How Do I Get My Baby to Stop Fighting Sleep?

Why Do Babies Fight Sleep?

The first step to learning how to make your baby sleep is to understand why they're fighting it.

There are plenty of parents who believe their babies simply want to spend more time with family.

However, there are many causes for your baby acting out near bedtime.

1. Overtired

More often than not, your baby is probably fighting sleep because they're overtired.

As an adult, it sounds like a strange concept since you would simply sleep if overtired.

Though as a baby, they don't have the awareness to know that sleep is the answer to their crankiness.

You'll find that when your baby is too tired, they might start acting hyper, frantic, and very cranky.

You've likely missed their sleeping window, so it can be challenging to get them down.

Parents might also find the hyperactivity causes them to keep their babies awake for longer, only exacerbating the problem.

As a more in-depth explanation, when babies do not get enough sleep, their bodies' stress response is activated.

This process results in a boost of cortisol, which is the hormone responsible for making you feel stressed and anxious.

Situations where babies have too much cortisol results in them being impossible to settle down or challenging to keep asleep.

2. Lack of Sleepiness

On the other end of the spectrum, there's the possibility that your baby isn't tired enough to fall asleep.

The best way to figure out if they are over or under tired is to think about the day they just had.

Lack of sleepiness can also result from an irregular sleeping schedule or lack of activity during the day.

Imagine if you had a ton of pent up energy and no way to exhaust it by the time you had to go to bed.

Likely, you'd also be dealing with a lack of sleepiness when resting for the night.

Many new parents can use signs of lack of sleepiness to help adjust their baby's sleeping schedules.

For example, if their newborn is napping too much during the day, causing them to be awake at night.

By paying close attention to their activity and sleeping habits, you can customize a sleeping schedule for your children.

3. Separation Anxiety

One of the more severe reasons your baby might not be going to bed like they should is separation anxiety.

This issue typically presents itself between eight and ten months, as babies become very attached.

Once they understand the concept of saying goodbye, it can be difficult for even the most well-behaved children to sleep.

Unfortunately, this is an issue you can't remedy since it's a developmental phase.

It is likely to peak between eight and ten months, but again at 18 months, and for a third time around two years.

Some of the tips you'll find in Baby Sleep Miracle can prove incredibly useful when dealing with separation anxiety.

What Are the Benefits of Baby Sleep Miracle?

It's not uncommon for parents to lose plenty of sleep during the first years of parenthood.

Based on Sleep Junkie data, only 10% of new parents get the recommended amount of sleep after having kids.

With the help of Baby Sleep Miracle, you can ensure both your baby's and your sleep needs are met using holistic methods.

1. Incredible Knowledge

There's nothing better than having access to several resources to help better yourself as a parent.

Baby Sleep Miracle has information from reputable resources, along with the author herself.

Mary-Ann Schuler is a clinical psychologist with a 20-year career, including experience in child psychology.

Some of the expert points are from both Harvard and Stanford Center for Sleep Science research.

You'll not only have parent-to-parent advice but professional advice as well.

2. Natural Methods

Little do many parents know that there are good and bad ways to encourage their babies to fall asleep.

Some of the most popular methods could do more harm than good, especially when it comes to sleep schedules.

With this informative guide, you can learn the ins and outs of plenty of natural methods.

You'll be able to ensure your child feels more comfortable falling asleep at night.

Also, you can rest assured they will be able to establish their bedtime routines.

There's no need to worry about medications to help both you and your baby get a decent night's rest.

3. Highly Adaptable

What makes Baby Sleep Miracle unique is that it's highly adaptable to all households.

Even if your child has never shown signs of difficulty with sleep, the pages' soothing techniques can be quite useful.

You're guaranteed to learn something new that can help you further down the road, regardless of your child's sleeping patterns.

In terms of adaptability, the eBook is also available across a wide variety of platforms, as it's in PDF format.

You can easily download it to your tablet, computer, or smartphone and print it for future reference.

4. Seven-Stage Program

This program is far more than a simple book with tips and tricks; it has nearly everything necessary to help your children get better sleep.

The seven-stage program is intuitive, comprehensive, and easy for anyone to understand and follow.

You'll learn how to soothe a baby properly and even when to follow your intuition as a parent.

Overall, it's an instrumental manual that you will find yourself turning to more often than not.

How Do I Get My Baby to Stop Fighting Sleep?

There is an onslaught of advice that you can find to help you put your baby to sleep.

Family members might even have their pieces of advice, but you need to find what's right for your child.

Here are some of the most adaptable tidbits to prevent your child from fighting sleep at all stages.

