As a new parent, one of the biggest challenges you may face is getting your baby to sleep through the night. It can be frustrating when your little one wakes up every few hours, leaving you exhausted and sleep deprived.

While there are many reasons why babies wake up at night, there are a few common culprits that may be causing your baby’s sleep disturbances. Here are the top 3 reasons why your baby wakes up at night:.

Hunger: Reason #1

One of the most common reasons why babies wake up at night is hunger. Newborns have small stomachs and need to eat frequently, often every 2-3 hours.

Even as your baby gets older and can go longer stretches without eating during the day, they may still need to eat at least once during the night.

If you suspect hunger is causing your baby to wake up at night, try offering a feeding right before bedtime. You can also try dream feeding, which involves feeding your baby while they’re still asleep.

This can sometimes help them sleep longer stretches without waking up hungry.

Reason #2: Discomfort

Babies can be incredibly sensitive to discomfort, which can cause them to wake up at night. Some common sources of discomfort include:.

Wet or dirty diaper
Too hot or too cold
Ill-fitting clothing or bedding
Pain or discomfort from teething, gas, or other health issues

If you suspect discomfort is causing your baby to wake up at night, check to see if there’s something you can do to alleviate their discomfort.

This could mean changing their diaper, adjusting the room temperature, or providing some pain relief if they’re teething or experiencing other health issues.

Reason #3: Sleep Associations

Another common reason why babies wake up at night is because they’ve developed sleep associations that require your presence in order to fall back asleep.

For example, if you always rock your baby to sleep or feed them right before bedtime, they may come to associate these activities with falling asleep.

When your baby wakes up at night and finds themselves in a different state than when they fell asleep (e.g. no longer being rocked or fed), they may become upset and cry out, requiring your presence to help them fall back asleep.

If you suspect sleep associations are causing your baby to wake up at night, try to gradually wean them off these sleep crutches.

This might mean trying to put your baby down drowsy but awake, rather than fully asleep, or slowly reducing the amount of time you spend rocking or feeding them before bedtime.