Q&A: Sleep problems on a regular cycle

Hey, I completely missed the time change! I use my cell phone as my alarm clock, and it switched automatically, so I didn't have any idea it had happened until I'd been awake for three hours. Duh.

After two years, no one asks me anything about sleep that I haven't heard before. Except for this question from Katriona (love that name, BTW), which would surely win an award if I had any awards to give:

"Ok, here's my weird sleep question.  It seems that every month DS's sleep goes wonky (he's 9 months old).  By wonky I mean waking every 45-ish minutes, crying a lot in his sleep, having a tough time settling.  He's not a great sleeper to start with, up every couple of hours to nurse or cuddle, so we co-sleep.  No biggie, I really love co-sleeping.  Anyway, I started to notice that his wonky sleeping always occurs about 2-3 days before a full moon and settles back down 1-2 days after the full moon.  I don't think it's food related (he's still almost exclusively breastfed) and I don't think it's anything in my diet that's effecting him via the breast milk.  In your experience, or anyone else's experience, has the full moon really affected your child's sleep?  Or am I just grasping at straws trying to explain why my son's sleep gets all weird?"

You know, the moon shouldn't be able to affect a child's sleep by the logic of our 21st century world. And yet, if it is, then it is. Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean it's not happening. The map is not the territory, you know?

Are there any ER doctors/nurses reading who know if it's actually true that there are more injuries around a full moon? Because if there are more injuries then, then whatever aspect of the moon's phase that causes more injuries could certainly be keeping Katriona's son up.

The only other explanations I can think of are that 1) if Katriona has her menstrual cycle back and her cycle falls around the full moon time the quantity of her milk could be affected* and that could cause the extra wakings, and the timing would just be coincidental, and 2) the full moon could be causing something else to happen in the environment that's waking up Katriona's son (maybe her neighbor has his men's drum circle meeting during the full moon every month and the drumming and howling wakes up the baby, or the moon makes all the dogs in the neighborhood go nuts and bark all night and that wakes him up, etc.).

But if it's neither of those things, then personally I'm totally willing to just accept that the full moon is making her son's sleep wig out. Anyone want to agree or talk me out of it? Happy Monday.

* Some women experience a drop in milk supply each month right at the beginning of their menstrual periods. The fix for this is to supplement with calcium (preferably a calcium and magnesium mix) for a few days before and into your period each month. I don't think enough women know this, so please pass it on.

Comments

[Sleep Disorders Guide Blog]

Decide where baby sleeps best: Decide where you baby sleep comfortably. Some babies sleep best in their own crib in their own room, some sleep better in their crib in the parents’ bedroom, other babies sleep best right next to their mother in the parents’ bed. There is no right or wrong place for babies to sleep. Parents should use various sleeping arrangements at various stages during the infant’s first two years. Be open to altering styles as baby’s developmental needs and your family situation changes.

[Lisa]

There's definitely ER lore that the full moon brings out the crazies, for what that's worth; but everyone's definition of crazy is different. And there's some anecdotal evidence that a full moon will bring more laboring women. The first, who knows. The second, I think is actually related to the pull of the moon on amniotic fluid. I remember going into a shift when I was 36 weeks, looking up at the full moon and wondering if it was true....I had my son at 2 AM that night!

So sure, why couldn't it mess with sleep?

[Blythe]

My mother has worked in doctors' offices for nearly thirty years, and she says the full moon means that anything and everything (anyone and everyone) comes through the door. That's no help for you, Katriona, but if you go completely crazy at least you won't be the only one...

[Nao]

My husband suggests that perhaps there is more light coming into the bedroom because of the moon. Maybe so, maybe no, but that could certainly affect things.

[swissmiss]

My son has trouble falling asleep on full moon nights. We have triple shading on his window (outside shutters and two sets of drapes), so I really don't think the light is the issue. It's the moon.

[flea]

My son was born 9 days early, big full moon as we drove to the hospital at 4:30 am. Could have been a coincidence, of course, but the moon made things (even more) memorable!

