Children normally have partial awakenings between sleep cycles. It is during this transition from one stage of sleep to the next where some of the main sleep problems occur because a child is not able to put himself back to sleep on his own. Why? This is often because a child has learned to associate something with falling to sleep (see sleep props/associations) and needs to have this reestablished to fall back to sleep again. Often this begins when well meaning parents rush into their child when he starts to arouse during light sleep assuming he needs something instead of leaving him alone to fall back asleep which he would most likely do if he wasn't in need of food.
At NIGHT a child usually remains in deep sleep for 1-2 hours before having a partial awakening, so this is why you may hear your child suddenly cry out after being asleep for this long. A child then may or may not have a period of REM sleep followed by another period of deep non-REM sleep lasting 30 minutes to 2 hours and then ending with another partial awakening. What this all means in regards to night time sleep is that your child is going to be in his deepest sleep of the night for the first 3-4 hours, after which time brief awakenings are going to be more common (and frustrating if he is unable to put himself back to sleep without your assistance) because he is in lighter sleep for around the next 4 hours. This is why your child may have been sleeping perfectly until you end up going to sleep yourself. Perfect timing huh?! The last 1-2 hours of sleep in the morning are usually very deep once again in children so your child is less likely to have partial awakenings. It is uncommon for an adult to experience this deep sleep stage again since he doesn't usually sleep long enough for it to happen. I also often hear that children that are sleeping around 10-12 hours a night go into a light sleep again in the morning. I know this is the case with my son but I haven't officially found it in a research book yet so don't take my word on this one!
At NAP time your child over 3 months will probably go through a sleep transition some time between 35-50 minutes after he falls asleep (if he can't make it through these he'll end up with short naps). He will then usually go from non-REM to REM (light sleep) sleep for 5-10 minutes then have another period of non-REM sleep (see sleep stages for more information on REM and non-REM sleep).
After a while you'll probably be able to determine your baby's sleep transition times like clock work (although they do change a bit with age). This can be very useful if you have a baby that is sensitive to sound and you need to keep quiet at this time or if you are working on methods to extend a nap.
- A child is also going to have a harder time making it through a sleep transition if he is overtired so if you are having problems with sleep transitions be very observant of sleep cues and waketimes.
- Gina Ford believes that the day time sleep problems (e.g. short naps) that many babies start to experience around 2-3 months are due in part to the newly developing sleep cycle which often leads babies to wake up after sleep transitions. She believes this is especially true if baby is used to sleeping in a day time atmosphere or needs outside help to get to sleep (see sleep prop/associations).
At NIGHT a child usually remains in deep sleep for 1-2 hours before having a partial awakening, so this is why you may hear your child suddenly cry out after being asleep for this long. A child then may or may not have a period of REM sleep followed by another period of deep non-REM sleep lasting 30 minutes to 2 hours and then ending with another partial awakening. What this all means in regards to night time sleep is that your child is going to be in his deepest sleep of the night for the first 3-4 hours, after which time brief awakenings are going to be more common (and frustrating if he is unable to put himself back to sleep without your assistance) because he is in lighter sleep for around the next 4 hours. This is why your child may have been sleeping perfectly until you end up going to sleep yourself. Perfect timing huh?! The last 1-2 hours of sleep in the morning are usually very deep once again in children so your child is less likely to have partial awakenings. It is uncommon for an adult to experience this deep sleep stage again since he doesn't usually sleep long enough for it to happen. I also often hear that children that are sleeping around 10-12 hours a night go into a light sleep again in the morning. I know this is the case with my son but I haven't officially found it in a research book yet so don't take my word on this one!
At NAP time your child over 3 months will probably go through a sleep transition some time between 35-50 minutes after he falls asleep (if he can't make it through these he'll end up with short naps). He will then usually go from non-REM to REM (light sleep) sleep for 5-10 minutes then have another period of non-REM sleep (see sleep stages for more information on REM and non-REM sleep).
After a while you'll probably be able to determine your baby's sleep transition times like clock work (although they do change a bit with age). This can be very useful if you have a baby that is sensitive to sound and you need to keep quiet at this time or if you are working on methods to extend a nap.
