Sleep Regressions: Everything You Need To Know and Ages They Happen
Sleep regression. It’s a phrase you probably didn’t know existed before you had a baby, but now? Now that your baby is waking every 20 minutes, and you are exhausted beyond all reason? Now that your toddler is waging a fierce anti-nap campaign?
Yeah – it’s a phrase you’re probably familiar with!
Sleep Regressions: What They Are
A sleep regression describes a period of time (anywhere from 1 – 4 weeks) when a baby or toddler who has been sleeping well suddenly starts waking at night, and/or skipping naps (or waking early from naps) for no apparent reason. Parents often describe being caught totally off guard: you think your have conquered all your little one’s sleep challenges, when suddenly, out of nowhere, you’re back to constant night wakings and nonexistent naps.
Frustrating, to say the least!!
Sleep Regressions: Ages When (And Why) They Happen
Remember, every baby is different, so what is true for your friends’ babies may not necessarily be true for yours. That is, your baby or toddler may show true regression signs at some of these month markers, but not others.
That said, there are some ages during which most babies or toddlers go through a sleep regression:
4 Month Sleep Regression
This one’s permanent, folks! That is to say that the changes that happen with the 4 month sleep regression are permanent changes. By 4 months, your baby has ditched her babyish sleeping patterns and is sleeping more like an adult – and that translates into frequent night waking (and lots of fussing) along with shortened naps.
Find 4 month sleep regression help HERE and HERE.
8 Month Sleep Regression (sometimes 9 Month Sleep Regression, or even 10 Month Sleep Regression)
This one is all thanks to the developmental milestones that are happening around 8 months, 9 months, and 10 months. At this stage, most babies are making great strides physically – learning to crawl, to pull up, to cruise, etc. There’s also a lot of brain development happening at this stage. Your baby is absorbing language like crazy! Finally, most babies are cutting at least a few teeth during this season. Add it all up, and you get more night waking, shorter (or even skipped) naps, and one cranky baby on your hands.
Find 8, 9, 10 months sleep regression help HERE.
11 Month Sleep Regression (or 12 Month Sleep Regression)
This one doesn’t seem to affect as many of our clients as the other regressions do – maybe it’s a less common one? At any rate, this regression has a lot to do with naps – specifically, you might find that your baby suddenly starts refusing his or her second nap, and tries to get by with just one nap. Lots of parents assume that this is a normal nap transition, and that it means their little one is ready for just one nap a day. However, we urge parents to treat this one as a regression instead, since most toddlers really aren’t ready to transition to just one nap a day until about 15 months.
Find 11 month or 12 month sleep regression help HERE.
18 Month Sleep Regression
Oh, parents – this one is a doozie. Why? Because now your baby is a toddler – a walking, talking (well, babbling at least), tantrum-throwing toddler. This regression has a lot to do with your toddler’s new-found independence. She’s learning that – guess what – she has opinions and things! And – even better – she can express those opinions by shouting “NO!” at top volume! Separation anxiety also comes into play here; your toddler may genuinely be distressed when you leave at nap time, or when you walk out of the room at bedtime. Finally, teething is still a factor at 18 months – toddlers are often cutting molars (those big, painful teeth!) around this time.
Find 18 month sleep regression help HERE.
2 Year Sleep Regression
To be honest, the 2 year sleep regression is a little less straightforward than the others. That’s because there are a variety of factors that can cause it. For one thing, your 2 year old’s awake time is growing longer, but as he makes that transition, it can disrupt sleep. Your 2 year old is likely also going through some big life transitions, like potty training and transitioning to a big-kid bed (and maybe even getting a new sibling!) And around 2 years of age, lots of toddlers begin having very real nightmares (or even night terrors). All of this can lead to a very real, very exhausting sleep regression around 2 years old.
Find 2 year sleep regression help HERE.
Sleep Regressions: How To Move Past Them
You know the what, the why, and the when behind common baby and toddler sleep regression – now how about the ‘how to’? As in, “How the heck do I fix this and get back to my peaceful nights of sleep again?!?!”
Well, for starters, remember that the 4 month sleep regression is a permanent change – there is no going back to the way things were. Once you are through the worst of the 4 month sleep regression you will want to focus on helping your baby break her sleep associations, and on heaping her learn to fall asleep without help from you. Once she can do that, she will be well on her way to sleeping through the night, and establishing a more predictable daytime schedule.
As for the other sleep regressions, here are a few tips to help you cope WITHOUT undoing all the sleep coaching progress you’ve made up to this point:
- Don’t be afraid to offer extra feedings. Growth spurts can be a component of sleep regressions, so don’t worry about offering an extra nighttime feeding (or even daytime feeding) here and there. Remember – this is temporary! You will eventually return to your normal schedule.
- Offer comfort as needed, but avoid making new (or reinstating old) bad habits. You will definitely need to offer your baby or toddler plenty of extra kisses and cuddles during the sleep regression, and this is okay! But avoid creating new sleep associations – avoid rocking your baby to sleep regularly, or nursing her to sleep. Avoid reinstating old bad habits, too – if you have weaned your toddler off the pacifier, for example, don’t revert to offering the pacifier during a sleep regression.
- Solicit help, and lean hard on your partner. Sleep regressions last for awhile (up to 4-6 weeks, in some cases!) And if you are doing your due diligence, and trying to cope while not creating new sleep associations, you are bound to get tired. This is the time to ask for help from anyone who will offer it! Have friends or family members help you (either with your little one, or with the household management).
- Offer an earlier bedtime if necessary. Sleep regressions can lead to missed sleep, which can lead to overtiredness, which can quickly spiral into more missed sleep. Yikes! So to ward off exhaustion, offer an earlier bedtime if necessary.