(My daughter was born 6 days early, and my water broke 6 hours after my mother flew in for a visit, so I think all kinds of mojo can cause labor...)

[Dawn]

I was a special ed teacher before baby - moon and weather totally caused little tweaks in behavior - I don't care that Mythbusters called it a myth - thinks were crazy.

[Carrie]

As a former high school teacher, I aboslutely believe the full moon has an affect on behavior.

Also, just a thought, but is it lighter in the room during the full moon? Both my son and I are very sensitive to light and don't sleep well if there is any light at all in the room.

[michele]

Astrologically speaking, if you've got a kid with a lot of water in their chart (and that doesn't necessarily mean they are in a water sign (pisces, cancer, scorpio) because there are 8 other planets that could be in a water sign) you're going to get monthly mood changes. I'd bet a dollar this kid has a water sun sign and/or moon sign.

[torian]

I have always had trouble sleeping during a full moon. For some kooky reason it makes me feel wired, like I've just pounded three espressos. Go ahead, blame it on the moon.

[pnuts mama]

i've always heard that a full moon brings about labor- L/D depts report more deliveries those days than any else. the moon influences the tides, right? something about the gravitational pull or something? who knows, i would believe anything about sleep at this point.

FWIW, my kid started sleeping so much better once we put blackout fabric on our curtains in our room. it cuts out just about all the light and even softens some of the noise. you can buy as many yards as your curtains are long and just sew the fabric right to the back of the curtains along the top edge right below the tabs or rod pocket, etc. helped us soooo much!!

you know what sucks? daylight savings time sucks. can anyone justify this BS time change anymore? why in god's name do we need it to be lighter earlier and darker earlier and throw everyone off for a week or so? my kid and i are about ready to cry. ugh.

[Nell]

My guess would be light as well. My second, less probable, guess has to do with animals. Our cats seem to act up more around the full moon, so perhaps pets or neighborhood feline roamers are contributing to the noise, at levels adults might screen out but babies can't.

[darcy]

The studies that have shown a link between unusual behavior/increase in ER activity etc. and the full moon have been refuted when studied rigorously.

Here's a link to the abstract of a meta-analysis on the subject- sorry I couldn't find a free full text version! It is an interesting article if you have access to an academic library.

http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/97/2/286

[Jenn]

Not an ER nurse, but on the floors in the hospital after an especially crazy night, inevitably someone would ask if it was a full moon. It almost always was. I never believed full moons could impact behavior until I worked in a hospital.

[rudyinparis]

I think Michele may be right! I'd be interested to know about your son's chart. The older I get, the more I'm inclined to believe this stuff. I've definitely noticed that some people (myself not included, unfortunately) are just much more aware of the moon, are just much more struck by its beauty--are a lot more sensitive to it, somehow. Who knows?

*****

And I still, as an adult, just can't get my head around DST. How can you just arbitrarily change time? It didn't make sense to me as a kid, and it doesn't make sense to me now!

[Katriona]

Thank you so much for the reassurance ladies! I should have mentioned that AF has not made her return yet (and I'm not pregnant, took that test yesterday), so I don't think it's that. I might go get some black out fabric to attach to his curtains to see if that will help. Thank you for the suggestion!

FWIW, he's and Aquarius. So not officially a water sign. However, I don't know much about astrology, so maybe that would effect it!

[caramama]

I'm not sure what I think about the moon affecting things. My analytical side thinks it's coincidental, but my intuitive side thinks why not the moon?

Analytical side says: Full moons are cyclical, so maybe the baby just having a cyclical sleep irregularity. I started to wonder if the Pumpkin was having cyclical sleep issues, but ours are every two weeks, it seems. I'm going to chart to find out.

Intuitive side says: When I start charting, I'm going to check out the phases of the moon, because who knows? I'm very affected by sunlight and weather changes, and the moon does affect the ocean's tide with its gravitational pull (or is this my analytical side?), so why not other things?

----------------
DTS: I hate this whole concept. Humans evolved to get up with the sun and go down with the sun. Artificial light and artificial time imposes unnatural wake/sleep patterns on our bodies.

