Sickness & Sleep
How to Manage Sickness and Sleep
There you are beep bopping along in life thinking everything is going well, and then BAM! Your baby or child gets sick. Things you had in place are now not-so-much in place, and you might be asking yourself “what do I do now?”
Sleep is one of those topics you *might* think about when your baby gets sick. You know they need rest to help their bodies heal, but you might also be concerned about inadvertently bringing back a sleep association, or completely throwing them off their schedule, and as a result, throwing you of your schedule. These are valid concerns!
I want to tell you a personal story about when my son got sick, but also help you plan ahead for when your baby, toddler, or child gets sick (or you might be reading this because they ARE sick).
What do you do about sleep when your baby gets sick?
What’s more important, keeping them on a schedule or letting them sleep as much as they can?
Maybe you are breastfeeding and you’re worried that because they are so sick, they are falling asleep nursing and you can’t sustain that once they are feeling better- do you still let them?
Let’s get all those questions and more answered!
My Sick Son
There I stood in the shower with my 8-month-old son. We were both covered in vomit and we were on our 5th shower that night to clean up. I had no idea a baby could hold so much vomit nor did I know it could go so far. Yuck! He was sick. A check of his temperature resulting in a fever confirmed it. I knew I had a long night ahead of me. Little did I know it was going to be a very, very long week. I was not sure how I was going to handle any of it- our everyday schedule, his feeding schedule, and of course his sleep schedule.
This is a story many moms and dads can relate to in so many ways. Our babies get sick in the middle of the night and we wonder how we are going to deal with it. Well, the bad news is, I can’t give you much advice on the sickness itself, but the good news is I can tell you is how to handle your baby’s (or child’s, but let’s face it, they are still your baby) sleep while they are sick.
Preventative Measures
First and foremost, the best way to manage a sick baby’s sleep is to have them on a good sleep schedule and routine before they actually get sick. This piece of advice is all about preventative care. Time and time again, studies have proven that sleep has a huge impact on our immune systems and how they function. So, before you experience the 5th shower in the middle of the night covered in vomit, consider getting your baby on a sleep regiment that provides them with more than adequate amounts of sleep for their development and immune system.
However, if you are reading this, you may just be in the thick of it right now and you don’t want to hear about preventative measures you could have taken. I totally get that! No judgment here! Remember that story above about standing in the shower after being vomited on? My son was a terrible sleeper at that point and I’m sure he wasn’t getting near the sleep he should have been. So, yeah, I’ve been there, too. I’ve got you!
What to Do
Let’s be honest. When babies are sick, they want mommy or daddy (or both)! They want you right there with them keeping them safe and giving them love. Your baby is sick and I want you to make sure you are right there keeping them safe and giving them love (exactly what they want). But before you throw any and all caution, discipline, or schedules to the wind, let’s talk about a few tips that will help you support your child through their sickness, without making it difficult to get back in a groove once they are feeling better.
Avoid co-sleeping with them, especially if this was previously a difficult thing for your family to stop.
Instead, blow up an air mattress or build a blanket pallet on the floor of their room. Camp out in their room with them all night or at least until they fall asleep. The key is to keep them in their normal sleep space so that they are most comfortable!
Keep your baby’s bedtime on time or earlier.
Sometimes when our babies get sick, we allow extra cuddle time or even tv time. There is nothing wrong with a little TLC! However, we want to be sure we are keeping our baby’s bedtime schedule as close to normal as possible. With that said, if you know your baby could easily go to bed early, push for that earlier bedtime for sure! That extra sleep will be extremely beneficial to strengthening your baby’s immune system. Just avoid allowing bedtime to slip backward.
Keep your baby’s bedtime routine as normal as you can.
Bedtime routines are important because they cue the onset of sleep. If you have to add in a few steps to just make sure your babe is taken care of, that is totally fine! Just be sure to keep everything calm and relaxing.
Balance the daytime schedule with naps so that they are getting the rest they need, but also without negatively affecting nighttime sleep.
If your babe still naps, you may notice that they want to nap longer or more throughout the day. That is ok, just as long as they are still able to maintain their schedule. So, if you notice the naps are lasting an hour or so longer than they often do, go ahead and get them up to maintain the schedule.
If your child is no longer napping, there is no problem with letting them nap away if they are sick! Just be sure you are also encouraging nighttime sleep and not letting them stay up super late.
If breastfeeding, from a sleep standpoint, continue to do so. Be sure to contact your pediatrician for any guidance beyond sleep.
If there was previously a nurse to sleep association that you had to work to end, avoid allowing your baby to totally fall asleep on the breast. Nurse them awake as normal and burp them awake as normal. If they are falling asleep on the breast due to exhaustion from the sickness, just end the feeding and let them sleep.
If other sleep associations have been present in the past, such as rocking to sleep or holding to sleep, don’t fear doing those things while your baby is sick.
The key hear is not making it a habit again, and as soon as your baby is feeling better, you go right back to laying them down fully awake.
Once you start to see improvement in your baby and you know they are on the mend, start to ease back into the regular schedule. Once they are 100% again, jump right back into the schedule and routine with both feet. The longer you linger with the “sick baby rules” the more difficult it will be for your babe to get back to expecting the rules, routines, and schedules.
Bottom Line About Sickness and Sleep
If you take anything from this today, I want you to remember that when your baby is sick, extra cuddles, extra love, and tons of extra TLC are totally acceptable and encouraged! You just want to avoid creating any new crutches, negative sleep associations, or “bad” sleep habits that may be difficult to change later. Otherwise, camp out, give some extra snuggles, let your baby sleep, and just focus on getting them feeling better.
As for my little guy, within 2 months of this illness, I chose to sleep train him and it was the best decision I could have made. Now, when he gets sick, the illness does not last near as long, nor is it near as bad! He also enjoys sleeping and understands when he is tired and cranky that sleep will help him feel much better.
Are you interested in taking preventative measures to get your baby sleeping well before illness hits? Is your child currently experiencing an illness and you’d like to see about future prevention? Click the link below and get scheduled for a 15 Minute Evaluation Call with me!
Together we can get your little one dreaming!
Until next time…
