Question
Why does my one-year-old son always cry at night?
Answer
Hello: Difficulty falling asleep and nighttime crying are common issues among newborns. Some children require their parents to hold them, pat them, rock them, or use a pacifier to fall asleep. However, once placed in bed, they may wake up and need to be held, patted, rocked, or have a pacifier until they fall back asleep. Such sleep habits can lead to crying during the night when the child wakes up, as they have developed a reliance on these accompanying actions to fall asleep. To improve this situation, parents can start by placing the baby in bed when they are almost asleep during the day. Even if the baby cries, do not immediately pick them up; instead, offer verbal and facial comfort. If the baby continues to cry, let them cry for a while before picking them up to comfort them; on the second attempt, let them cry for a longer period before picking them up. By persisting with this method for 2-3 days, the baby will gradually learn to fall asleep on their own. The same approach can also be used to break the pacifier habit. Once the habit of falling asleep independently is established, the quality of nighttime sleep will significantly improve. Nighttime crying can also be caused by other factors such as being too hot or too cold, eating too much or not enough, etc. Some newborns naturally have more care needs.