If we are going to change time artificially, it should mimic the longer day/night patterns for where we live. Now, I have no idea how it would work, but I'd like to be able to sleep longer in the winter and have longer work days in the summer. I know this will never happen, but I girl can dream.

Do I sound as crazy as I think I do? Maybe it's the moon...

[Charisse]

I used to ask the same question! All the neighborhood babies would have trouble sleeping around the full moon (and there's not much light difference in a city). I've also definitely noticed that Mouse has trouble going to sleep and/or we're more generally at odds at certain points in my cycle (and she's 3 1/2, weaned long ago). Either she's got a radar for PMS or I start it with behavior changes in myself before I'm aware of the symptoms. Anyway, you may have cyclical hormonal stuff starting before your cycle is fully back, and that could be it.

Or it could be the moon. I for one believe you. (What do do about it, not sure--I've starting taking B6 to help my PMS and that seems to make a difference on that front, but the moon is just there.)

[Charisse]

Oh, and DST--we run late in this family, so everybody's much happier now that we don't have to drag out of bed in the dark! But the whole concept is silly--why not just do things at different hours at different times of year if you need to?

[Jessica]

I'm with Moxie on this one. I cycle with the moon (at least until I started on the pill, now it's a little thrown off) and definitely have noticed a decrease in my breast milk at that time. The doctor said the lower milk supply was possibly due to a surge in estrogen that comes with my period and that the pill might help with it. But the babies definitely notice it, too. Thanks, Moxie, I'll make sure I get some additional calcium now, too. :)

[L.]

Certainly for us it's much brighter during the full moon (and we live in the city, not a big city, but bright enough). I am going to look into that fabric myself! I notice my son is bothered by very small amounts of light. So am I, so it isn't surprising, I suppose.

[Melissa]

I can't believe there have been this many comments and no one has mentioned the totally obvious: he's a werewolf!

:-)

Good luck with the wonky sleeping (I heart the word "wonky"), I'm sure he'll grow out of it soon.

[Linda]

I figure if the moon is powerful enough to control the tides, it can affect behavior. I was an ER nurse for 3 years and I will offer that a full moon plus a hot summer night was a recipe for violence.

[Sheila]

I used to work in a legal aid office, and the lawyers and social workers there were certain that the busiest times were right after a full moon, especially if a full moon fell on a weekend. Lots of criminal activity and lots of family-law issues too.
Of course, once you start to look for a pattern like that, you remember all the anecdotal evidence that supports your hypothesis and forget or rationalize what doesn't fit. Still, it makes people feel better to think there's a reason why they're having a crazy day - or night.

[AmyinMotown]

When I workd for a newspaper, we would get SO MANY MORE crazy calls during the full moon. Our secretary, God rest her soul, sat next to my desk and she was just hilarious to listen to--she had mad people skills and could totally talk down the crazies, but it was really funny to hear her end.

[paola]

Sounds like I'm one of the few people who loves DLS. I hate the weeks leading up to the change where I have to wake to the dark and can handle the darker evenings as it seems to tire the kids out more.

I know in Queensland (Australia) they don't have it and my SIL complains that her kids are up at 5.30 as it gets light around 5.00 and then dark at 4.30, all year. She yerns for Queensland to catch up with the rest of Australia.

[Jean]

I taught for 16yrs, and we could always tell when a full moon was in the works based on the kids. Yes, it was middle school, so wonky was the name of the game, but it always got worse with full moons and weather changes (fronts and storms).

As the mother of a sleep champ and a sleep challenge, I feel your pain. I hope you find a solution soon.

[Cas]

My own little girl has always shown signs of being moonstruck, since she was a wee tiny red faced squalling bundle. I never thought of discounting it.
FWIW, we do have blackout blinds which help enormously with the summer months. I don't think it's the light.
I actually really lurve DST. I have noticed that the clocks are always going either forward or back whenever I need them to most. It's like a really lovely coincidence. For the past month she has been going down later and later for her afternoon nap and then waking later and of course, up til all hours. I couldn't get her down earlier, I didn't want to cut it out but couldn't deal with her being awake at midnight. And then boom...the clocks went back and now she's falling asleep at 12:30 again. My kid naps for antoher few months.

