As a first time parent,
you don't really know what to expect
when it comes to your baby's sleep.
And even if you feel better prepared second
or third time around,
each baby can throw a number
of different curve balls your way.
I know mine sure did.
Today, I'll be answering your sleep question,
how can I tell whether my baby's sleep habits
are normal or not?
Hi there, I'm Jenna, one of the sleep experts at Little Ones
and mother to two beautiful children
with one more on the way.
We are certified baby sleep specialists
and have helped over 200,000 families
just like yours overcome their baby's sleep challenges.
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Make sure to check out the description below,
where you'll find more information
and resources about your baby's sleep.
We also love to hear from you.
Share with us, in the comments below,
your own baby's sleep journey, good or bad.
Some of us need a little hope,
and some need to know
that they're not alone in the trenches.
So first of all, you're going to hear me refer
to the term normal a lot during this video,
and I'd like to acknowledge
how the idea of normal can be really problematic.
While there are definitely some normal
or common patterns that babies will follow
in their sleeping development,
unfortunately that same idea
of normal can also cause parents to dismiss
or simply accept their baby's sleep challenges.
While it's partially true that poor sleep
and sleep deprivation is to be expected as a new parent,
but if a baby is not settling or sleeping well,
rather than dismiss it as normal behavior,
it's always worth investigating further.
Most often, small tweaks can make a world of difference,
not to mention, the sooner you can detect
and resolve an underlying issue,
the happier and more settled your baby will be
in all aspects, not just sleep.
So just briefly, here are some common sleep patterns
or challenges that you can expect
to see in the first 12 months.
For newborns, both their sleep
and feeding can be a bit erratic in the first few weeks,
but usually by around six to eight weeks,
they will have or will be ready
to settle into a more predictable nap and feeding pattern.
There are sleep regressions at around eight weeks,
three to four months, eight to 10 months,
and 12 months that can disrupt their settling and sleep.
These are all normal times
to be experiencing some additional waking
or difficulty settling,
and we have a ton of information
and videos to help you navigate these,
which we'll link in the description below.
There are also nap transitions
at around 6 to 8 months and 12 to 15 months.
During these times, your little one can resist naps
and start waking early or more frequently overnight
until they are through the transition.
So as you can see,
even with a baby who has no underlying issues,
there's a lot of challenges to overcome.
The great news is many of these can be nipped
in the bud before they even arise
by following your little one's ever changing
but age appropriate awake times
and nap lengths from within our app.
Now, let's talk about what is not normal
or what some uncommon sleep patterns
or behaviors might look like.
If a baby is waking really early
from their naps after 10, 20, or 30 minutes,
this usually means that something just isn't right.
They're either under or overtired, still hungry,
too hot or cold, or uncomfortable.
For younger babies who aren't rolling yet,
it's really important that they are swaddled.
This prevents their startle reflex
from waking them as they move
between light and deep sleep stages,
and it's an easy fix for a newborn's unsettled sleep.
If a baby is waking very frequently over night,
for example, waking every 30 minutes or one hour,
again, this could be undertiredness
if they're napping too much in the day,
hunger or discomfort.
It could also be due to a buildup of overtiredness
if they aren't napping enough during the day.
It's difficult to tell the difference
between under and overtired,
which is why we love to take the guesswork out
of it for you by providing you
with age appropriate awake times and nap lengths,
making incremental changes as your baby grows.
Again, often the small tweaks can make
the world of difference.
If the sleep environment is spot on,
dark room, white noise, swaddled or sleeping bag,
if nap times are age appropriate
and they're nice and full,
it could be trapped wind making them uncomfortable.
Wind in your baby can be an arduous task,
but it's often the culprit behind unsettling sleep early on.
If you can rule it out,
then it's possibly an underlying issue such as reflux.
Naturally, the spilly kind of reflux is easy to pick up on.
However, diagnosing silent reflux can be a lot trickier.
Often, unsettled sleep or difficulty settling is one
of the first signs and symptoms
that you'll experience from your baby,
along with episodes of heartbreaking, inconsolable crying.
Whether your baby is on the breast or bottle,
there will likely be some feeding issues
for an infant with silent reflux.
They may also have problems swallowing or burping.
Often, babies with severe silent reflux will be seen
to arch their back while feeding or just afterwards.
If your baby is screaming and distressed when they wake,
this can be another red flag
that something is making them uncomfortable, like reflux
or possibly even cow's milk protein allergy or intolerance.
Some signs and symptoms of these are instant,
such as hives, vomiting, stomach pain,
noisy breathing, to name a few.