1. Improving the Sleeping Environment

Everyone knows there's massive importance to the type of environment you fall asleep in; for example, some adults prefer TV, while others prefer no sounds.

It's somewhere in the middle for babies since they don't need silence but also can't be surrounded by distractions.

One of the best ways to improve your baby's nursery is to purchase a white noise machine.

This device helps to cut away from a room's deafening silence while soothing your baby to sleep.

It also helps to adjust them to be around noise while asleep, so they don't become light sleepers.

Parents who don't prevent light sleeping often find they can't do regular chores.

Depending on your baby, you might also not be able to have a conversation while the baby is sleeping.

Your best option is to sleep train them as early as possible to make everyday life simpler.

Another vital thing to think about with their environment is lighting.

Babies, much like adults, need complete darkness to feel entirely at ease while sleeping.

You'll want to install blackout curtains and remove any distractions, such as lighted gadgets.

This point is particularly important for babies who are always aware of everything and interested in learning.

The more things they have to look at, the less tired they'll become, causing them to stay awake.

2. Establishing a Schedule

The top recommendation you're likely to find from any resource is to ensure you have a schedule in place.

The best thing about a schedule is that you can adapt it depending on your baby's developmental stage.

For example, if your baby is fighting sleep because they're overtired, you can adjust their bedtime earlier.

When it comes to making a sleeping schedule, you'll want to pay the closest attention when they’re awake.

Look at every day as a moving piece. Since babies wake up at different times, they should go to bed at different times.

Another essential part is to watch for physical signs of your child being tired, such as rubbing their eyes or ears.

By knowing how long your child has been awake, you can adjust their sleeping schedule as necessary.

3. Following Routines

Babies love routines and the consistency they bring to the table, not to mention they'll make your life easier.

Always make sure you have a bedtime and naptime routine that can allow your baby to wind down before going to sleep.

By having routines, you'll be giving them physical prompts to know when to slow their thinking and curiosity for sleep.

You can quickly put on a particular song before putting them to bed, wrap them in a sleep sack, or even read a book.

Eventually, your baby will catch onto the process and know that it's time for their body to relax.

This process can also be used continually throughout their developmental stages, even past the toddler stage.

4. Understanding Reassurance vs. Coddling

There's nothing more stressful than hearing your baby cry and not doing anything.

Every parent can agree that dealing with their baby's emotions is one of the toughest things when sleep training.

This time is when you need to understand the difference between reassurance and coddling.

Coddling is not recommended when establishing a sleep schedule, such as picking your baby up and rocking them to sleep.

Instead, an alternative would be to reassure them, such as patting them while they're in their crib.

With this method, you're able to give them the emotional support they need while still allowing them to soothe without significant intervention.

Once you have a clear idea of what it means to help your baby feel comforted and reassured, you can even curb separation anxiety.

While on the other hand, coddling can lead to more significant issues in fighting sleep and maintaining sleeping schedules.

5. Maintaining Calmness

Although it might sound strange, there is evidence suggesting that babies pick up on their mothers' stress.

Experts even suggest that physiological changes between a baby and their mother can correlate to the mother's stress.

If you're dealing with a baby who's fighting sleep, staying calm is of the utmost importance.

Otherwise, your stress response could be negatively impacting their likelihood of calming down as well.

It's easy for parents to be overworked, overtired, and struggle to maintain their regular day-to-day operations.

However, showing your exceptional patience and calmness is imperative for your baby's peacefulness when it comes time for bed.

It's also crucial for you to keep your mind at ease for your health.

Parents are prone to ignore their postpartum health in efforts to maintain their baby's happiness.

Although they are your whole world, you must stay healthy for them as well.

6. Trying the Opposite

If you can't seem to put a head on what your baby's sleep problems stem from, do the opposite.

You likely already have a schedule in place to follow, and if it's not working, maybe your baby requires something different.

By completely switching your routine around, you might learn something new about your child.

Every baby is different, and no two children react to rules and schedules in the same way.

Being able to stop your baby from fighting sleep has more to do with understanding their personality than anything else.

For example, your second child might not like complete darkness like your first baby did.

Consider alternating your sleeping plan to determine if there's a specific thing you could be doing incorrectly.

From there, you can establish a new routine to help them feel more comfortable at night.

Final Thoughts

If you're asking, how do I get my baby to stop fighting sleep, there are a lot of things that you can do but we highly recommend Baby Sleep Miracle.

It's an intuitively written eBook that is highly adaptable to most parents' situations, regardless of their baby's age.

You'll love having professional advice at your fingertips to help your baby get the perfect rest daily.