Waking frequently at night can be as debilitating as not sleeping at all.

We tend to romanticize waking at night to nurse or cuddle or rock our babies back to sleep.

The reality is that being woken frequently at night, even for just 10 minutes at a time, is as bad for the human body as only sleeping for 4 hours a night! Our bodies can do this for a few weeks and cope, our stress mechanisms set in and protect us from the negative effects of sleep deprivation. 

But doing this month after month after month starts to really takes it toll on our mental and emotional health as humans. As parents we get snappy, inpatient, short fused, and grumpy. Our concentration lags, our emotions don’t regulate and our immune systems suffer. It’s exhausting!

These night wake ups are not unusual

As you can see in the image below, we all move through several stages of sleep throughout the night as we drift from one sleep cycle to the next.

We come into a very light sleep several times a night and the more over tired we are, the more likely we are to fully wake up in this stage of sleep, and require help to get back to sleep.

This fractured sleep over months and months compound our sleep debt, and thus we are stuck in a chicken or the egg situation.

Needing more consolidated sleep to get on top of the sleep debt, but occurring sleep debt through waking so frequently, due to being over tired….

The cycle can feel helpless and like there is no end in sight.

Have a read of how our Wellington sleep consultant Daniela helped Mum Naomi, and Baby Spike (5 months). Her only regret………….she didn’t do it sooner!

Naomi’s story – Wellington Sleep Consultant Daniela to the rescue

“I had pretty much had enough.  Spike was 5ish months old had been waking 4-5 times a night for around 6 weeks when I finally made the decision to call for the free 15 min chat.  Daniela (Wellington based sleep consultant) got in touch, and we decided to go for a 2 hour home consultation.

Daniela came over one Sunday afternoon and she was so easy to get along with.  We had a chat about Spike’s routines, had a look at how sleep works – especially overnight with light and heavy sleep – and that explained exactly what was going on with Spike waking. 

She had a look at his room to make sure it was dark, suggesting we add a rolled up blanket along the top of the curtains to block out more light, and suggested we start using white noise at every nap and overnight.

My hubby & I had already talked a little about what settling technique we wanted to use. 

We wanted to use a technique that meant we weren’t in the room all the time – we have a 4 yr old who also needs attention at bed time!  So we went for an in-and-out method that allowed grizzling and some crying.

We talked about the importance of a long midday nap and how we could encourage Spike to sleep for longer than 45 minutes.

It worked very fast.

Spike learned very quickly to fall asleep on his own without too much fuss, and by us being quite strict (eventually) and sticking to Daniela’s routine, Spike learned when sleep time is and is now sleeping… like a baby.

Thank you Daniela, your knowledge and techniques have changed our lives.  My only regret?  I didn’t call sooner.”

Naomi Lawrence