Baby Doesn't Sleep - Trouble Sleeping

If the dream man doesn't come …

Sometimes the baby's sleep rhythm doesn't quite adjust - or the little ones cry a lot and often for a long time. Feeding disorders also occur occasionally in infants and toddlers and are not always harmless. These symptoms can hide so-called regulatory disorders in infancy and toddlerhood, but also other causes.

navigation

• Continue reading
• more on the subject
• Advice, downloads & tools

Crying babies and feeding disorders

See Crying babies for more information on babies who cry for hours and cannot be comforted. If you experience feeding problems, see Feeding Disorders in Infancy for more information.

Note If you are concerned about sleeping, crying, feeding disorders or other abnormalities, an examination by the pediatrician is unavoidable.

Infants' sleep rhythm

A healthy, mature infant sleeps approximately 16 to 18 hours a day. However, the length of sleep can vary significantly from child to child. The sleep rhythm of an infant is not yet linked to the day-night rhythm in the first three months of life. The baby does not sleep evenly throughout the day and night. The sleep intervals are short, and the babies are often restless - this is completely normal in these months of life. Infants also wake up a few times a night without their parents noticing.

From the age of around three to six months (sometimes later), infants develop a sleep rhythm that is more and more similar to a day-night rhythm. Parents can be supportive here by signaling: Now is rest time. However, one cannot and should not force sleep.

Tip It is helpful to get children used to a light-dark (day-night) difference early on (for example no bright light when changing diapers at night).

Early childhood sleep problems

Sleep disorders in infancy and toddlerhood are usually expressed in the fact that children cannot or difficultly fall asleep without the help of their parents, cannot fall asleep again at night after waking up or cannot sleep despite being very tired. Babies and toddlers with insomnia often wake up at night and scream or whine. It is important to rule out organic causes. A visit to the pediatrician is therefore necessary in any case.

The Austrian Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine provides information on sleep disorders in the folder “Does my child have sleep problems?”. There you will also find rules for a healthy sleep of your baby.