Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore?
Overview
Super sleep suddenly struggling to sleep?
In today’s article we will be lifting the veil on why your baby who used to sleep like a dream is all of a sudden not sleeping well anymore.
You will learn how to determine the cause, when this is most likely, and actionable strategies for what to do once you’ve figured out why your baby is sleeping so poorly.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore?
Let’s begin by talking about why your baby is suddenly not sleeping well anymore.
This is so incredibly frustrating! Believe me, I’ve been here before.
You worked so hard to help your baby learn safe, healthy, independent sleep skills, not to mention how hard your baby worked!
And now, all of a sudden, she’s waking again. Or staying awake for an hour at bedtime, seemingly unable to fall asleep. Or she’s fighting her naps tooth and nail.
There are a myriad of reasons why this could be happening. So let’s talk about the most common reasons.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: How to Figure Out Why
The way to figure out why this is happening is simple – in theory, of course.
Ask yourself: “What has changed recently?”
Now, don’t expect the answer to smack you in the face. It could, of course – maybe baby was sick recently and you got back in the habit of feeding her to sleep. Or maybe you traveled for a week and she’s not adjusted to being home yet.
But it can be more subtle, too. Spend some time thinking about this question. The answer might not be apparent.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: Common Reason #1 - Medical Reasons
The first possible cause we’re going to talk about is the most important to figure out ASAP. It’s not incredibly common, so please try to consider this in the logical part of your brain instead of the emotional one – it will help you think better.
Ask yourself – could there be a medical reason why my baby isn’t sleeping well anymore?
This could be something like illness, reflux, enlarged tonsils and adenoids from being sick recently, or vitamin deficits.
The reason this is so important is two-fold:
One, we want to make sure if our baby is having a medical issue, we can get her the help she needs ASAP.
For example, if she’s ill, we need to help her get better!
If she has enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids (which often results in snoring, mouth breathing, etc.) – we need to bring her to the pediatrician to screen for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which can cause her to have trouble breathing while she’s sleeping.
Or if she has significant reflux, she may need to see the pediatrician for instruction on smaller, more frequent feeds or reflux meds or reflux strategies.
Or if she’s old enough that most or all of her diet is solid foods, but she’s eating a very slim variety, the pediatrician may need to check her vitamin levels to ensure she has enough iron, magnesium, etc. which are vital for proper sleep.
Or it could be another medical reason altogether.
If you think your baby is struggling to sleep suddenly due to some medical reason, the next step is always to contact your child’s pediatrician, and make sure they take your concern seriously.
We don’t need them to freak us out further, obviously, but we do need them to let us know if this is something we need further assessment on.
The second reason why this is so important is because – no sleep method or strategy we can use on our own will be effective if our baby won’t sleep anymore because of a medical cause. We’ll simply frustrate ourselves and our child and delay the care she needs.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: Common Reason #2 - Growth and Development
Sleep Regressions and Development Leaps
Now let’s talk about the much more common and less anxiety-inducing reasons for why your baby won’t sleep anymore.
The most common reason is your nugget’s growth and development.
As you’ve undoubtedly noticed over the past months and possibly years – babies grow fast. Sometimes it seems like they’re constantly picking up new skills and growing inches at a time.
If your baby recently learned to roll or get up on his hands and knees or pull up to standing – or some other physical milestone - or even if he’s just ramping up practice on this new skill – his sleep may be impacted.
Because, let’s be honest, mom, performing my new trick of standing up in bed is, like, so much more fun than sleeping.
And sometimes the development is mental or emotional. Sometimes baby becomes more aware of his surroundings and notices when you’re not there. This is one of the major changes that happens around the 3-4 month mark – baby wakes for a brief arousal, and if their sleep environment has changed, they suddenly wake fully and can’t seem to get back to sleep without mimicking the environment they originally fell asleep in.
Around that same time, our babies go through a major cognitive - or mental - milestone - where their whole sleep structure rearranges. And this can 100% mess with their sleep.
Babies also learn things like smiling, babbling, object permanence (meaning – even when something moves out of sight, they know it’s still there,) and so much more in these early months.
So ask yourself – what has my baby learned to do lately?
And if this growth and development are the reasons behind why your baby isn’t sleeping anymore, the solution is relatively simple – help your child practice that new skill as much as possible during waking hours.
This helps for 2 reasons:
1) It removes the novelty from this new skill. New things are exciting, but if you practice the new thing 100x during the day, it’s not as exciting after a while.
2) Once the skill becomes old-hat, there’s less drive to spend all hours of the day and night practicing.
Changes in Sleep Needs
Another common cause of sleep hiccups as babies grow is their rapidly changing sleep needs.
If you’ve spent any time research how much babies need to sleep, I guarantee you’ve seen a number of charts and graphs for how babies’ sleep needs change rapidly as they grow.
Wake windows change, melatonin production ramps up, circadian rhythms shift, and sleep cycles change.
It’s enough to make your head spin.
If you want to take the mystery out of these changes, I created a chart that details all the sleep changes from newborn to 3 years. Tap this link to let me know if you’d like a copy.
And if you’re at the point where you need an easy button, don’t forget that I have that Sleep Schedule Quiz that will provide you with a sample sleep schedule specifically for your baby.
