Every 60 minutes, throughout the night, your child enters the light/drowsy part of the sleep cycle. That’s when little commotions can shake them totally awake. These disturbances can slip into their minds from the outside world or they can originate from deep inside her body.

Try to get rid of as many outside distractions as possible and crank up the white noise to cover all the intruding sounds and other distractions you can’t block. But if the night-waking continues, you might want to focus on some other disturbances that might make them get up from the deep slumber from inside her body.

Also read: Why Toddlers Resist Bedtime?

Teething

When those toddler teething patterns and molars come in, it can be miserable. Like a headache, teething is typically easy to ignore in the daytime but can get really worse at night.

If you suspect teething is causing night waking, first use a rougher white noise (as loud as a shower) to distract your little one from the swollen gums. (If you haven’t used white noise for your child then start it slowly). Also, ask your doctor about using acetaminophen or ibuprofen half an hour before bedtime.

An old-time teething home remedy is to dip the corner of a thin washcloth in apple juice and freeze it. Then let your child chew on the frozen cloth.  

Hard Poop and Digestive Misery

Constipation can make kids cranky and miserable. And when your child’s intestines strain to expel a hard stool at night, it can wake him up. 

If you think your child has a poop problem, make sure you give him plenty water and also ask your doctor for dietary recommendations, like reducing constipating foods (bread, dairy, rice, pasta and fried food) and boosting high-fiber foods (vegetables, beans, dried fruit, and juices like prune, carrot or aloe vera). 

Dry Throat and Stuffy Nose 

Kids get a lot of cold. If your tot is having sleep troubles then maybe a stuffy nose or scratchy throat is the reason. Cold and flu are common in kids. These problems are especially common in high altitudes and desert climates, or when you’re running the heater on cold winter nights.

When your child is suffering from such problems and sleeping is getting very uncomfortable for him then place a folded towel under the mattress to raise the head of the bed. Sadly, this won’t work well for those tots who flip around during their sleep. Also, you can run cold mist or use a humidifier in the child’s room. Using distilled water and by cleaning humidifier every day will help your child stay away from the germs and prevent bacterial growth.

If the cough is wheezy or is persistent then visit your doctor for professional consultation.