This is one of the most common questions I get asked! So many parents want to know whether their baby or toddler’s sleep pattern is ‘normal’ or whether they should be concerned about night wakefulness.
If this question has been on your mind too, you’re in the right place!
Keep reading to find out what the evidence says about what’s likely to be ‘normal’ (typical) vs what may be considered excessive when it comes to night waking for babies and toddlers…
What’s considered ‘normal’ when it comes to night waking? What does the research tell us?
In short: from a scientific perspective it’s 100% biologically normal for babies, toddlers and even young children to wake at night and need help from a parent or caregiver.
We have to remember that it’s common for adults and older children to wake at night too – to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, rearrange the sheets, or if they’ve had a bad dream. The difference is that adults and older children can usually solve their own problems when they wake at night, while babies and younger children are more likely to need help from a parent or caregiver to solve their problems, and – in many cases – to fall back asleep.
There appears to be quite a wide variation when it comes to the age at which little ones no longer need help from a parent or caregiver at night. This is because every child is wired differently – they all have different needs and preferences when it comes to settling, nutrition/hydration, and comfort/reassurance.
While some little ones (unicorns!) naturally ‘sleep through the night’ from quite early on, sometimes even in the newborn period, others wake at night and need help from a parent or caregiver – at least some of the time – well into toddlerhood and sometimes beyond.
Sleeping through the night’ (STTN) is often talked about like it’s a ‘milestone’ to be achieved at some point in the first 12 months of life, but it’s actually FAR less common than we’re led to believe…
A 2015 study out of Ireland – for example – found a whopping 84% of 9-month-old babies were reported to wake and signal to their parent or caregiver at night [1]. So if you’ve been sitting there worrying because your baby is *still* waking a few times overnight, you can almost certainly relax!
And even if your toddler is waking a few times at night for a quick feed or resettle, it’s more than likely just their ‘norm’. While ‘sleeping through the night’ becomes more common as little ones grow and develop (especially from the second year), many toddlers and young children still wake up during the night and need help from a parent or caregiver to solve their problems and/or fall back asleep.
While parents often feel pressured to ‘teach’ their baby to self-settle and to sleep train, please know that this is not necessary (and many little one’s won’t respond to it anyway). You don’t need to do anything to speed up the transition to ‘independent sleep’ – in fact you can’t.
The good news is, there will come a time when your little one doesn’t need you anymore at night. It will happen when they’re ready. Until then, it’s 100% okay (and actually really good from a brain development perspective!) to continue to respond to their needs at night in whatever way works best for them and you.
How many wakes is ‘normal’?
This is a tricky question because the answer isn’t black and white! It’s not like there’s a hard cut off – a maximum number of wakes that’s considered ‘normal’, with anything more than that considered ‘excessive’.
When it comes to how many wakes is normal for babies and toddlers, research suggests that ‘normal’ is likely to be quite a wide range.
In the newborn period, it’s typical for babies to wake every couple of hours at night to feed. But there will be some who sleep longer stretches, and others who wake a little more often and they’re also considered to be ‘normal’ (as in there are no concerns when it comes to health or development).
While it’s common for babies to start sleeping for longer stretches overnight as they grow and develop, exactly what that looks like is different for every individual.
If we look at 9-month-old babies for example – at one end of the spectrum research has found a small percentage (~16%) are reported by parents to sleep through the night [1], while at the other end, 3-4 wakes/feeds overnight (in some cases maybe even a few more than that) may be ‘normal’ / nothing to worry about, especially amongst babies who are breastfed and bed-share – a practice known as ‘breast-sleeping’ [2].
In saying all of this, it’s important to be aware that not all night waking is ‘normal’. The more wakeful a little one is, the greater the possibility that something (e.g. a health condition, separation stress, low sleep pressure) may be causing them to be more wakeful than they naturally should/would be.
So if you have any concerns and/or your gut instinct is telling you something may not be quite right, it’s important to investigate further.
When is night waking considered excessive?
Night waking is likely to be excessive if a little one is:
- Waking hourly / every sleep cycle (40-60 mins) or more often – either for a period of the night or all night long
- Wide awake or restless for extended periods
- Taking a long time to resettle after waking
- More wakeful than they have been in the past – e.g. they were in quite a predictable sleep pattern where they were usually just waking once overnight, but now they’re waking 4-5 times
In these situations, there’s almost always an underlying reason / cause for the wakefulness.
