Sleep: No one in your home is likely getting much of it, especially during the first few months. And even once your little one is sleeping through the night, baby sleep problems can still crop up from time to time.

In short, dealing with nighttime disruptions is simply a part of new parenthood.

Most often, temporary things like illness, teething, developmental milestones or changes in routine cause baby sleep issues — so the occasional sleep snafu likely isn't anything to worry about.

Still, persistent sleep problems that make it hard for your baby (and you!) to get the rest you both need could be a sign of a bigger issue.

Some babies, especially older ones, can have a hard time breaking sleep habits they've come to like and expect, like being rocked or fed to sleep at bedtime or when they wake up in the middle of the night.  

That's why it's helpful to know the possible reasons why your baby won't sleep. Here are some of the most common baby sleep problems at each stage during the first year, and solutions to help your restless little one get her Zzzs.

Sleep problems: 0 to 3 months old

At the newborn stage, babies are still adjusting to a regular sleeping pattern.

Newborns generally sleep about 14 to 17 hours in a 24-hour period, waking up frequently for feedings both day and night.

A 1- and 2-month-old should get about the same amount of sleep, 14 to 17 hours a day, broken into eight to nine hours of nighttime sleep and another seven to nine hours of daytime sleep over the course of several naps. A 3-month-old needs 14 to 16 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period.

Even with all that snoozing, it can feel like your baby isn't sleeping all that much. Very young babies often sleep in short, catnap-like spurts, in part because they need to eat so often.

So if it seems like your sweetpea is constantly bouncing back and forth between dozing and waking, hang in there. It's completely normal right now and it will soon start to change.

That said, there are some challenges that can make sleep harder for newborns to come by. At this age, three of the most common issues are:

Resisting back-sleeping

What it looks like: Your baby fusses or won't settle when laid on her back to sleep. Babies actually feel more secure sleeping on their tummies, but that sleep position is linked to a much higher incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). So experts recommend always putting your baby on her back to sleep.[1]

How to solve it: If your baby just won't settle down on her back, talk to your pediatrician, who may want to check for any possible physical explanations. Much more likely is that your baby just doesn't feel as secure on her back. 

If that's the case, there are a few tricks you can try to encourage back-sleeping, including swaddling your baby and giving her a pacifier at bedtime. Just skip the sleep positioner, and stick with a consistent routine. Eventually, your baby will get used to sleeping on her back.

Mixing up day and night

What it looks like: Your baby sleeps all day, but then stays up all night long (not such a party for you!).

How to solve it: Your newborn's nocturnal ways should correct themselves as she adjusts to life on the outside, but there are a few things you can do to help baby differentiate between day and night, including limiting daytime naps to three hours, and making clear distinctions between day and night (like keeping baby's room dark when she naps and avoiding turning on the TV during nighttime feedings).

Tips for building baby's bedtime routine

Restless sleep due to frequent late-night feedings

What it looks like: Most 2- to 3-month-old babies, particularly breastfed ones, still need to fill their tummies at least once or twice during the night. Waking up every two hours for middle-of-the-night chow-downs, on the other hand, is typically too much of a good thing by this point — and for most babies, not necessary.

What to do about it: First, talk to your child's pediatrician about how often your baby should eat overnight. If you get the go-ahead to cut down on overnight feeds, ensure baby's eating enough during the day by offering a feed every two to three hours. Then, work on slowly stretching the time between nighttime feedings.

Sleep problems: 4 to 5 months old

By 4 months, your baby should sleep about 12 to 16 hours a day, broken up into two or three daytime naps totaling three to six hours, and then another nine to 11 hours at night.[2]

How many hours should a 5-month-old sleep? These days, 10 to 11 hours of sleep at night is the norm. Your baby should also take two to three naps during the day.

Some common reasons your baby won't sleep at this age include: 

Sleep regression

What it looks like: At 4 months old, your formerly sleepy baby may be ready for anything but bedtime — even though you're ready to drop. Welcome to sleep regression — a perfectly normal blip on the sleep radar that many babies experience at around 4 months, then often again at 6 months, 8 to 10 months, and 12 months (though it can happen at any time).

Why is this happening right now? The 4-month sleep regression typically strikes as your little one starts to really wake up to the world around her. With all this fascinating new stuff to play with and see and people to encounter, life is just too much fun at this stage to waste time sleeping.

There's no official way to "diagnose" a sleep regression — but chances are you'll know it when you're dealing with it. If your baby was starting to sleep for predictably longer stretches but is suddenly fighting sleep or is waking up a lot more often, you likely have sleep regression on your hands.

How to solve it: Stick with or start your baby bedtime routine — the bath, the feeding, the story, the lullabies and the cuddles. Also, be sure your baby is getting enough sleep during the day to make up for lost sleep at night, since it's even harder for an overtired baby to settle down at night. 

