Night Waking: Causes and Expectations by Age

When do babies stop waking up at night, and when should they be sleeping through the night? If your baby keeps waking up at night, or you regularly find your baby awake during the night and struggling to resettle, you’re not alone. Night waking is one of the most common concerns parents have, especially when they hear other babies are supposedly “sleeping through.”

Night waking is normal and evolves with age: newborns mostly wake from hunger; 4–6 months brings sleep-cycle maturation and sometimes more night feeds; 6–8 months may involve habit wakes and the transition from three to two naps; by 8–12 months, wakes are more often tied to settling or habits than hunger. Balanced daytime naps, an appropriate sleep environment (dark, white noise, swaddling for young babies), and developing self-settling skills help minimise disruptions. Monitor feeding (readiness for solids, sufficient daytime calories, avoiding pacifiers masking hunger and reverse cycling) and rule out other contributors like temperature, illness, allergies/reflux, separation anxiety, noise, or stimulating sleep aids.

In this article, we draw on our experience working with hundreds of thousands of families to explain realistic expectations for sleeping through the night at every age, and to break down the most common causes of night waking so you can understand what is normal, what is age appropriate, and what you can gently improve.

In this article:

• Night wakes between 0-3 months of age
• Night wakes between 4-6 months of age
• Night wakes between 6-8 months of age
• Night wakes between 8-12 months of age
• Other common causes of night waking

Night waking in newborns (0-3 months)

The newborn weeks are all about survival, connection, and learning each other’s cues - sleep will come in tiny pockets, and that’s okay. Our approach is gentle and responsive, helping you create soothing rhythms that support feeding, bonding and rest for everyone. No rules, just loving guidance that meets your baby (and you) exactly where you are. Our Newborn Program guides you with warmth and flexibility so you can build calm, connected foundations without pressure.

Feeding

This is a huge period of development in your baby’s life - the biggest, actually, they’ll ever have! The amount of physical and mental growth that happens in these few months is massive, so they do need lots of fuel for all this growing.

At this point your baby will be entirely milk-fed (formula or breast) and milk is digested much quicker than solid food, so your baby will be feeding every few hours in the day and you can certainly still expect night feeds too.

Settling & Sleep Environment

At this age babies aren’t really capable of developing “bad” sleep habits, so don’t stress too much about how you’re getting them to sleep or that they’re feeding in the night. It’s really only when you reach the 4 month sleep regression that you will want to start thinking about your baby's sleep associations.

For any night wakes under 3 months, assume hunger and feed your baby. Make sure these feeds are done in the dark, change their nappy only if absolutely necessary and avoid stimulating your baby or they will be very hard to settle back to sleep!

We recommend playing white noise all night long and definitely keep it going during these night feeds. Feed your baby in the room they're sleeping in so there is no sudden temperature change. We also recommend that babies this age are swaddled to suppress their startle reflex. Keeping your baby tightly wrapped for their night feeds will also help them stay in the sleep “zone” and they’ll be easier to settle again.

If you have a windy baby make sure you burp them really well after their feeds or they might wake again shortly afterwards and can be more difficult to settle.

Naps

If your baby is waking a LOT in the night or staying awake for long periods it is often attributed to what is happening in their day and with their naps. They might be having too much or too little day sleep, meaning that they are under or over tired. See Why Daytime Sleep Matters for more information about how your baby's naps can impact their night sleep.

Newborn babies can also sometimes have their days and nights around the wrong way, where they happily sleep all day, then stay awake all night! It's not difficult to reverse this day/night confusion simply by having a bit more control over their naps during the day.

Naps can feel like the most fragile part of the day - one short catnap and suddenly the whole rhythm feels off. I want you to know you’re not failing if naps are short or unpredictable right now; you’re learning your baby’s unique needs in real time. In our sleep programs, we look at naps as part of the whole day - wake windows, feeding, environment, connection - and give you gentle, adaptable ways to protect them without ever forcing your baby to conform. We're here to help those naps become a little more restorative for everyone.

Night waking at 4-6 months

Feeding

Between 4-6 months your baby may start waking more in the night for milk, genuinely hungry, even if they can self-settle and had previously been sleeping through the night. This is often a sign they are getting ready to start solids, as their calorie intake from milk alone isn’t quite getting them through the night anymore.

Milk is still the most important food for a baby until 8 months of age, however, milk is digested very quickly and doesn't sustain your baby for long periods. So if your baby is breastfed or bottle-fed and you don't want to start solids until 6 months, you will need to assume your baby's overnight wake is due to hunger and feed them straight away.

If you have started solids and your baby is still waking, you may need to increase their solids intake. We would advise you to refer to health guidelines or talk to your GP about starting/increasing solids if you think your baby is ready.

If your baby uses a pacifier and overnight you are resettling them with a pacifier instead of feeding, be careful. A pacifier can mask the fact that your baby is actually waking because they are hungry. When a baby sucks a pacifier, their brain thinks they are getting food so they may go back to sleep, but then wake hungry again shortly afterwards.

If your baby is waking frequently to have the pacifier replaced, try feeding them at their first wake to see if they are actually waking hungry. If they continue to wake frequently, the pacifier could actually be causing more problems than it solves. You can read more about The Pacifier & Baby Sleep: When They Help and When to Wean

Settling

At this age sleep gets a bit trickier as babies experience a maturation in their sleep patterns which is often called the Four Month Sleep Regression and can start waking fully between sleep cycles (every 45 minutes in the day and every 60 to 90 minutes overnight). Now, your baby can come to rely heavily on the method used to settle them to sleep (rocking, feeding pacifier etc.), and they will need that same method to go back to sleep between cycles.