How are you managing your little one’s sleep regressions and what ages did they happen? Scroll down to share your tips and questions below and to hear from other parents just like you!
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Hi my 2 year old son is doing this. He used to sleep from 7pm-7am no problem now all of a sudden everytime i put him to bed he screams forever and nothing will calm him down i have tried everything. Could it be sleep regression
@Zara stivic – I just want to say – I feel you! I am so sorry you’re struggling with your 2 year old’s sleep My son turns 2 next week and it has been the same thing for us. My guess is it would be the 2 year sleep regression, so hopefully it will pass! Here is a link that may help with some tips to help with toddler sleep if you need some fresh ideas on how to manage: https://babysleepsite.com/toddler-sleep-tips
Hang in there! Let us know if things don’t smooth out soon so we can help you further.
My 20 month old is going through something and I’m starting to wonder if it is a sleep regression. He wakes in the night screaming and crying. It’s like the minute he opens his eyes he is standing up in his crib. Sometimes he will not go back to sleep. My husband will rock him to sleep, but the minute he puts him down in the crib he is crying. I know rocking him has created a bad habit that he is now expecting.
Any advice on what to do for him?
Hi @Angela – Thanks for writing, and we would love to help! Since I think that your son was sleeping well previously, I would indeed suspect developmental changes disrupting his sleep. Developmental Milestones which are so prevalent in the first years do have a tendency to temporarily disrupt even good sleepers! We know how tough this can be, and hang in there! Typically this is just a phase, but he may indeed now expect to be rocked to sleep, and if this is not something that you want to continue, you may want to work on creating new sleep habits. Here is another article about sleep regressions, which should help: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-patterns/why-18-month-sleep-regression-can-be-hardest
We can definitely help more with this issue if things do not smooth out! You can check out our consultation packages here:
https://babysleepsite.com/services/
Hang in there Angela and let us know if you need any help at any time!
My 15 month old son recently started waking up 4 or 5 times a night. Usually i flip him over to his other side, give him his training cup of water and cuddle him up, he will go back to sleep. He sleeps very peacefully during nap timeand had been taking longer naps. He has grown a lot of his teeth, probably more than most babies his age. So maybe that’s the cause…
Hi Misty,
Thank you for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling with these night wakings. As you said, it could definitely be teething, so you could check in with your pediatrician about possibly trying a painkiller, to help him feel better. Based on your comment, though, you could also just be seeing a sleep association with the water bottle and the cuddling. We have an article explaining sleep associations and how to handle them here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/
I hope this helps!
My sons 11 month sleep regression is not with the naps but wakes up constantly at night now about every 20 min and I feel he wont stop twitching. Is this normal?
Hi @Lesley, thanks for writing to us. I am so sorry to hear your son has been waking so frequently at night! Here is a link to a free guide with tips on how to help your baby sleep through the night that may help: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-through-night-free-ebook/
If things are not improving and you need more help, I think you would benefit from working one-on-one with one of our sleep consultants who can walk through this step by step with you. If you are interested, here are all of the various options we have available to work with a consultant: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
In regards to the twitching, I am honestly not sure. Perhaps it could be a reaction to getting worked up if he is crying or super over tired. If you have concerns I’d be sure to reach out to your child’s doctor.
Hang in there!
I originally hopped on this article to read about what in the world is going on with me almost 7 month old. Sounds like sleep regression but I had a question about my almost 2 year old….. My husband took him for a ride one night to fall asleep and I want to say this was a few months ago but honestly I can’t remember well now we have to go on a ride every night. We don’t practice the cry it out method so not an option but thoughts on breaking this habit? Will he grow out of it? If my husband isn’t home at bedtime he will go to sleep on his own.
Hi Jessi,
Thank you for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! I’m glad our article was able to help you with your 7mo, and please let us know if you have further questions about sleep regressions. As far as your description of what’s going on with your toddler, that sounds like he has a sleep association with the car, and maybe specifically with dad in the car. We have an article about sleep associations here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/
And although sleep coaching will probably help, we do not usually recommend cry-it-out, especially for older toddlers, but you can talk to him about it and set new sleep limits around it with him. We also have an article with some alternative sleep coaching options here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-training-from-no-cry-to-cry-series-part-1/
I hope these will help you out – good luck!
11 month regression means my DD won’t nap at the usual times. She was waking at 6, napping at 9 & 2 and going bed at 7. For past week, she keeps sitting and standing in her cot when I put her down to nap. And so ends up only having 1 nap. How do I keep with 2 naps if she refuses? Do I just keep putting her down to nap at usual times even if she don’t end napping? And then leave her till her next planned nap?
Hi @Karen Bunn, thanks for writing to us! I’m sorry your daughter has been protesting her naps recently, I can relate to this myself! It is hopefully a phase that will pass, usually babies are not ready to transition to 1 nap at this point, it’s usually a little closer to 16-18 months for that. I personally would continue to offer both naps even if she’s fighting you on them and it will hopefully go back to normal soon! If you need more nap tips, be sure to download our free guide with nap help here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/free-baby-nap-guide/
And if this doesn’t pass and you need more help, let us know! Hang in there!
LOSING MY MIND with 6 months sleep regression. Way worse than 4 months sleep regression. Going on 4 weeks of this!
I hope you’re right and that this passes. This is misery!!!
Dyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying!!!!!
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@t – Hang in there, T! If the sleep issues you’re experiencing linger much longer, you could be dealing with a sleep association or habit that may need some work. If so, please consider connecting with one of our sleep consultants. You can read more about these lovely ladies here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/about Good luck!
The post is very interesting, I like it very much. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you @Vivian Lopez! Glad it was helpful!