pulmonologist and director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center states that babies wake up at night due to brain waves shifting from REM to non-REM sleep stages. Madiaq states that these transitions can cause wakefulness, sometimes resulting in crying. “The different wave patterns our brains make during certain periods define these sleep cycles or “stages” of sleep. As babies move from one stage of sleep to another during the night, they transition. In that transition, many babies will awaken.”
Discomfort: According to The Bump, babies wake when they feel uncomfortable and their discomfort can result from a lot of things including the temperature of the room. “Too-tight pyjamas, a strand of hair wrapped around a toe (it happens!), a leaky diaper, there are all sorts of things that can cause baby discomfort throughout the night.” The publication also acknowledges that some babies are more sensitive than others.
Developmental milestone: An infant experiences developmental milestones during the first several years of life, states My Sweet Sleeper. It is stated that these changes may disturb the baby’s sleep as they navigate through them.
Also see: Anele Zondo gives birth to a baby girl
