• Hunger : it is she who, night and day, wakes up the newborn regularly (every 3 to 4 hours) until he acquires (around 3 months on average) a circadian rhythm. Hunger is not so much an enemy of sleep as a parameter to deal with.
• Pain : that of digestive origin with the famous infant colic, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux), that of ENT disorders (colds, otitis), not to mention that of teething.
• The environment and the discomfort : too hot, too cold, a dirty diaper, too much noise or not enough … After nine months spent in the cocoon universe of her mother’s womb, life on earth can be experienced as assault on the baby. All these discomforts can disturb his sleep.
• Lack of benchmarks : “From the first weeks, the child needs landmarks: he must sleep in the same bed, in the same place, to be changed in the same room. Likewise, it is important that the same people take care of him, in this case, the father and the mother “, advises Lyliane Nemet-Pier, clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst.
• Emotional insecurity, insufficient mothering : “A baby needs a lot of contact during the first few weeks. He needs to be carried in the arms, carried by the voice”, insists the psychologist. This basic safety is a primary need of the baby, just like the need to eat. It is the guarantee of a serene child during his awakening and his sleep.
• Ambient anxiety : “The baby is a sponge: he feels all the emotions of the adults who take care of him”, recalls the psychologist. And, like adults, anxiety is bad for sleep.
• Over-intervention by the parent : baby sleep is different from ours: it falls asleep in restless sleep and each of its cycles begins with this same restless sleep. “During this phase, the baby moves his eyes, arms, legs, pouts, has a rapid and panting breath. It looks like he is not well, but he sleeps soundly.”, explains Lyliane Nemet-Pier. Many worried parents then hug their babies and actually wake them up. Also, for the psychologist, many sleep disorders are created by ignoring this restless sleep that should be taught in maternity wards.
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