Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
Development Milestones and Sleep Problems | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Needlman,
I have heard that if babies begin waking at night after having been sleeping through the night for some time that it is likely they are about to reach a developmental milestone (such as starting to crawl, rolling over, etc).... Once this milestone is reached then they begin sleeping through the night again. Is there any truth to this?— Vevv | | | ANSWER |
January 17, 2002 | | | Dear Vevv,
It's certainly true that babies who have been sleeping through the night often start waking and needing their parents' attention. Somewhere around nine months is the usual time for this, and again at around 18 to 24 months.
The usual child development teaching is that waking during the ninth month has to do with the child now being able to remember that mommy or daddy are nearby, even though they are out of sight. So, when the baby wakes up, he demands attention, rather than settling back down to sleep.
Of course, a lot of other development is going on at the same time. A lot of nine-month-old children are beginning to think about taking their first steps (some are actually walking, but many more are just beginning to stand holding on), and the effort to master walking does seem to take up a lot of emotional energy, so that children this age are sometimes irritable or have trouble sleeping.
The sleep issues often (but not always) do get better once babies start toddling around. Whether that's because they are so tired out from walking all the time, or because they have figured out how to comfort themselves without needing their parents to come, I don't know.
Berry Brazelton, a justly renowned child development expert, has a lot to say about how development in one area seems to effect development in others. His book, Touchpoints is an excellent resource. — by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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