Sometimes this kind of wakefulness is just a blip – caused by a temporary illness, long-distance travel, changing sleep patterns or sleep needs, or a stressful event or change in a little one’s life(e.g. starting daycare, moving house). In most cases things settle back down within a few weeks.
But other times excessive wakefulness can become chronic – continuing for weeks or months – and a little one is very wakeful either every night, or is riding a bit of a ‘sleep rollercoaster’, having strings of ‘good’ nights followed by strings of wakeful nights.
If this is what you’re experiencing with your little one, it’s important to investigate further, starting with a visit to your child’s healthcare professional to consider possible health or developmentally related causes.
If these have been ruled out – please know there is still a light! In most cases it IS possible to improve the nights and get into a restful and predictable sleep pattern – without any form of sleep training – even if you feel like you’ve tried EVERYTHING!
How can I help my wakeful baby or toddler sleep soundly, for decent stretches, at night?
The first step is to figure out what’s causing the wakefulness.
Because once you know why your little one is wakeful, you’ll not only be able to address any underlying causes (e.g. health-related causes, stress, or low sleep pressure), the nights should be a whole lot more restful too!
The starting point – if you haven’t already done this – is to investigate possible health or developmental causes. There are many health and developmental conditions that have been found to be associated with disrupted sleep. Your healthcare professional is best placed to help you investigate the possibilities and either rule them out or ensure any conditions are managed / treated and are no longer affecting sleep.
What about teething? When a little one is very wakeful at night, parents often wonder if teething is the culprit – especially if a little one is showing signs of discomfort. But the research to date has not found a significant association between teething / tooth eruption and disrupted sleep at night [3-6]. Even if tooth eruption did affect sleep, it’s unlikely to cause chronic excessive night wakefulness – wakefulness that continues either every night, or on and off, for many weeks, months or even longer. The challenge with assuming teething is the culprit is that other, more likely, causes – health conditions, or others which we’ll cover in a moment – may be overlooked. So it’s really important to consider all of the other potential (known) causes of excessive wakefulness before assuming it’s teething, otherwise you may miss an important diagnosis, or a chance to address the wakefulness.
If you’ve ruled out health/developmental causes, another possible reason for the wakefulness could be stress – either separation anxiety or a stressful event / situation.
Many little ones have quite a strong need to be close to their parent or caregiver when they sleep – it’s biologically normal. And sometimes they can become stressed if they stir between sleep cycles and can’t sense you nearby. If you find your little one is very wakeful when they sleep in a different room, but sleeps relatively soundly when room sharing or bed sharing, then separation anxiety may be the cause of their wakefulness. Room sharing or safe bed sharing may be the best way to improve the nights, if it’s an option for you. If your little one is wakeful regardless of where they sleep, then you can probably rule separation anxiety out.
Other stressful events or situations (e.g. starting daycare, the arrival of a new sibling) can also affect sleep, so if there’s been a big change in you or your little one’s life recently and it coincides with the increased wakefulness, that might be why. There’s not a lot you can do in this situation apart from support them as best you can. Once the stressful period passes, sleep should settle back down.
I’ve ruled out health conditions & stress, what else could be causing the wakefulness?
If you’ve ruled out health/developmental and stress-related causes of excessive night wakefulness, the most likely culprit is low sleep pressure.
Low sleep pressure is actually one of the most common causes of excessive night wakefulness in babies and toddlers (and adults too!), even though it’s less commonly discussed.
Sleep pressure (aka ‘sleep-wake homeostasis’) is one of the two systems in the body that regulates sleep and it’s a measure of how sleepy we feel. It’s actually a chemical called adenosine, which builds up in our brain while we’re awake. The more time we spend awake, the sleepier we feel. And then as we sleep, it reduces again.
To sleep soundly at night, we need to build up enough sleep pressure by bedtime. If we don’t, we can have trouble falling asleep, or struggle to sleep well at night, or both. Pretty logical, right? But the science often gets lost in the sea of baby sleep misinformation.
