Wake windows
How long your baby should be awake: the chart by age and the tired cues to watch for.
First aid for tired parents
Baby won't sleep: what's behind it and when it gets easier
It's three in the morning, you're rocking and rocking, and nothing works. You are not alone in this, and you are not doing anything wrong. Here are the most common reasons and a little solid ground under your feet.
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Finding the cause
Baby won't sleep: the most common reasons by age
Whether your baby is 6 weeks old and suddenly won't sleep, or 1 year old and still not sleeping through the night: it's almost always one of these. Run down the list once, and you'll usually recognize your pattern right away.
- Overtiredness: The wake window got missed, the body releases stress hormones, and the tired baby can no longer settle. The single most common reason.
- Hunger and cluster feeding: Especially in the first weeks and before growth spurts, babies want to feed practically nonstop in the evening. That's normal, and it regulates milk supply.
- Developmental leap or regression: Your baby is learning something big, and the brain keeps working at night. The classic is the 4 month sleep regression, but similar phases show up around 6, 8 or 11 months too.
- Teething: Pressure in the jaw, flushed cheeks, everything goes in the mouth. Teething stretches can scramble sleep for days.
- Illness: Stuffy nose, ear pain, fever. If your baby also seems different from usual, talk to your pediatrician.
- Too much stimulation: Visitors, an outing, a new place. Whatever the day carried in has to come back out in the evening.
And one principle that takes a lot of pressure off: baby sleep is not about sleeping through. Babies wake at night because their sleep cycles are short and they need closeness and food. Night waking is biologically normal, through the first year and often beyond. Your baby is not broken, and you have not done anything wrong.
The evening classic
The witching hour: when evenings fall apart
Between 5 and 10 pm your baby cries inconsolably, wants to feed and then doesn't, falls asleep and startles awake again? Parents call this the witching hour, and it is extremely common, especially in the first three months. At the end of the day your baby is offloading everything the day poured in, and for very small people that happens through crying. It is not a sign that something is missing or that you overlooked anything.
Two things help you get through it: First, it passes, usually on its own after a few weeks. Second, it often arrives surprisingly on schedule, at the same time each evening. And what comes at the same time is predictable: you can take turns, eat beforehand, have the carrier ready. That doesn't make the witching hour lovely, but it loses its power once it stops taking you by surprise.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Why is my 6 week old suddenly not sleeping?
Around week six, many babies hit a peak of fussiness: more crying, more cluster feeding, shorter stretches of sleep. The first big developmental leap lands around then too. It's a well-known phase, not a step backwards. Watch for short wake windows during this time, often only about an hour at 6 weeks.
My 1 year old still doesn't sleep through the night. Is that normal?
Yes. A large share of one year olds still wake at least once a night, as parent surveys show again and again. Sleeping through is a developmental step that arrives at a different time for every child. If your child is happy and energetic during the day, night waking at 1 year is no cause for concern.
What is the witching hour and when does it stop?
The witching hour is the stretch in the early evening, usually between 5 and 10 pm, when babies cry inconsolably and are hard to soothe. It's very common in the first weeks of life and helps babies offload the stimulation of a full day. For most babies it eases noticeably around the third month.
My baby will only sleep on me. Am I creating a bad habit?
No. Closeness is a basic need for your baby, not a luxury to be trained away. Contact napping is very common in the first months and predicts nothing bad about your child's sleep. The vast majority of children learn to sleep independently later, at their own pace.
Do I need to log every nap in detail now?
No, please don't. Another chore is the last thing exhausted parents need. With Darli, one tap at sleep and one at wake-up is enough, and the app sorts the rest. And if you skip a few days, that's completely fine. Darli is there to lighten the load, not to grade you.
More time to laugh.
Sleep, feeds, diapers: one tap is enough. Darli sorts the rest.
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