[pnuts mama]

just wanted to note that it's called blackout lining, you can probably purchase at a fabric store, or a specialty fabric store. it's white and thick with kind of a rubbery coating on one side and an almost canvas-y feeling on the other side. if you wanted to be super fancy, you put regular lining over it, so it's sandwiched in-between the lining and the curtain fabric.

we weren't fancy, just desperate for dark and sleep.

[hedra]

The pull of the high tide and the timing of a full moon are not the same time necessarily, so that's absolutely (IMHO), unrelated. Perigee and Apagee are what you're looking for there, and they're about 29 days apart, not 28, IIRC. (When moon is closest/farthest from earth, making a 'spring tide' when it is closest, that is, a tide that is higher than the 'usual' tide due to the increased gravitational pull.) BVecause of the offset in timing, the strongest gravitational pull can be at ANY phase of the moon. WHEW, pulled that out of undergrad physical geography class! AAAAGES ago. Look up 'spring tide' in your local newspaper, and then see if it is around then... otherwise, it may be the light.

There does seem to be some suggestion that the light from the full moon IF we're exposed to it (which may be immaterial if we live in an urban area) may throw sleep function off.

It may also be relevant that even before your cycles return 'visibly' they can be cycling at a lower level than enough to cause AF - just because you aren't ovulating doesn't mean you aren't switching between estrogen-high function and progesterone-high function. He may just be very sensitive to the hormones in your body (milk?), or your body may be sensitive to the hormones enough to change milk supply even without AF (mine did for ages before AF showed), or he may even just be getting the pheramones (SP?) from your skin - guys' behavior as adults changes when exposed daily to a woman's pheramones, so why not a baby's? Certainly with cosleeping, the exposure is WAY up there. :)

So, I'd vote with trying the blackout curtains (essential for two of my kids, totally irrelevant for the other two), and then just generally checking in with your body on cycle - you may be able to tell without AF where you are and if you are cycling at a sub-'obvious' level.

[Pronoia]

My mother is a labor and delivery nurse, and she swears the full-moon nights are the busiest and craziest.

My colleague, an event planner, refuses to plan big fundraising events for the full moon because the one time she did involved three ambulances.

[Jan]

DST love in our house. The kids (and I) wake up naturally at an early enough hour to enjoy our morning together instead of racing around like chickens with our heads cut off.

Of course what I need them to do is to 'fall back' every 6th weekend or so, so that it always feels like I'm sleeping in an hour. :)

[charissa]

I buy the full moon theory (though agree the other issues -- light, hormones -- could be at play.) My two daughters have poor sleep around the full moon.

I also work in the hospital, and it does seem like there are more crazy occurances around the full moon, but that's just my observation.

[Bugmama]

Wow. My 2.5yr old little bug turns into a TOTAL WEREWOLF in the days leading up to a full moon. This has been going on for 6 or 8 months. It frequently takes him much longer to get to sleep and he often doesn't sleep as well once he's down. We have blackout shades and I haven't made milk for over a year and he's been weaned for a while.

Also, my folks volunteer in an ER and the swear the full moon nights are the craziest.

I have no advice. Just commiseration.

[Susannah]

If the full moon doesn't make people crazy, why do we talk about "lunatics"?

[Jilly]

I used to say that N's sleeps were tidal. Once a month he would start waking early. He would then wake progressively later until he would reset to the early time again. This has dropped off now (he's 22 months old) but I'd say that this was the pattern from 11 months to 18 months. Interesting that someone else is thinking along the same lines ...

[susan]

my midwife swears that there are more conceptions on the full moon and more births on the new moon .... it seems the opposite I know, but she's done 1000 births.

[Tibi]

Okay, I'm not a scientist at all, so maybe I'm way off on this, but here goes. Does the full moon have anything to do with barometric pressure? I have a friend who's been a maternity nurse for 35 years and has 6 of her own children--she says that if there's a big storm coming, they'll be sure to have a full night of laboring women. So maybe the moon and the pressure thing are related?

