What if Baby Gets Sick?
I can picture your current situation.
It’s been months of sleep issues. You finally decided to take the initiative and get serious about having your little one learn how to sleep independently. You finally got your baby on a schedule. Your baby has finally gotten the hang of it. The whole family is starting to see longer periods of consolidated sleep. Everyone is ready to celebrate…
And then BAM – Baby gets a cold, or an ear infection, or a bout of diarrhea, or one of the other million illnesses that babies are prone to.
So now you’re stuck. Is the whole thing going to go off the rails?
Given how often babies get sick, this is hardly a surprise to me. I’m always telling people to plan on starting sleep training when they have a couple of weeks that they can really devote to the training. But you obviously can’t schedule around an illness.
So when it happens, it can really catch everyone off guard.
I want to share a few suggestions for you in the event that this happens. Hopefully it’ll help you push through this trying situation and get you motivated to stay on track with your goals.
RESIST THE TEMPTATIONS. It’s easy to fall into (or back into) some habits that you wouldn’t want to stick around once sickness is gone. Resist the urge to utilize a sleep prop you have recently taken away.
I know it’s tough, because obviously you want to offer them any kind of comfort you can while they’re feeling miserable, but you really don’t want to reintroduce those things they were dependent on prior to starting sleep training. It can be really confusing and is often even more difficult to break the association the second time around.
Resist the urge to bring baby to your bed. If you’re concerned and want to be in the same room as them, I’d rather you camp out in their room for the duration of the sickness. Keeping them in their own room with familiar sleeping conditions will also be much less disruptive than moving them into your room, and you don’t run the risk of them getting used to sleeping in your bed.
PREPARE FOR NIGHTTIME WAKEUPS. You may need to provide some fluids, medicine, or nasal drainage in the middle of the night, Go ahead and do that, but limit the fluids to just water. (If you start up with night feeds again, it won’t be long before baby gets used to eating in the night again, or needing to be fed to sleep.)
STICK TO THE BOUNDARIES. Kids, especially toddlers, whether sick or not, love to test boundaries. Some of the requests your little one makes at this time may be for comfort, but some may start to drag into the territory of “I wonder how much I can ask and get away with,” so try not to give in to every demand they make.
The good news is:
Babies who have already learned independent sleep skills are typically resistant to changes in their routine, so don’t be surprised if they ask to be put into their crib/bed. If you notice them pushing away from you or arching their back, it might mean they just want to go to sleep.
If you do backslide a little, don’t worry. Slight regressions are common after the passing of an illness. Start over with the encouragement of independent sleep habits and self-soothing. Baby already knows how to fall asleep independently, and just needs to be reminded of how things go before they’ll be back on their routine and sleeping soundly through the night again. Now if you feel you’ve really gone off the deep end and this isn’t working, whip out your sleep plan and try implementing a sped up version of it.
I do feel like I need to add a disclaimer and point out that I’m not saying anywhere here to not offer any nighttime comfort to your baby while they’re sick. On the contrary – I definitely recommend it! You should absolutely feel free to go in and check on them more often, take care of any needs they might have, and even give them a little cuddle or rocking session in order to comfort them.
I just want you to be vigilant and be sure to put them back into bed before they fall asleep. Otherwise, like I mentioned above, you run the risk of them developing those associations where falling asleep requires a rocking session or a cuddle, and then you’re back to square one.
As always, if you are struggling with this and need more help, feel free to reach out to me!