Save yourself some time and grey hairs and sanity – heaven knows we don’t have a lot to spare. Get your sleep development chart and sample schedule now.
Teething
Another common event in the early months and years that gets blamed a lot for disrupted sleep is … teething.
And, to be fair, teething can absolutely interrupt sleep.
However, we often give teething a little too much credit.
Most of the time, teething actually interrupts sleep just a couple of days around when the tooth breaks through. This is when the gums are most painful.
So if your baby is irritable during the night AND day, and it’s lasted a few days to a week, and it resolves once the tooth has broken through, then the sleep disruption is commonly from teething.
But if you can’t see any teeth that are on the cusp of breaking through and it’s been a month or more – it’s likely not teething. It’s something else. Unless there’s some more significant dental issue – like impacted teeth that can’t emerge or something – it’s probably not teething.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: Environmental Changes
The final most common cause for why your baby won’t sleep anymore is a change in his environment.
Ask yourself - what has changed recently?
This can be as complex as a new sibling being added to the fold or as simple as it changing seasons and the sun is out longer and peeking through the curtains in the bedroom.
Environmental Changes: Complex
Some more complex environmental changes that could be messing with your child’s sleep can include – but are not limited to:
New sibling
Parent working more hours or even home more during the day
Changing from a crib to a toddler bed
These tend to be more complex because they take extra creativity and finesse to help your child work through these changes.
For example, if a parent is working more and the child needs to go to bed as soon as the parent gets home, a special plan may need to be devised to maximize that parent’s time with your child on the days when they are home, or for a special, very intentional 10-15 minutes before starting the bedtime routine.
Environmental Changes: Simple
Some simpler environmental changes that can impact your child’s sleep might include:
A change in season – where the sun is out longer and might be peeking in through the curtains more – either earlier and later in the day or even during the summer if it’s sunnier during the daytime.
Returning home from travel
Daylight saving time change – which may or may not be ending soon
New care provider
Starting daycare or some other change in routine
Becoming lax in the sleep routine and boundaries
These changes tend to be simpler in their fixes because they can often be solved with minor effort.
For example, if the season has changed and the sun is creeping into the room too early, then look into getting room darkening shades that adhere to the window so no light is peeking through.
Or if you just returned home from travel, make sure you are getting 100% back on track with your home sleep routines and boundaries.
Sometimes these changes just take time – like when a new care provider is introduced. It may just take some time for your kiddo to become more familiar and comfortable with their new caregiver.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: When to Expect These Challenges
So now that we’ve discussed the most common reasons why children suddenly struggle to sleep after sleeping well for months or even years, let’s talk about when to expect these things to happen.
If you’re anything like me, and I think you might be, you’re a planner. You like to know when hiccups are going to happen so you can prevent them if possible or at least not be knocked on your butt when they do happen.
Some of these causes for why your baby won’t sleep anymore are not time-specific. Illnesses and medical causes can happen anytime at any age. Travel and new caregivers can happen at anytime, too.
There are some challenges we can predict, though.
Babies typically start teething and their first teeth breaking through around 5-7 months.
Babies’ sleep structure rearranges and they transition from 2 to 4 sleep stages around 3-4 months.
Babies become much more aware of their surroundings around 3-4 months.
Changes in sleep needs tend to be pretty regular based on your child’s age – and adjusted age if baby was born early. Do remember that there is always a range of what is considered typical, so if your baby doesn’t meet the typical hours of sleep by a little bit, but they are still healthy and happy little nuggets, then it’s usually fine.
Sleep Regressions – discussed at length all over the internet and in the real world – almost always coincide with some developmental leap, whether physical or mental. If you have a chart for when these milestones commonly occur, it can help you predict when your baby may have a few rough sleeps.
Changing seasons and daylight savings can be planned for based on the calendar.
Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Anymore: How to Fix It
And finally, let’s talk about how to fix it once you know what’s causing your baby to not sleep well anymore.
As we discussed before, if there’s a medical reason why your baby isn’t sleeping well anymore, then 100% you need to address that ASAP. Contact the pediatrician and advocate for your kiddo.
If the cause of the sleep disruption is typical growth and development, then the solution is to practice those new skills like crazy during waking hours, offer extra comfort and medication as the pediatrician recommends during those few worst teething days, and adjust your baby’s sleep schedule as their sleep needs change.
And if the cause of your baby’s difficulty with falling and staying asleep is due to changes in his environment, then it’s time to break out your brainstorming cap and figure out how you can stick to your sleep routine and boundaries and help your child transition through this change at the same time.
And do remember – if you ever run into a dead-end and you can’t seem to figure it out on your own, or even if you’re just too freaking overwhelmed and tired to figure it out – that’s what I’m here for. This is what I love to do.
Don’t hesitate to book your free 15-Minute Sleep Evaluation so we can take the first step to getting this problem solved and getting you all sleeping again.
This problem has a solution. And you don’t have to suffer through it alone. Let’s figure it out together.
Summary
In this article, we talked about the most common reasons why your baby won’t sleep anymore, which typically result from
1) Medical reasons
2) Growth and development
3) Changes in environment
And we also discussed when to expect these sleep disruptions to occur and what to do about them when they do pop up.
I’m Ashley Thompson, wife, mom, certified pediatric sleep consultant, and licensed speech language pathologist.