Helping Your Baby Sleep When They’re Sick
When your child is ill, sleep often gets interrupted. Coughing, congestion, ear pain, or an upset belly can keep your little one from sleeping well. Here are my top tips for getting through an illness!
Sleep=Healing
If you are in the middle of sleep training your child and they get sick, press pause on your sleep training efforts until they are feeling better.
You want to provide your baby with some extra TLC and do what it takes to get them to sleep. Sleep is restorative and healing, so now is not the time to let your baby “work it out”.
Your child may actually sleep more when sick. Let them sleep, but try to keep their schedule as close to normal as possible. What you don’t want, is for them to nap all day long but then be up all night! Let naps go longer, but cap them at about an hour more than normal. Make sure to wake them for their normal feeding times.
Help your child get back to sleep, without creating new sleep crutches
If your child is normally an independent sleeper, this may mean just going in the room and attending to basic needs (giving a tissue, drink of water, etc). If this doesn’t seem to do the job, rock your baby or do whatever it takes! I would avoid bringing your child into your bed. If you feel like your child needs to be monitored and don’t feel safe leaving them on their own, camp out in their room instead of bringing them into your bed.
Prep for success before bed
-Cough or stuffy nose? Run a humidifier in your child's bedroom.
- If your child has a stuffy nose, use some nasal saline and suction (such as a bulb syringe or Nose Frida) to clean your baby's nose out well prior to bed.
- Before bed, run a hot shower in the bathroom with the doors closed. Run the shower long enough for your mirrors to steam. Once the bathroom is steamy, turn off the shower and give your baby a bath. The combination of the steam and bath water will clean out their nasal passages!
- If my kids are coughing, I like to put chest rub on their feet and chest. This should only be used for kids 2 and older. Be sure to use a chest rub that is safe for kids. I prefer to use a chest rub that is free of tea tree oil and lavender, as these essential oils are suspected endocrine disrupters. This is the only chest rub I’ve found that doesn’t contain tea tree oil or lavender.
- If your child's Pediatrician suggests medication for fever or pain, such as Tylenol or Motrin, time the administration for just prior to bedtime.
You can also follow my bedtime routine that I do when my kids are sick!
Handle the night waking
- If a cough is keeping your child awake, offer some water and then leave the room. This may be all that is needed.
- If that does not help, you may need to clear mucus that is draining down your baby’s throat, causing them to cough. For babies, use nasal saline and suction to clear their nose.
- If your baby needs more help, fill up your bathroom with steam from a hot shower. Spend about 15 minutes in the bathroom, holding your child upright. This will help break up mucus that could be causing the cough.
- Do whatever you need to do to get your baby back to sleep. This may mean you need to hold them until they’re feeling better. It may mean that you need to rock them to sleep.
- Avoid bringing your child into your bed. If you feel like you need to monitor them closely, it is better to camp out in their room on an air mattress.
- Once your child’s illness is improving, get back to your normal routine.
Deal with the Day
- Extra-long naps are okay, and likely needed.
- You may need to put your child down for a nap early.
- Provide lots of cuddles and TLC when your child is awake. Take things easy.
- Encourage lots of fluids.
- Consult your child’s Pediatrician if you feel it is needed.
If you want to prep your baby for night-time success, go through my bedtime routine for when a baby is sick.
I hope that you find these tips helpful. If you feel your child needs some help returning to their normal sleep routine after illness, book a free evaluation call with me.