GREAT SITE!
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions on how to assist a 4 month old through these transitions? Would CIO be the quickest route out of this? He wakes like clockwork at 45 minutes but goes back to sleep then goes 6 hours from his last feeding, then wakes every couple hours. Up until now I thought he was waking due to hunger so I suspect I have reinforced the wakeups with feeding. I am trying to keep a consistent wake time of 7:30 but am finding that he is usually in a very deep sleep and feel bad about waking him (thoughts on whether I should wake or not? He would sleep until about 8:30).
Routine:
Feed - 6pm
Asleep - 6:30
DF - 10 (I've just implemented)
wake 1 - midnight if no DF, otherwise 2:30am, feed and back to sleep
wake 2 - about 5am, feed and back to sleep until I wake him at 7:30
Thank you! Robin
Sunshine,
DeleteSorry I never saw this comment. I'm assuming the issue as been fixed by now ;)
Rachel
Regarding sleep transition issues I am not sure how to handle them being on a eat, wake, sleep routine (Babywise). The just appeared out of the blue during day time naps, never being an issue before. Sleep still works great during night (She just turned three months).
ReplyDeleteWe have been trying the "wake to sleep method" which works 1 out of 4 times, the other 3 times she is just a happy chap believing that it's time to have a chat and play. Now to my question; should I fed her if she won't fall back to sleep? If so this will mean that I need to feed her every 2 hours unless she doesn't fall back to sleep any of her naps. This is what I have been doing and she eats a full fed almost every time but as the day go she gets more cranky, sleeps shorter cycles and I believe that the milk just isn't enough as she ends up eating so frequently. We have also tried to get her up, feed her and then put her straight back to bed. Sometimes she accepts laying there drowsing, but it can take up to 50 minutes before she goes to actual sleep.
The other option is to wait until she was supposed to eat had she slept the whole sleep cycle, but this would result in that she would be awake about an hour or so, get a fed and that be put back for a new nap, which would turn the routine to a eat, sleep, wake routine.
Also, is the sleep transition issue age related and will just go away or could it be here to stay unless we manage to break it?
My understanding is also that there is a growth spurt around three months of age and as she is born a few weeks early the "smooth transitions" wounder week just have started timing the growth spurt.
Test,
DeleteIt's always good to consider a growth spurt. If she's eating a full feed at each feeding maybe it is that. If it continues for several days, consider that it may be turning into more of a habit. If she is getting progressively tired throughout the day, consider shortening wake times a bit, adding in an extra nap and/or having an earlier bedtime.
The short naps can be very age related. Look over the short nap post and extending nap post if you haven't already (found in index). The short naps can be broken sometimes though. I suggest trying to extend them through various methods for several days time. If no luck, try again o extend them in a month or two if thy don't extend on their own. With babies this young, I often suggest hoping them extend the nap out(offer a pacifier etc) if possible. If not, there are several options, many you've discussed. You we'd to see what works best for you two. Some people will drop the feeds down to make eat/wake sleep work but I prefer to change the routine aroun.see the eat/activity/sleep post in the index for more
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeletebeen reading through ur blog trying to figure out my baby's issues. my baby is 6months old and still not sleeping through the night or taking full naps. Unfortunately I have always used a sleep prop by nursing him to sleep. wish I had read about sleeping solutions sooner.
my babytakes 3naps a day. but wakes up wailing after just 40 mins sometimes even 20mins. most of the time he will want to nurse back to sleep. then he will sleep another 30 mins or so.. he goes to bed at 700pm everyday n starts his day at 630-700am. we have established a bed time routine that ends with nursing to sleep :( he wakes up 3 to 4times a night only to nurse to sleep. we also cosleep.
