Having trouble sleeping, because your baby is waking up mostly during the night? What can you do? How can you help your wife/partner?
Once upon a time in a faraway land, a couple had a beautiful baby girl, who she blessed them with her cuteness and tenderness. Everything was perfect, she slept mostly during the day and night, she never cried and pooped just twice a day. So they lived happily after!
Wehhhh, Wehhhh, Wehhhh!!! Okay back to reality as I was just wondering how nice if this fairy-tale was true 😂
Yep daddy’s this is my life at the moment, I can’t complain as I knew what I was going into when we tried to have a child. Basically my sleepless nights started when my little one popped out, but let’s be positive, is it that bad? Yes, and No, luckily enough my daughter is not that fussy as she sleeps mostly during the day and has her good nights and bad nights… So will my baby be like that? Who knows, every child is different and today that is what I want to share with you, ways on how to calm your baby and gain that extra hour of sleep… Now I know how much I crave every minute of sleep.
So, to answer your question, why is my baby crying during the night?
(Maltese daddy Disclaimer – These are clues which I tried and some worked, but some didn’t so be patient and creative to find different ways)
Babies are like a cracking a safe, you will never get it right in the beginning, you need to test several combinations until you can crack the safe… So, in other words, no-one speaks baby so it’s difficult to determine what they want, but with proven studies, parents can rest assured that babies tend to give us clues. Newborn babies are not so complex, they sleep (around 16 hours), poop, cry and eat, but when they are older than 3 months, sleeping improves throughout the night. As I said babies do not talk, but they cry and that is their only way of saying daddy I need you to change my poopy. So what are the clues we should not ignore:
Hunger:
This is mostly the main reason why babies cry, as their stomach is so small that they need to eat after a few hours. So what to do? Most babies need to be fed every two to three hours since you last fed them, so dads if shes breast-fed you can sit this through, but if shes bottle-fed give a helping hand to your wife…
Wisdadm – Don’t wait for your baby to start crying, look at the clock and best is to feed her after every two to three hours so she won’t gulp the food and will end up to a bigger problem… da da dumm GAS
GAS:
“Jaqaw għandek il-gass”(Do you have gas) If you’re saying this to your baby, trust me your answer wouldn’t be “Yes daddy,” it would be something like “Weeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” So do your child a favour and feed her on time, so she won’t be in a hunger frenzy and gulps her food as she will swallow air and that leads to gas. This will make your fed baby into a fed-gassy baby.
Wisdadm – Feed your baby on time and once you do take your time to burp her during a feeding, and continue feeding her after, then repeat again. If she continues to cry, try massing her belly gently or use a hot water bottle (not directly to her skin) to warm up her belly and start shooting 😁
Nappy Change:
Your child won’t tell you that she pooped or peed, so its up to you to check her on a regular basis. Mostly changing nappies will be an hour after a feed and yes there is a big chance that once you change the nappy of your child she will poop again in just one minute apart… Cleaning her before a feed or throughout the night is essential as they will sleep more comfortably.
Other reasons – Not so common, but it can also be that:
- Her head is uncomfortable whilst asleep
- She’s catching a cold or feeling sick
- The room is either too cold or too hot
Wisdadm – If it’s Winter, make sure to dress appropriately for her sleep plus a heater would help and if its Summer, just put on some light baby grows on her complimented with a fan (fun fact – Babies find the sound of the fan soothing). If she is still crying and you think she is sick, check her temperature, if it’s over and above the normal temperature 98.5 ° F (36.9 ° C) call your paediatrician.
Still fussy?
So if your baby is still crying, she may be going through baby colic… What is baby colic? This is not a disease and won’t harm your baby, but it’s an event that babies under 5 months may pass through. Colicky babies cry continuously sometimes 3 hours straight and you will notice their cry with a higher pitch. Thankfully it only lasts around 6 weeks, and will improve eventually between 2-4 months.
“Daqshekk?”(That’s it) Yes, that’s it… Not so bad ey? So yeah Dads we can handle this trust me! The only things you need to be aware of are being patient, communicate with your partner and love your little one unconditionally as that is all she needs.
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