A health visitor has settled the ongoing debate about how often babies should wake up during the night, offering reassurance to exhausted parents. Ruth Watts, who has worked as a health visitor for 11 years, recently shared her expertise with her 175,000 Instagram followers, explaining that frequent night wakings are a normal part of infant sleep.
Normal Infant Sleep Patterns
Watts emphasized that a baby's sleep patterns depend heavily on their age. Newborns typically need to wake every two to three hours for feeding, while older infants may wake only a couple of times. Some babies even sleep through the night from an early age. However, she stressed that all these variations are normal.
By six to twelve months, many babies can sleep for longer stretches, but this is not universal. Watts noted, "I have met hundreds of families in my 11 years of health visiting, and I've seen all of it." She has encountered babies who slept through the night days after coming home from the hospital, while others, particularly breastfed babies, took months to settle. She also debunked the myth that formula-fed babies sleep longer, stating that many wake hourly at the beginning as well.
Common Concerns Addressed
Watts addressed common parental worries, such as when babies who previously slept well suddenly start waking frequently. She explained that this is normal, especially around four months, and can be due to teething, illness, or developmental milestones. "Normal infant sleep changes," she said. "It is expected that babies will wake through the night."
She also reassured parents that feeding, rocking, and comforting babies back to sleep are perfectly normal and necessary. "Babies require those things from us," she added.
Ignore Societal Pressure
Watts urged parents to ignore societal pressures and advice that may suggest otherwise. "Society loves to convince you that you should put that baby down, you shouldn't be rocking your baby, or baby should be sleeping in their own sleep space by now," she said. "None of that is true. It's only a problem if it's a problem for you."
She advised parents to tackle sleep changes when the time is right for them, not based on external expectations. "It's hard, but you're doing nothing wrong. Ignore the society background noise. Babies wake up in the night; it's normal."
Positive Response from Parents
The video received an overwhelmingly positive response, with many parents thanking Watts for the reassurance. One commented, "I needed this today. My six-month-old still wakes hourly some nights, and I'm made to feel like I'm doing something wrong."
