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A long time ago, a reader commented on one of our blog posts about the moon affecting her baby’s sleep. I thought this would make for an interesting article to research! There was a full moon just a few nights ago, and lo and behold both my sons woke up at night. You all know that one kid waking up is bad, but both, especially at different times, is downright brutal! (Bowing down to those of you with multiples right now!)
My youngest started crying at about midnight. I went in, cuddled him for a couple of minutes, and put him back down with his crib music on and left. No more peeps out of him!
Flash forward to about three in the morning, and to me almost back to sleep. My other son came running into my room saying he had a bad dream (See our series on nightmares and night terrors here). After I gave him a few minutes of cuddles, I took him back to his bed. He called out for me a little later to turn his fan on. Interestingly enough, I had also turned on my youngest’s ceiling fan a few hours earlier, too. I thought they were both hot (I was too)! But then, I remembered I wanted to do an article about the moon’s effect on our sleep – if there was any! So that night, at about 4 am, I looked it up, and what do you know? It was a full moon that night!
So, does the moon affect our baby’s sleep?
Mostly what I found was that the moon affecting human behavior and sleep, in general, is not proven and generally accepted as untrue among scientists.
In theory, the full moon affecting humans could be true – as it does have an effect on the oceans/tides. After all, the human body is made up of 60% water! However, the amount of water in the oceans is so much greater than our “tiny” human bodies. The water in the ocean is considered “unbounded”, and it’s also been said that a mosquito on our arm would have more of an effect than the moon.
It’s also been said that the term “lunatic” comes from our history that at one time we did believe the moon was to blame for strange behavior, but this has remained unproven by numerous scientific studies. I’m inspired to track my sons’ sleep for the next month and see what happens during the next full moon! For tonight, I’ll stick to reading Goodnight Moon to my boys.
I have subscribed to a website about the full moon where they send you an email reminding you it’s coming. They posted an article about the connection (or lack thereof) between sleep and the moon, here: Full Moon Info WebSite. Here is where you can find the remaining Full Moons for the current year.
A Study May Prove The Moon Impacts Sleep
Research finally caught up and there is now some evidence the moon impacts sleep, especially for children. However, other studies are showing no link. I think we know who’s right!
So, tell me, for my own informal research…
Does your baby wake up during a full moon?
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Razaul says
My son(Nakshatra=Star) and Moon wish to play with each other that’s why he woke up Sunday night.
Caroline froude says
Hi! I don’t remember if my baby woke up because of the full moon because he wakes up every night!! But I do know that whenever it comes to a full moon I always get irritable and end up having an argument with my husband how weird is that!!!! But I am having terrible trouble getting my 10month old into his cot let alone asleep.. He has been I’ll too which doesn’t help matters!!! So I am still at my wits end I feel so guilty the way he cry and says ma ma!!! Little toad he knows exactly what he’s doing.. Please help!!!
Marie says
Oh that’s funny. I wasn’t aware Sunday night was full moon! Sunday night, my little one had a hard time going to sleep, which is unusual. I also noticed that the kids next door were crying a lot, as well as the toddler 2 doors up, which is also unusual. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I did tell my partner: “Must be kids crying night! They’re all crying!”.
Noreen says
Hi, don’t know if this will be revelant but I’ve been nursing for 17 years and would stake my life on the fact that the moon affects sleep. All of my collegues and I hate to work the night shift when there’s a full moon, as the patients tend to be less inclined to sleep and can be quite confused. Hadn’t noticed any relation with my children’s sleep but will be watching closely from now on.
Meg says
Interesting. Both of my 10 month old twins were up more than usual Sunday night. Everyone had been sick (including my older 2) last week and I attributed to over tired and out of the routine, but they slept much better (to my surprise) last night. Now mommy needs more sleep…..
Jennifer Proudfoot says
Yes Yes! My girl who is almost 2 and I both slept very badly last week – with the bright beautiful full moon. Lots of tossing and turning in our house!
Jen
Somila says
full moon is associated with alot spiritual things as there are people who worship the moon and declare things in the spirits and these things are mostly not good things, children by nature are born innocent and almost angelic therefore they sense any form of spirits around them and can be quite uneasy when there are evil spirits around.
I would therefore advise parents to pray for your children especially around such a time.
MARLENE says
Hi
I used your advice and both my girls were enjoying the routine and going to bed like good little girls, but today like the last ±4 days my eyes hurt, cause I got up so many times at night to check on them, they were so restless and battled to sleep.
Melanie says
So happy to find this – My daughter has pretty much sleep through the night or only woken up once since birth. The exceptions 1 week during the last 2 full moons.
The first I thought was due to the light in her room since her blinds hadn’t been put up.
This month I thought it was because she was teething but now I’m just not sure.
Amy says
thanks every one. It’s 1.30am. i’m sitting up with my 9 month old. She went to sleep for 1 hr, woke, slept for another hour (exactly), woke, and has been awake and wanting to feed or play since. Yes, its a full moon, and this happens every full moon. My son was, and still is, a little affected by the full moon but nothing like my daughter. It’s horrendous. The night before and after are bad too. Then she goes back to sleeping through the night. ‘Scientists’ once said the earth was flat, because that’s what the science they had available to them told them. The Earth was always round, it just took a while for the science to catch up. I think the same applies to sleep and the full moon. The science just hasn’t caught up yet to explain it, that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.