If you have landed yourself on this blog whether it was sent to you by a friend, you found it by late night googling or by seeing via instagram do know you are not the only mom or dad who is wondering…. IS THIS A SLEEP REGRESSION? You have found yourself staring at the clock on your phone… will this baby or myself, get back to sleeping?

My most simple answer is yes, you will sleep again, but first… let’s get down to the gritty parts of why your little one is up in the middle of the night while you stare blankly at the monitor and your phone.

There are many, many reasons why your little one could be waking more than 3x a night.

So, our biggest case to solve is… is this a regression or is this just a little one who is unable to sleep independently.

This may not be what anyone wanted to hear and that is fine. There are LOTS of parents who enjoy the cuddles to sleep every-night and then, during the multiple night-wakings, but myself and many others that I know enjoy the cuddles throughout the day, but love a baby or toddler who can self-soothe themselves to sleep each night and day for naps.

So, let’s chat Sleep Regressions:

There are 5 different Sleep Regressions that we see littles need help working through. We will chat about the first three to focus on our infant/baby ages.

4 Month Sleep Regression:
- Typically can be see beginning at that 3 1/2 age mark. There are so many parents who begin to blame this on teething, but in reality babies sleep cycles are maturing and the way they were once falling asleep, is no longer working to keep them asleep. This can manifest in multiple night wakings, early morning wakes and a hard time getting them to fall asleep.
8 Month Sleep Regression:
- Typically around this age (8-9 months) we see that most babies are rolling around and even pulling up. Here little ones have developed a new skill so they are practicing in their cribs and naps and bedtime can become disrupted.
12 Month Sleep Regression
- Hello Walkers, or soon to be walkers or really any baby aged 11-13 months. There is so much movement happening at this age, and who wants to sleep. Protesting bedtime and early morning wakes are REAL.
So, what do you do? The recommendation is to keep a log for 8-10 days that keeps track of what their naps, bedtime protesting, wake-ups and mornings look like.
How do we overcome these Regressions?
Independent Sleep Habits.
- Ensure that your little one is on appropriate wake-windows or a schedule for their age, encourage, and practice independent sleep. The way your little one falls to sleep is what they’ll expect when they wake during the night.
- If Sleep Training is not something you want to commit to, or begin, then, switch out one sleep crutch for another. If feeding to sleep no longer works, try rocking.
Sleep Environment.
- Cool, Dark and Safe. Ensure there is no light coming through, the temperature is between 68-72 degrees and their sleep space is safe for their age. Add in a sound machine that is playing the basic white noise.
Practicing New Skills during the day.
- If they are rolling… lay them on a mat and practice practice practice!
- For Crawlers have them crawl back to you and your spouse, a sibling or a friend. Make it fun!
- Walkers! Get outside. Get to the grass. Have fun!