• Suitable for 6-18Months

What causes waking and settling problems?

 
All babies wake at night. But many haven’t learned how to go back to sleep on their own. This is the biggest cause of sleep problems and persistent night-waking in babies.

Being able to go back to sleep without the help of a grown-up is called independent sleep.

Knowing how normal sleep works and what causes persistent night-waking is a great help when you’re trying to encourage independent sleep or change your baby’s sleep habits.

How a waking problem arises

A diagram showing the vicious cycle of infant waking problems

Some babies wake after a sleep cycle and can’t put themselves back to sleep. They cry out. These babies continue to cry until someone comes to help them back to sleep. This often means mum or dad comes and feeds, pats or rocks baby back to sleep.

This rocking or feeding can become a habit that the baby depends on to fall back to sleep. A cycle is set up: baby wakes after a deep sleep and can’t re-settle without a grown-up’s help. 

The problem is that many of these babies have never learned to put themselves to sleep in the first place. They are settled to sleep by their parents at the start of the night or nap, and again whenever they wake up. When they wake during the night, they have no idea how to settle themselves back to sleep!

For some parents, this is fine. After six months, though, we know it can cause problems for a mother’s wellbeing and her relationship with her baby.

Calling out after waking at night is referred to as ‘signalling’. Infants who can put themselves back to sleep are said to be self-soothing. The ability to self-soothe is very variable. One study found that 15% of the infants found to be self-soothing on one night were identified as signalling on another night. In another study, infants identified as signallers self-soothed at least once in the two nights in which their sleep was recorded.

 Other factors that disturb sleep

In rare circumstances, medical conditions or sleep disorders can cause settling or night-waking problems. If you’re concerned about this possibility, it’s best to speak with your GP before starting a sleep plan.

Your child’s temperament can also be a factor. Research has shown that infants with an easygoing temperament (for example, being adaptable, rhythmic, less intense and easily distracted) have fewer sleep problems than infants displaying qualities associated with a more challenging temperament.

The majority of babies who have sleep difficulties, though, have simply not learned how to go back to sleep independently when they wake up during the night.

Video: Encouraging baby sleep

Download Video  28mb

In this short video, parents talk about encouraging baby sleep. They share tips on:

  • identifying sleep cues
  • finding out what helps babies to sleep
  • being consistent with sleep and settling techniques.

As these mums and dads say, every baby is different. What works for one baby might not work for another. You might need to experiment to find out what’s right for you and your baby.

 
 
 
 
  • Content supplied by
  • Last updated19-08-2010
  • Last reviewed30-11-2011
  • AcknowledgementsAdapted from: Centre for Community Child Health (2004). The Infant Sleep Study: Managing Sleep Problems in Babies: A Training Manual. Royal Children’s Hospital: Melbourne.