Common Factors that Impact Sleep
10 Common Factors that may Impact Your Baby’s Sleep
Good sleep is vital for our health and wellbeing, but the tricky thing about sleep is there are many factors that can affect it.
The good news is that some factors are more common than others. Below I address the common ones and how to navigate them:
Age: Newborns sleep is consistent day and night, sleeping more than they are awake. However, as children get older, their ‘wake time’ will need to increase in order for them to have enough sleep pressure to sleep properly at night.
Circadian Rhythm: I’ve dedicated an entire blog post (3 Easy Ways to Support the Development of Your Baby’s Circadian Rhythm) because it’s so important to their sleep. Babies aren’t born with circadian rhythms and because of this they often have their ‘days and nights’ confused because their internal body clock isn’t established. While the development of their circadian rhythm is a natural process, there are a few things you can do to support the development of it.
Sleep Pressure: Adequate sleep pressure is needed for your baby to fall asleep, however, you don’t want them to have too much sleep pressure. While it might sound like a dream to have your child fall asleep very quickly after you put them down, this actually disrupts their sleep later in the night. If children are overtired and exhausted when they are put down for a sleep, they essentially ‘crash’ and skip through the lighter stages of sleep. They then find it harder to navigate the different stages of sleep later in the night, inevitably leading to fragmented sleep and/or early-rising (click here to read more).
Mouth Breathing: When sleeping, newborns breathe exclusively through the nose as they don’t develop the reflexes for mouth breathing while sleeping until about 3 - 4 months of age. If they are breathing through the mouth, it is usually because of some form of obstruction (can be relatively harmless like a cold or allergies). Humidifiers can work well to add moisture to the air to help ease stuffy noses.
Nutrient deficiencies: Insufficient levels of vitamin D, magnesium and iron have been linked to poor sleep. It can be worthwhile having these levels tested if you believe your child could be deficient.
Gut Issues: Let’s be honest, an upset stomach is enough to make anyone cranky and it will certainly ruin a good night’s sleep. If your baby has reflux, they will want to be held upright which makes it tricky to get them to sleep but it is possible (click here to read more).
Allergies: Allergies can be environment related (such as dust or pollen) or food-related (lactose intolerance, etc). Knowing the allergy and eliminating it as best as possible will decrease the impact the allergy will have on your child’s sleep.
Sensory needs: Children that have difficulty processing sensory input are more likely to have challenges falling asleep and staying asleep. Meeting their sensory needs throughout the day is important. As well as creating a consistent bedtime routine with calming pre-sleep activities will help them fall asleep easier and stay asleep.
Environment: The right sleep environment will help your child settle faster and sleep better. Keep their sleep space cool, dark and quiet and use tools such as a white noise machine if your child benefits from it.
Sleep Needs: Every child is different and has unique sleep needs. Understanding how much sleep they need (and, therefore, if skipping a nap will have a big impact on them) will help you design a sleep routine that will work (and which can be adjusted on the days it needs to be).