Keep in mind, too, that sleep regression is temporary. Once your baby acclimates to her new developmental abilities, sleep patterns should return to baseline.

Changing nap routines throw baby off at night

What it looks like: As babies get older, they nap less. If your baby seems happy with her changing schedule and sleeps well at night, embrace this milestone and carry on. But if your little one is napping less but fussing more, or having trouble going to bed at night, she may be overtired and in need of some naptime encouragement.

How to solve it: Try an abbreviated bedtime routine before each nap (some quiet music, a massage or some storytelling) and be patient — it may simply take her longer to settle into a routine, but she'll get there.

Sleep problems: 6 months old and up

These days your baby's sleep pattern likely looks a whole lot different than it did just a few short months ago. At 6 months, your baby should clock 10 to 11 hours of sleep at night and take two or three naps during the day.

By 9 months, she'll start sleeping for a little longer at night — around 10 to 12 hours — and take only two naps during the day. Around 12 months, your baby might show signs of being ready to drop to just one long midday nap (though for most babies, that happens at around 14 to 16 months)

What's more, babies who are 6 months old and up are completely capable of sleeping through the night. And yet, there are still plenty of things that can disrupt their snooze time.

Not falling asleep independently

What it looks like: Almost everyone wakes up a couple times during the night — adults and babies alike. A lifetime of good sleep habits depends on knowing how to fall asleep alone both at bedtime and overnight, a skill babies need to learn. If your 6-month-old still needs to be fed or rocked to sleep, you might want to consider sleep training (also known as sleep teaching or self-soothing training).

How to solve it: Start by revamping the bedtime routine. If your baby's dependent on a bottle or breast to sleep, start scheduling the last feeding a good 30 minutes before her usual bedtime or nap. Then, when she's sleepy but not asleep, make your move and place her into her crib. Sure, she'll fuss at first, but give it a chance. Once she learns to soothe herself — perhaps by sucking on her thumb or a pacifier (harmless, helpful habits for babies) — she won't need you at bedtime anymore.

As long as your baby can drift off on her own, it's fine to go in to her if she wakes up at night. That doesn't mean you need to pick her up or nurse her, however. Once she's mastered the art of comforting herself, your voice and a gentle stroke should be enough to get her settled into sleep once more.

How you tackle sleep training is up to you. Letting your 6-month-old (or even 5-month-old) cry for a bit before going into her usually works. Here's why: By 6 months, babies are well-aware that crying often results in being picked up, rocked, fed or potentially all three. But once they understand that you're not buying what they're selling, most will stop crying and get some rest, usually within three or four nights.

Keep in mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends sleeping in the same room as your baby (but not in the same bed) for at least six months. But even if you encounter this problem when you're still room-sharing, the basic idea behind sleep training remains the same: At the end of your bedtime routine, say goodnight and mean it — even when you hear protests and tears as you leave the room.

If your baby wakes up during the night while you're room-sharing, it's fine to assure your little one that everything's okay, but have a plan in place as to how (and how often) you'll respond to her cries.

Don't have a plan yet? There are many sleep training strategies, so decide what you think might work best for you and give it a chance to work.

Restless sleep due to frequent late-night feedings (again)

What it looks like: By the time many babies are 6 months old, they don't need middle-of-the-night feedings anymore. So if your baby is not sleeping without nursing and rocking first, or she still gets up multiple times throughout the night and won't go back to sleep without the same send-off, she may have become wise to the fact that crying often results in being picked up, rocked and fed — pretty good motivation to keep on crying. (Talk to your baby's pediatrician before cutting out night feeds.)

What to do about it: If you're comfortable trying sleep training, it can be a good option for babies who wake up frequently to feed throughout the night. Either way, your little one needs help learning how to self-soothe so she can fall back to sleep on her own.

Waking early

What it looks like: Your baby is waking up early — and staying awake, sometimes as early as the crack of dawn.

What to do about it: If your baby is at least 6 months old, there are a few tactics you can try to get her to sleep in later, like adjusting her nap schedule, experimenting with different bedtimes and making her room more light- and sound-proof.

Teething pain keeps baby up

What it looks like: If your baby is showing signs of teething during the day — such as drooling, biting, feeding fussiness and irritability — teething pain may also be waking her up at night.[3]

Keep in mind that teething-related sleep issues can begin almost any time during the first year. Some babies get their first tooth by the time they're 6 months old with teething pain starting as early as 3 or 4 months, while others are toothless until their first birthday.

How to solve it: While you shouldn't ignore your baby, try to avoid picking her up. Instead, offer a teething ring, some gentle words and pats, or maybe a lullaby. She might settle down on her own, though you might have to leave the room for that to happen. 