I have tried crying it out to sleep sometimes it works but most of the time he cries til he gets too worked up and it kills me to see him that way.
how do I help my baby to take longer naps and get through his sleep transitions and also sleep through the night. I've even tried shush-pat that too did not work. please help me help my baby...
aj
I am also trying to figure out my baby's nap issue. He used to rock easily to sleep. But now it seems as if he fights every nap. He has just turned 4 months old. It takes me bouncing, swaying and rocking to get him to sleep. Often after he finally falls asleep, he wakes as soon as I lie him down. If he stays asleep, it is for 30 minutes...I can set a clock to it! Every 2 hours during the day, he gets tired and sleeps 30 minutes or less. He sleeps well through the night and is not hard to put down at night. I nurse him to sleep currently. He will wake about every other night for one feeding, but goes back to sleep very easily. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel
ReplyDeleteI have been reading your articles like crazy for the past few days. I am a first time Mom of a wonderful 4 month old girl. She is happy and healthy, with the exception of some reflux we are treating with hypoallergenic formula, zantac 2x per day, and Maalox when needed. She is also eating oatmeal cereal 2x per day.
She has always been on a strict bedtime routine (bath, stories, bottle, bed) since she was about 3 weeks old. SInce that time she has always fallen asleep completely on her own and slept through until her next feeding (with the exception of a few growth spurts), usually 6-10 hrs depending on her age. Nap times have been the same, with a similar routine and falling asleep on her own. However, lately, it has been really difficult to KEEP her asleep, especially during naps. She will go down without a problem, but will wake 25-30 minutes later. She seems generally happy, just talking to herself in her crib, but she is yawning and Im not sure she is getting enough daytime sleep, because before she was taking a nice 2 hour nap in the am, followed by 45 min naps after that.
Night time has also become an issue, she has been waking after falling asleep after one hour, screaming in her crib. We originally thought growth spurt, but lately she hasn;t been hungry and it's been over a week. After reading your site, Im thinking she has a sleep transition problem? My problem lies with the fact that she is very gassy and her reflux. How do I know that shes not in pain if I want to teach her to go back to sleep on her own? I do not want to pick her up every time she cries (and she doesnt get picked up while going TO sleep if she gets fussy, I let her sort it out on her own), but I've picked her up from her crib and gotten a burp out and think maybe that;s whats bugging her.
Is this a phase that will hopefully pass? If not, and we decide to sleep train - how should we go about it? AS far as the rest of our routine, we are very busy during the day but I always make sure she gets 2 out of her 3 naps at home, and bedtime we never veer from.
There is one other issue, too. Lately it seems as if she's gotten into the habit of waking up at 5am every day, only to eat and go back to sleep for 2 hours or so. I understand that she still probably needs a feeding during the night, but how (if we can) do we move this feeding up? Or can she wait until wake up the next morning? If she wakes around 5 i"ll let her sleep until about 8, but if she didnt wake my goal would be to wake around 7.
I hope all of this makes sense, and that you can shed some light on any of it! Every one says to follow your own instincts, but as a first time mom they are very rusty! I think I just need someone to point me in the right direction.
Thanks for your help!
Amy
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteYou can't imagine how grateful i'm to your work and this wonderful site you made.I'm a first time mother of a sunshine 6month baby girl.She have been a very good sleeper right until she got eczema at 4 months,that ruined all her routine and i know i had also my part in it just because i could't see her suffering.Now we have got a huge problem with the sleep transition.Past few days she has been falling asleep by her own BUT with a very short naps and EVERY hour waking ups at the night right until 10 pm then she sleeps relatively good.My question is what should i do to somehow fix it,i've tried almost everything from wake timing control till trying to prolong her nap duration.Even soothing her back to sleep by rocking not always works at night and i just have to let her cry & stay awake until 10pm.CIO doesn't work for her she can cry her lungs out but wont sleep earlier than 10-11ish... I desperately need help.
TIA
Hello - Thanks for all the info.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like my son (3 mths) is making no progress with sleep! You are right his first 4hrs are typically the best, the next 3 feel awful, and then the last few are restful.
He goes to bed easily - swaddled, but not fully asleep and gets himself to sleep within mins (with paci which typically falls out within min. of being in crib).
He will sleep 3h first. Feed, go back to bed for maybe 2h. And then he seems to wake every 1.5h or so.
We dont know the best approach. Ill let him whine a bit in the crib, but this can go on....
Ill put his paci in for him, he will sleep, but again for a short period only. Any tips on getting through this lighter sleep stage?? I end up bringing him to my bed.
Any thoughts appreciated