Tip 7 - Rule out illness
As I sit in bed, blogging, I can hear my little Em in the room next door. She has been so restless the last few nights, and snorring like a chimney. I am sick today and so off I went to the doctor and we both were checked. The doctor gasped as he looked at her throat - it was red and pusssy and she has a major upper respiratory tract infection. Poor baby. We often forget just how much health impacts on sleep. Here are the health: sleep basics-
- A sick baby does not sleep well and cannot be expected to self sooth to sleep
- Gummy ears or an ear infection causes pressure and discomfort that affects sleep
- A blocked nose stops babies sucking to self sooth as they have to mouth-breath when ill
- Worms can cause nightwakings due to the irritation of an itchy bottom
- Medication can be counterproductive - for example some meds are alerting such as some asthma medications
So if your baby is typically a good sleeper and suddenly sleep is out the window - check out her health.
Megan, I breathe a deep sigh of relief reading this. I have two boys, a 3 year old and a 7 month old. Both have allergies and asthma. They are almost always ill. And when they are not, there are other issues to deal with like nightmares (my toddler) and teething (my baby).
I have often felt bad or like I was doing something wrong when rocking them or sitting with them to help them to go to sleep or back to sleep. I realize now that I shouldn’t, I should do my best to help them get the best possible nights sleep given the circumstances.
I know that sleep training is a no-go when there is any medical reason for night waking, so effectively that means that sleeping through is too.