[Tibi]

Oh, and re: DST. I am in total love with it. Like a PP, the Squirrel has been going to bed later and later and later at night. Right before DST began, it was nearly midnight before I'd get her to sleep! And now, BAM, it's like we just wiped the slate clean and started all over again.

However, I hate the dark when we're eating dinner, I hate it I hate it I hate it. But I just generally hate winter all together, and get seasonal depression if I'm not careful. Blah.

[Emily]

I had a thought about this - I've heard before that people naturally have a sleep cycle that is longer than 24 hours. I wonder if the difference between the natural sleep cycle and the daily rhythm couldn't add up enough over a month to suddenly throw a baby's sleep out of whack?

[anna]

My toddler has always slept badly around the full moon: I have no idea why, and every rational bone in my body thinks it must. be. a. coincidence. And yet? Every month, without fail, whether the sky is clear or cloudy, whether there's moonlight in his room or not.

[julie]

my grandparents had a love/hate relationship for 50+ years of marriage. My mom (and later on myself) noticed their big howling fights ALWAYS coincided with the full moon.

I'm a believer.

[cait]

It's not at all unusual for the kids in my class (4 and 5-year-olds) to be NUTS around a full moon. And I also know plenty of babies (including my own) born on/around the full moon. The moon is stronger than most folks give it credit for. :)

[mezzaluna]

chiming in late, but i'm actually an astronomer, and no, i don't think the moon has any significant gravitational effect on our bodies. you can do the math to show that various objects in our daily lives exert more gravitational influence on us than the moon does. the moon affects *large* bodies of water on earth, but across the width of your average uterus the tidal stretching force is tiny tiny tiny. i'm also not aware of any way in which the moon could possibly affect barometric pressure.

what i do see some sense in is the light levels. i did some statistical analysis on my own menstrual cycles once while i was cycling naturally, and there was a tighter alignment with the moon phases (period starting at new moon) than one would expect by chance. i was living in a small town without lightblocking shades, and i could easily see the difference between full moonlight in my apartment and a dark night. i'm just one data point... but i'd be curious to hear about any studies on this!

i'll put most of my money on the psychological effects, though... people noticing something wonky happening and thinking that maybe it's due to the full moon when the full moon has been on their mind due to seeing it close to full in the last few days or reading about it somewhere... also with the moon having to wax and wane in 29.5 days it looks quite close to full for about a week of that time, so you have about a one in four chance of noticing a "full" moon when you look for it... and you are more likely to remember when you did find the correspondence.

spring and neap tides happen due to the combined effects of the moon and the sun on earth. when the moon and sun are pulling along the same line the tidal variation is stronger and we have spring tides. when they are in perpendicular directions and thus at cross-purposes they partially cancel out and we have neap tides (lower tidal variation). the sun's effect is about 1/4 that of the moon.

[hedra]

Cool info!

My mom told me that someone had indeed researched this, and it was the LIGHT. They determined that because full moon was only an effect enhancer when it occured at night, and not on the times it occurred as a 'children's moon' (during daylight hours). The effect also wasn't 'totally crazy' behavior, but just a bit more margin out - so the 'crazy' people crossed more lines, and the borderline folks became more notable, and the more typical people had off days. Not sure what they found for overcast days, but we're responsive to changes in light in so many other ways, it seems to make some sense...

[hedra]

And it may be the wavelength (color-wise) of the light that is at work:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112143308.htm

(Improve sleep and reduce ADHD symptoms with glasses that block blue light...)

[Speed]

I live in Portugal and I have a 11 month old little girl, and I’ve noticed that 2 or 3 days before the full moon she has trouble falling asleep and she wakes up several times in the middle of the night. She only gets a peaceful sleep after the sun rise...!!! How weird is this? In the room she sleeps there is no way that she sees any moonlight, so I supose that the theory of light does not apply to her!

[Yankee Country Candle Tips]

I've been thinking since she got here about how our relationship has changed in the past few years. When my older son was born seven years ago she became my main advisor on parenting and being a mother