In this article I have decided to write about the most common things I have found to cause sleep problems in the first 18 months of a childs life. Over the years I have found all sorts of triggers for sleep problems such as hunger, dummy use, rocking a baby to sleep, allowing a baby to start falling asleep while feeding, being cold at night, the bedtime ritual the parents are using to get the baby to sleep and things such a going away or moving house.

So when do these problems start to show?

My experience indicates that babies don't start to surface between sleep cycles (the process of drifting between light and deep sleep) until they reach about eight weeks. Newborn babies can be aided to sleep by sucking on a dummy or feeding or having a parent rock them to sleep and they will still sleep for long periods, however at about eight weeks daytime sleeps change. If you have aided your baby to sleep, you will notice that she will only catnap during the day. This is fine at first because she will be sleeping great stretches of time at night however at about five to six months this will suddenly change. The baby who is aided to sleep will suddenly start waking at night when night time sleep cycles start.

Usually a baby of six months will show the first signs of a self-settling problem by waking at about 5:00am. Then she will begin to wake at 11:00pm, and by the time your baby is one year old she will be waking at 9:00pm, 11:00pm, 1:00am, 3:00am and 5:00am! The sooner you solve the waking problem the better.

* Is your baby hungry? * Dummies * Rocking your baby to sleep * Feeding a baby to slumber * Cold at night * Moving house

Go to the top Is your baby hungry?

Some babies catnap during the day or wake up at night because they are hungry. To be sure your baby is not hungry you need to feed your baby until she is full. This means if you are breastfeeding you need to feed your baby both breast until they have stopped feeding. However if you are following Tizzie's early routines you only feed your baby for a set amount.

If your baby is bottle-fed you need to feed her until she has had enough there should always be milk left in the bottle after a feed and you should never give your baby a set amount. As explained in the bottle feeding article or in the Save Our Sleep book on page 30.

If your baby is over four months and showing sign's of catnapping and waking again at night your baby may be ready for solids. If your baby is over six months I suggest you start solids. However if your baby is between four and six months you need to look at the pro and cons to starting solids. These are explained in my crash course in weaning article and in the Save Our Sleep book on page 111. Please take into account when making your decision on when to start solids that the world health organisation (WHO) says you should not start solids until at least four months and if possible six months. Click here to visit the WHO website.

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