Delayed symptoms might include eczema,
delayed diarrhea, or blood or mucous in their stool.
If your baby is feeding very frequently
through the day and night,
getting particularly sleepy and exhausted while feeding,
this can sometimes indicate an underlying feeding issue,
like a tongue tie,
which can also have an impact on their sleep.
If feeding is painful for you,
keep an ear out for clicking noises.
Time your feeds to know if they're particularly short
and seek help from a lactation consultant
if you're at all concerned.
For all of these examples of more serious underlying issues,
we have some incredible resources
to help you determine signs and symptoms for your baby.
For anyone experiencing even just one of these things,
IE, poor and unsettled sleep,
I would encourage you to take a look
at the links below to see if anything else rings true
for you and your little one.
The really difficult thing about determining what is normal
and what is not is that it all comes down
to your description of what you are experiencing.
If you suspect something isn't right with their feeding,
taking a video or having someone take it
for you is a great way
to show your healthcare provider what's going on.
Taking videos of your little one
when they're having an unsettled episode can also help
because a lot comes down
to the type of cry that you're hearing.
And when we are tired and emotional,
it can be really hard to relay this information
to your healthcare provider
to give them enough accurate information
to diagnose your little one.
Because chances are, when you get to that appointment,
your baby is going to be a perfect angel,
and you'll start to feel completely crazy.
Now, I know firsthand just how difficult it can be
to pinpoint an issue with a newborn baby.
Both of my babies had to be medicated
for silent reflux from early on,
but getting to the diagnosis was
totally different for each one.
Archie had the classic signs and symptoms of silent reflux,
inconsolable crying at predictable times,
most often at settling before bedtime,
hence the name of our article, "Tears Before Bedtime."
Because from six weeks of age,
I was following the Little One's sleep and nutrition app,
I was able to confidently rule out the basics
with my healthcare provider,
and I knew that he wasn't crying due
to over or undertiredness or even hunger.
Thankfully, he responded really well
and quickly to the medication,
so we had no further troubles.
For Stella, the path to diagnosis was
a bit more complicated.
She was sleeping and settling well at the time,
but she was having inconsolable crying episodes
during the day,
and we were having a really hard time with feeding.
She was diagnosed early on with silent reflux,
but the medication did nothing to ease her screaming,
gulping and gasping while feeding.
Poor feeding, of course, inevitably led to poor sleep.
I saw multiple lactation consultants,
visited my GP, a chiropractor, kinesiologist,
and just about drove myself crazy trying
to get to the bottom of things,
knowing in my gut that something still wasn't right.
It was something more than just reflux.
It wasn't until we were rushed into the emergency department
with compromised breathing
after she had picked up the RSV virus from Archie
that they immediately picked up on her struggle
and believed she had laryngomalacia,
which is when a baby's larynx
or their voice box is soft and floppy.
When the baby takes a breath,
the part of the larynx above the vocal chords falls
and temporarily blocks the baby's airway.
Now, silent reflux and laryngomalacia do go hand in hand.
So part of her diagnosis was correct,
but it was incredibly frustrating knowing
that there was something more going on.
Learning that she likely felt
like she was being waterboarded
in the traditional breastfeeding position meant we were able
to mitigate our feeding troubles
with upright, paced bottle feeding,
and the muscle would strengthen on its own as she grew.
So the moral of the story here is to trust your instincts
and keep searching for answers if you don't feel heard
or if things aren't resolved.
Sleep is as much of a nutrient for you
as it is for your baby,
and if no one is sleeping well in your household,
dig deeper for answers.
Yes, absolutely, broken sleep and sleep deprivation
as a parent is to be expected
in stages throughout your journey,
but you don't have to just accept it all as normal.
Often, small tweaks to the sleep environment
or awake times are enough
to resolve things almost instantly.
When there is an underlying issue,
being able to rule out the basics
as the reason behind poor sleep means you can get
to the resolution even faster.
There is a common phrase out there
that it takes a village to raise a child,
and yet, especially recently, with worldwide lockdowns
and restricted access to health resources,
that village isn't always available to new parents,
but we have one right at your fingertips.
The Little One's sleep and nutrition village is here
for you 24 hours a day
with our experienced sleep consultants based
all over the world,
ready to help you work through what's normal
and what's most certainly not
when it comes to your baby's sleep challenges.
I truly hope you found this video helpful.
Don't forget to check out our links
in the description below
for more information about baby's sleep.
If you'd like to see more, subscribe to our channel
so that you don't miss out
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Talk to you again soon.