This means night waking can definitely be caused by a settling issue rather than hunger. However, this can be hard to work out if your baby is not yet able to go to sleep independently for their naps and at bedtime. Once your baby is able to self-settle to sleep, it's much easier to distinguish between your baby waking out of genuine hunger, versus a need to be fed back to sleep.

I want you to know that teaching self-settling isn’t about leaving your baby to cry or forcing independence before they’re ready. It’s about gently helping your little one learn that they are safe, loved and capable of drifting back to sleep when they naturally stir between cycles. Our approach is always responsive and respectful of a baby's temperament and your family’s values. In our Sleep Programs, we walk you through gentle, age-appropriate settling methods that honour connection and attachment - no one-size-fits-all rules, just flexible tools and real-time support so you can find what feels right for your baby and for you. 

Night waking at 6-8 months

Feeding

Some babies will still need a milk feed in the night at this age. Babies who started solids after 6 months or who are doing baby-led weaning are generally not getting enough calories from solids (or protein at the lunch meal) yet to help them get through the night.

Naps

Between 6-8 months babies will transition from 3 naps, down to 2 naps a day. Babies who are still having that third late afternoon nap can begin to wake overnight because they are under tired and ready to drop that nap now. Read about Dropping from 3 naps to 2 to find out more about navigating this nap transition.

Short or tricky naps, especially during transitions, don’t mean you’re doing it wrong - they mean your baby is still figuring out rest in a busy, growing world. Our sleep programs help you gently protect naps with age-appropriate timing, calm environments, and responsive settling - all while keeping connection first.

Habit wake

Beyond 6 months of age, babies can begin to form habit wakes - these typically happen at the exact same time every night. If you are feeding your baby multiple times a night, yet you think they surely don’t need the milk, they may be waking out of habit rather than hunger.

In some cases, what can end up happening is that a baby takes most of their milk calories during the night and consequently, feeds less during the day. This turns into what we call reverse cycling - when they have their feeding times/quantities the wrong way around! Read about Reverse Cycling to find out how to switch things back around.

Night waking at 8-12 months

Feeding/Habit wake

Babies this age are far less likely to wake out of genuine hunger if they are well established on solids. By now, your baby should be also drinking small amounts of water during the day to keep them hydrated. From 8 months of age, solids can be offered before milk feeds but you’d still aim to have 3 good milk feeds a day. Waking overnight at this age is more often due to a settling issue or habit wake, rather than actual hunger.

Naps

As your baby approaches 12 months of age, they will get ready to transition down to one nap a day. This nap transition typically occurs between 12-15 months of age. If your baby is still having quite a long morning nap, this can have a knock-on effect with their second nap of the day and their overnight sleep. Our Sleep Programs can help you to prepare your baby for this transition, by gradually reducing the length of their morning nap as they get older.

Beyond 12 months, if your toddler is still having 2 naps a day, or is napping for longer than 2 hours across the day, it can definitely start causing more night waking because they're simply not tired enough to sleep through the night.

Other common causes of night waking

If you can rule out hunger, here are some other common causes of night waking in babies of all ages:

• They are too hot or cold
• They don’t have white noise playing all night and are being woken by environmental or household noises
• They are sick
• They can’t self-settle (beyond 4 months old)
• They aren’t swaddled (for babies younger than 5 months, who aren't rolling yet)
• Their sleep environment is too stimulating - ie there is a nightlight or a musical toy
• They have a medical condition such as tongue tie, reflux or allergies
• They have had too much or too little day sleep
• Separation anxiety in babies going through big changes or developmental leaps
• During particular periods in their development babies do wake simply to "practise" their new skills (crawling etc). This is common at 8 months and 12 months.

I had been struggling getting my baby to sleep, constant rocking, bouncing, feeding you name it at all hours of the day and night, all the while she’s screaming and crying. This went on for weeks and I was slowly breaking down little bit by little bit each day and found myself crying with her.
I had read the reviews on the little ones page and thought, this is worth the money if it helps us in anyway.
By day 2 of using the program my baby was putting herself to sleep within 3 minutes and very minimal tears. It’s been a few weeks now and she’s sleeping through the night 10-12 hours at 6 months. I can even get her down for the afternoon nap in the cot with just one re-settle in the room.
Since I’ve been using the program and seen such success, my other mom friends have also purchased and are seeing great results too.

It’s such a good program, and you can alter it to suit your baby and lifestyle. The information provided is invaluable. And it’s the best money I have ever spent.

THANK YOU LITTLE ONES - Anna

___________

Bibliography

Coons, S., & Guilleminault, C. (2008). DEVELOPMENT OF CONSOLIDATED SLEEP AND WAKEFUL PERIODS IN RELATION TO THE DAV/NIGHT CYCLE IN INFANCY. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 26(2), 169–176.

Dewar, G. (2017, January 2). Newborn sleep patterns: A survival guide. PARENTING SCIENCE. 

Dewar, G. (2018, January 2). Baby sleep patterns: An evidence-based guide. PARENTING SCIENCE. 

Dewar, G. (2020, July 17). Baby sleep deprivation: How to tell if your baby isn’t sleeping enough. PARENTING SCIENCE. 

Iwata, S., Fujita, F., Kinoshita, M., Unno, M., Horinouchi, T., Morokuma, S., & Iwata, O. (2017). Dependence of nighttime sleep duration in one-month-old infants on alterations in natural and artificial photoperiod. Scientific Reports, 7(1).