My two month old stays up all night

by Emily - Answer by Heidi Holvoet, PhD
(East Hartford, Conneticut, North America)

Question: Why does she wake up everytime I put her in the crib?

Heidi's Answer:

Hi Emily,

I'm assuming you are nursing or feeding Kassandra to sleep and then try to put her down. If you want to avoid her waking up, at this tender age, you may want to wait a bit longer before putting her down.

When she dozes off she does not go into deep sleep straight away. So if you put her down, she's very easily awakened.

If you hold her a bit longer, she will have the time to move into a deeper sleep and then less likely wake up when put down. On top of that, being upright for longer will also give her a chance to burp - do encourage this. Not having burped, and the light indigestion discomfort that often brings at this age, is also a typical cause of waking up soon after lying down.

How to know when to put her down? It may be about 20-30 minutes before she sleeps deeply. You will notice that her breathing slows down and becomes more regular, her body will be still and all relaxed.

It's a good exercise to observe her during this time so you come to recognise when she's in a light sleep (eyes moving rapidly and even opening from time to time, irreglar breathing, body moving, ...) or deep sleep. Recognizing these will help you in the next month when you decide to transition towards self soothing.

Do not hesitate to give more details or further specify your question (just leave a comment below) so I can give more specific advice.

Thanks for sending the picture of your lovely girl!