My baby Falls Asleep Standing Up!

If you’re reading this, you likely have a little one who’s been falling asleep in an awkward position. You may have heard that it can be an issue and are looking to learn how to deal with it ahead of time. You may also be oddly interested in the most random blog post topics you can find online. 


Either way, I will do my best to ensure you walk away from this post feeling like you got some serious value out of it.


So your baby has learned to stand up! Congratulations on this wonderful milestone! It’s such an exciting time to be a parent, and this is such a massive step into the world of development that’s coming your way very soon. 


Many babies have issues when they first learn to stand up; they haven’t learned to get back down yet. 


During the day, this doesn’t present much of an issue. Your little one can spend all day practicing going from standing to seated while you’re next to them and helping them through it.


But once nighttime rolls around, this becomes a whole other issue. 
I know the Catch-22 this puts parents in, believe me. On the one hand, you can’t just leave your baby in a situation where they might fall down and hurt themselves, but on the other, if you keep going in and laying them down, they don’t learn how to do it themselves. 


Moreover, they’ll quickly learn that standing up and making a fuss is a pretty effective way to get mom or dad back into their room and pay attention to them.


So there’s a fine line that we need to walk to help baby figure out how to solve this little situation they find themselves in without creating a bad habit that could sabotage their sleep.


If your baby hasn’t started this behaviour yet, let me warn you: It’s frustrating—more so than the average middle-of-the-night wake-up—because the solution is so totally obvious. You’ll likely find yourself saying, “Just lie down, already!” more than a few times before this gets resolved.
 
As with all parenting, patience is essential. Keep in mind that your baby may not know how to go from a standing position to a sitting one on their own yet, and they may not realize that sleep comes a whole lot easier when you lie down. 


Remind yourself of this when they wake you up for the fifth or sixth time in three hours because they’ve woken up and gotten back on their feet again, fussing because they can’t get back to sleep. 
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The quickest way through the first part of the equation is to develop that standing-to-sitting skill, so during the day, practice going from standing to sitting whenever you can. 


When a baby pulls herself up to a standing position, try putting their favourite toy or stuffie on the ground nearby. Gently encourage them to go from a standing position back down to ground level to get their reward.


Once they’ve mastered that skill, however, that second hurdle may still be an issue. They may not realize that sleep is much easier to achieve when lying down. 


It seems like it should be instinctive, but many things seem that way when you’ve been doing them all your life. When you’ve only been around for nine or ten months, it might not seem so intuitive, so again, patience, mama! 


We don’t want to create a situation where baby starts relying on you to do the work for her, so avoid repeatedly laying her down when she stands up in the crib. Do it a few times at first to show her what’s expected, but switch to a more suggestive approach that doesn’t involve contact once that’s established. Pat the mattress and use a key phrase, like, “Lay your head down” or “Come lie down, baby,” before too long, they should start to connect the dots and realize that lying down is the best way to get to sleep.


Remember, even though it might appear that your little one is fighting sleep sometimes, that’s rarely the case. They want to sleep, but they lack the skills necessary to get there on their own, so help them figure it out without doing the work for them. They’ll take care of the rest as soon as they develop a little confidence and ability.


And one last little tip before I leave you! Hats off to all of the single parents out there and the fantastic work they do, but if you’re raising baby with a partner, talk this out with them and come up with a plan that both of you can agree on and follow through with.

​One parent responding with one set of expectations while another responding totally differently will confuse the baby even further in a situation where they’ve already got a lot to figure out. You will need to respond in the same way for your expectations to be clear, and you’ll see results much quicker if you’re working from the same playbook.

As always, be calm, be patient, and be consistent. The hard work now will pay off a thousand times when your little one sleeps soundly through the night and happily goes down for naps during the day. 
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Author

Erin Neri - Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and Owner of To The Moon and Back Sleep Consulting since 2016. 

Proud mother of 2 young school aged boys who did not come into the world  preprogrammed with independent sleep skills. 28+ years of training & experience working with children and families including her BA in Applied Psychology, Infant Mental Health Training, Early Childhood Education & Experience. Completed Integrative Feeding Specialist Certification in Oct. 2022. ​