E28 Infant Sleep (Part 3): Medical Reasons Babies Struggle With Sleep

This episode is part of the Not Just Theories Infant Sleep Series, exploring the many factors that influence baby sleep, from circadian rhythms and temperament to medical and sensory differences.

In Part 3 of the infant sleep series, we explore something that often gets missed in sleep conversations: medical and biological factors that can interfere with sleep.

Most infant sleep advice focuses on routines, schedules, and sleep associations. But sometimes the issue isn’t behavioural at all...it’s that something in a child’s body is making sleep genuinely harder.

In this episode of Not Just Theories, we look at some of the underlying factors that can affect infant sleep, including reflux, feeding challenges, sleep-disordered breathing, iron deficiency, allergies, eczema, and other sources of physical discomfort.

The goal of this episode isn’t to diagnose or alarm parents, but to help you recognise when persistent sleep struggles might be worth exploring with a health professional.

We also talk about how to approach these conversations with your GP or child health provider, and how understanding possible biological barriers can shift the focus from “fixing sleep behaviour” to supporting your child’s overall wellbeing.

This episode is general education, not medical advice. If you’re concerned about your child’s sleep or health, please speak with your GP or relevant healthcare professional.