Sick + Tired: Navigating Baby Illness and Sleep

Let’s just call it what it is: it’s germ season. It’s practically inevitable to make it through the winter months without your baby falling ill. Despite our best efforts to prevent sickness - washing hands, limiting social interactions, lots of fruits + veggies - it happens.

For parents who’ve spent countless hours fine-tuning solid sleep practices for their children, the thought of illness wreaking havoc on their well-established routine (and returning to sleepless nights!) can be worrisome. 

Here’s what you need to know about baby sleep + illness:

When it comes to sleep, sick babies require lots of it. Research shows that when we get quality, restorative sleep, our immune systems are better equipped to fight illness (and prevent it in the first place). 

Sleep is the very BEST medicine for sick children.

With that being said, sick babies also crave extra cuddles, feeds, and support, sometimes making it more difficult to get the most out of their sleep. As your child sleep consultant, I am not here to convince you to stick to your routine rigidly or teach your little one to sleep independently while they’re under the weather. Instead, I’m here to remind you that for even the best of sleepers, sickness can be disruptive. If you’re in the midst of sleep training, take a break and focus on getting your little one feeling better. While babies and children often compensate naturally by sleeping more when they are unwell, they also tend to wake more frequently due to congestion, discomfort or pain and rely on caregivers more to fall asleep. 

Not to worry. I’ve put together a handful of suggestions for navigating sleep during illness. Once your little one is feeling better, you can get right back to your solid sleep routine. If your little one entered into their sickness with sleep challenges, I’m happy to help once they’re feeling better! 

So, how do you help your little one feel better while making sure they are getting the restorative sleep they need for recovery?

1) Maintain sleep cues + routine.

Providing familiar cues that sleep is near, by following your normal wind-down routines at nap and bedtime will help your little one enter a calm state as they fall asleep. Babies who fall asleep in a relaxed state, tend to have more restorative sleep, and wake feeling refreshed. In maintaining the familiarity of your calming routine, your little one will also have an easier time staying on track with their sleep during illness.

2) Offer comfort + support.

Even if your little one has mastered independent sleep skills, they may require some extra help falling asleep when they are sick. It’s important to stay in tune with their needs, which may mean some extra rocking, back rubs, and cuddles. When possible, comfort and calm your baby, and place them down awake, but know that it’s okay to place them down asleep if they are having a tricky time transitioning from awake to asleep on their own. Often your gentle presence and calm voice are all the reassurance a sick child needs to fall asleep, so watch your child carefully and offer the support they seek. 

3) Be flexible. 

Trust me, I know that a predictable sleep routine takes time + effort to establish. So, the thought of throwing that out the window seems wild. But, when your little one is sick it is important to prioritize sleep - even if that means beginning naps earlier than usual when your child is showing sleep cues, or letting your little one take longer naps. We normally limit naps to 2 hours, when a baby is napping more than once a day, but while they are sick, consider waking your little one only after 2.5-3 hours (if they take more than one nap) to make sure they are receiving ample hydration and calories. 

For bedtime, flexibility is key too. Be mindful that your child will likely be ready for bed sooner than normal, so keep that final wakeful period of the day on the shorter side and rely on your child’s sleep cues to decide on an appropriate bedtime. For example, if your little one is normally awake for 4 hours between their afternoon nap and bedtime, if they are unwell they may be ready for bed closer to the 3-hour mark. Follow their lead, knowing that the goal is to help them get the sleep they need, and prevent overtiredness at bedtime.

4) Provide extra feeds.

For parents who’ve spent weeks (or months!) weaning night feeds, the thought of reintroducing a middle-of-the-night feed may seem like taking a major step back. But, if your little one is experiencing vomiting or diarrhea, or eating less than normal during the day, maintaining hydration will be very important - even if it means temporarily feeding your baby at night. When they are feeling better, this temporary feed will likely go away naturally. If necessary, you can gradually wean them by reducing the feed by a minute or two each night, or by 0.5oz each night (if they are bottle-fed). 

5) Create an environment for optimal recovery.

• Warm bath + steam. Soaking in a warm bath can help relieve congestion and soothe sore and achy muscles. A warm bath also acts as a strong sleep cue for babies. It’s a win, win! An easy alternative to the bath is to take your baby into the bathroom for several minutes after you have had a warm shower and let the steam loosen up their nose + chest. 

• Humidifier. If you don’t already have a humidifier in your child’s room, now is the time to add one. Humidifiers (and vaporizers) are a great tool, especially during the winter months, for relieving congested airways and can help with a chest or head cold.

• Saline drops + suction. This will not be your baby’s favourite, but a few drops of saline and a nose sucker can make the world of difference for your little one’s airways, especially if done right before bedtime.

• Massage. If your baby, or toddler, is having body aches from their sickness a gentle massage before bed can really help to relax them for sleep. Massage can also be super useful for middle-of-the-night wakings, in gently helping your little one back to sleep if they need your support.

• Medication + hydration. Discuss medications with your doctor to target your child’s sickness. Offering pain + fever medication on the recommended timeline, just before bed, can help your little one reach longer stretches of sleep at night without pain or discomfort. Also, discuss offering your child Pedialyte for electrolytes if they have diarrhea or high fever - hydration is key to recovery!

Getting everyone back on track.

The first step in getting back on track after your little one has been ill is to confirm that they are fully recovered. It may be worth checking in with your doctor to get the ‘all clear’ before settling back in to your normal sleep routine. Shifting back to your regular schedule and routine may result in some confusion for your little one, because things were temporarily adjusted. It’s important to remain super consistent in the first few days to teach your child that their old routine is back. If you were in the midst of sleep training when your little one got sick, go back to your plan. Sending a clear, confident message, by responding to bedtime protests and night wakings consistently, is the best way for your child to understand the expectations and help their brains + bodies remember their sleep routines. Typically it takes 2-3 nights to get your solid sleeper back!

If your child is no longer sick, but they were never an excellent sleeper, reach out and we can come up with a plan together to get everyone sleeping better soon! Book a complimentary Discovery Call to learn about the ways I help families prioritize sleep.