Many people believe babies and toddlers need a lot of sleep. That they should sleep 7-7 and have long naps. While this is true for some, research shows there’s actually a REALLY wide variation in sleep needs. Babies and toddlers between 6 and 24 months typically have anywhere from 9-16 hours of sleep per 24 hours (including naps):
Galland, B. C., Taylor, B. J., Elder, D. E., & Herbison, P. (2012). Normal sleep patterns in infants and children: A systematic review of observational studies. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 16(3), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2011.06.001
Every little one is different. Some need lots of sleep, others are more efficient sleepers and have lower sleep needs.
Parents often don’t know this and so we encourage long naps and set early bedtimes, thinking it’s necessary. This isn’t a problem if your little one has average-to-high sleep needs, but if they don’t, too much sleep / not enough awake time during the day can make it hard for their sleep pressure to build, leading to:
Sometimes – though not always – they may also have trouble falling asleep or wake really early.
Many little ones who experience this just have a short term blip and then return to a restful sleep pattern without much fuss.
But some – especially those with low sleep needs – are more sensitive.
They can get stuck in a cycle, where after a string of wakeful nights, they catch up on sleep during the day, which reduces sleep pressure, leading to more wakeful nights. Some of these little ones are wakeful every night, while others ride a ‘sleep rollercoaster’ – cycling between strings of okay/good nights (when sleep pressure reaches an adequate level), and strings of wakeful nights (when it doesn’t).
The good news? There is a light!
You can get them out of this cycle by following a process to help them transition out of the wakeful, disrupted sleep pattern they’re currently in, into a pattern where their sleep pressure builds to an adequate level by bedtime each night, so they fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly for decent stretches.
The optimal sleep pattern looks different for every child – because they all have different sleep needs and they’re all able to stay awake for different lengths of time during the day. So the process involves figuring out exactly how much sleep they need and when, so you can transition them into the specific pattern that works best for them.
This is exactly what I teach in my Baby Sleep Revolution™ program. It’s a one-of-a-kind program that has helped so many parents (1000+ to date!) struggling with wakefulness when literally nothing else has – even other evidence/sleep science-based approaches and solutions!
I developed Baby Sleep Revolution™ because I found that some little ones – especially babies and toddlers with low sleep needs – seem to be more sensitive/prone to wakefulness. They can sleep soundly at night for decent stretches, but need a bit more help – a more precise approach – to get there.
The program guides you through my unique, step-by-step process to help you optimise your little one’s sleep pattern so they sleep soundly, for decent stretches at night, consistently going forward.
Finally – an alternative to sleep training that actually works!
– Jade, Baby Sleep Revolution program
If you’re interested in finding out more, watch the video “Is BSR Right For You?” on program page (via the button below) which explains how the process works and help you decide if the program is likely to be a good fit for you and your little one.
If it is, I’d love to help you get the rest you need to feel human and enjoy life with your little one so much more!
REFERENCES:
[1] Hughes, A., Gallagher, S., & Hannigan, A. (2015). A Cluster Analysis of Reported Sleeping Patterns of 9-Month Old Infants and the Association with Maternal Health: Results from a Population Based Cohort Study. Maternal and child health journal, 19(8), 1881–1889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-015-1701-6
[2] McKenna, J. J., Mosko, S. S., & Richard, C. A. (1997). Bedsharing promotes breastfeeding. Pediatrics, 100(2 Pt 1), 214–219. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.100.2.214
[3] Wake, M., Hesketh, K., & Lucas, J. (2000). Teething and Tooth Eruption in Infants: A Cohort Study. Pediatrics (Evanston), 106(6), 1374–1379. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.106.6.1374
[4] Owais, A., Zawaideh, F., & Bataineh, O. (2010). Challenging parents’ myths regarding their children’s teething. International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 8(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-5037.2009.00412.x
[5] Macknin, M. L., Piedmonte, M., Jacobs, J., & Skibinski, C. (2000). Symptoms associated with infant teething: a prospective study. Pediatrics, 105(4 Pt 1), 747–752. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.105.4.747
[6] Ramos-Jorge, J., Pordeus, I. A., Ramos-Jorge, M. L., & Paiva, S. M. (2011). Prospective longitudinal study of signs and symptoms associated with primary tooth eruption. Pediatrics, 128(3), 471–476. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-2697
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