If tender gums seem very painful to her night after night, ask your pediatrician about offering some baby acetaminophen at bedtime for babies 2 months and older or baby ibuprofen for infants 6 months and older.

Sleep problems at any age

Some sleep issues can flare up at any point during your baby's first year (and well beyond). Two big ones you might encounter include:

Disruptions in routine

What it looks like: It doesn't take much to turn a baby's sleep routine on its head. A cold or an ear infection can wreak havoc on sleeping patterns, as can emotional challenges such as a parent returning to work or getting used to a new babysitter.

Traveling is another surefire sleep-schedule disrupter, and major milestones — like mastering crawling or learning to walk — can also temporarily interfere with sleep.

How to solve it: Although babies with changing sleep routines can be a little fussier, you've got to cut your baby some slack in the snoozing department during these transitions. Do what you can to comfort your little one through the disruptions to her schedule.

Then try to get back into your regular groove as soon as you can — following the same comforting pre-bed routine in the same order as usual (a bath, then a feeding, then a story and so on).

Trouble settling down to sleep — even though baby seems very tired

What it looks like: What happens if babies don't get enough sleep? They can become overtired — where they're exhausted and moody but also too wired to relax.

It's a classic case of what can happen if babies don't get enough sleep: Your baby is cranky and showing other signs that she's more than ready to take a nap or go to bed. And yet, she won't actually power down.

Younger babies might fight the soothers that normally help them nod off, like rocking or feeding. And babies over 5 or 6 months who are capable of falling asleep on their own struggle to doze off when they're put in their crib, or wake up and have a hard time falling back to sleep. 

How to solve it: Put your baby down for her nap or bedtime when she's tired, but not too tired. When you start to spot signs that she needs a rest like rubbing her eyes, yawning, looking away from you or fussing a lot, that's your cue to get her into her crib or bassinet.

Resist the urge to get her to stay up later. Chances are it will cause her to become overtired and ultimately make it harder for her to fall asleep.

Also, try to ensure that your little one is logging the total hours of sleep she needs. If she wakes very early from her last nap of the day, for instance, consider putting her to bed a little earlier to make up for the lost shut-eye. If she has a rough night or wakes extra early in the morning, offer more naptime that day.

Sleep problems after illness

A sore or scratchy throat, congestion and fever can all make it harder for babies (and adults!) to snooze soundly.

Of course, you want to do what you can to soothe your sweetie and help her get the rest she needs, whether that means a dose of fever-reducing meds if your pediatrician says it's okay (either infant acetaminophen for babies at least 2 months old or infant ibuprofen for babies at least 6 months old) or a quick nursing session, or holding her upright while she sleeps to ease her congestion.   

But sometimes, especially if wake-ups happen for several nights in a row, it's possible for a baby to get used to the midnight visits, snuggles and feedings. And that could potentially lead to sleep issues even after she's feeling better.

What it looks like: Your baby's normally good sleep habits got disrupted when she was sick, but now that she's healthy again, she's still waking up crying for you during the night.

How to solve it: Once your baby is back to her healthy, bubbly self during the day, it's time to get back to the usual sleep habits at night. It might take her a few nights to get reacquainted with the normal routine, so hold steady. The more consistent you are, the sooner she'll get the message nighttime is for sleep, not hanging out together.

Speed bumps in the sleep department are a common, and even normal, part of babyhood. The good news is that they're usually solvable.

And even if you can't do much to fix them  (like a newborn mixing up her days and nights), take comfort in knowing that they're temporary. As your baby grows and changes, so too will her sleep.


Frequently Asked Questions

Newborns need about 14 to 17 hours of sleep each day, while babies 4 to 12 months old need about 12 to 16 hours.

Helping your child learn to sleep independently, maintaining a consistent bedtime routine and weaning nighttime feeds can help your baby sleep through the night. Talk to your child's pediatrician before night weaning.

A baby who's cranky and fussy, but is having a hard time settling for bedtime or naps, may be overtired.

During sleep regressions, staying consistent with existing sleep routines can help you get back on track once the regression is over.

Newborns need frequent feedings, so they can't sleep for long stretches. Also, their internal clock may be off, so they'll mix up their days and nights. Help your newborn learn the difference by making those times of day very distinct (loud and active versus quiet and soothing), and know that those frequent nighttime feedings will begin to space out as baby grows.

Yes! Newborns need to eat around the clock, so frequent wake-ups are to be expected. Around 2 to 3 months old, many babies will start to sleep for longer stretches as they drop some night feedings. Around 5 to 6 months, some families choose to sleep train to reduce night wakings and encourage babies to sleep through the night.