How to deal with Sleep Regression and How to Improve Sleep

You thought you were finally through the worst of the toddler wakeups, but now your baby is fussy and crying throughout the night. Is this normal for babies, or could it be sleep regression?

People of all ages need restful sleep, and a baby or toddler needs more sleep than an adult. Not many academic studies exist on sleep regression, but the term generally describes children who fall back or regress from their expected sleep pattern. A lack of sleep for babies affects the family unit, creating fussy children and parents alike.

Sleep regression won’t last forever, thankfully, but if you overcorrect you could be creating more problems than you’re solving.

It’s important to reinforce good sleeping habits instead of creating bad ones.

Sleep regression and how to improve sleep

Parental concern about the sleep of their newborn, baby, or toddler is common. Also, 20% to 30% of infants and children have sleeping problems.

As we mentioned above, sleep cycles are uniquely tailored to our age. A grandparent will sleep at different times and for different lengths than a newborn. Newborns often take smaller naps throughout the day, staying asleep for only a few hours. As newborns age, their circadian rhythm — or being active during the day and sleeping at night — slowly begins to resemble a normal adult cycle.

But there are some sleep hygiene essentials that everyone needs to stay asleep.

• Active days and sleepy nights — To help your children learn a normal day-night cycle, children should be active during the day and calmer at night. Don’t play with their favorite toy before bed.

• Bedtime comforts — You want your child to be comfortable when it falls asleep. Provide your child with a comfy crib separate from your bed, a soft plushy, and a quiet space to help them calmly drift to sleep. 

• Consistent bedtime routines — Along with separating a normal day-night cycle, consistent bedtime routines, like bath-time and reading, help them realize it’s time to get them to bed.

• Disconnecting electronic devices — We’ve all seen parents who let their children watch their phones or television. While this is a great way to keep children occupied, too much blue light and mental stimulation at night can prevent your children from falling asleep.

What is sleep regression?

You’ve worked hard at creating a healthy bedtime routine that worked, but now it feels like you’re starting from square one.

Sleep regression implies that your child was sleeping through the night but then regressed, slipping back into a sleep schedule that resembles a newborn’s small nap schedule. Keep in mind that until children reach five years old, they won’t sleep in a way that resembles adult sleep.

In many ways, a child waking at night is completely normal.

At what ages does sleep regression occur?

Because sleep regressions aren’t a scientifically understood concept, this question has a lot of differing information across the internet.

But it would be hard for a child who isn’t old enough to have established a good sleep schedule to regress. 

For example, a four-month-old child may sleep soundly one night and wake up every hour the next. But it would be hard to diagnose 4-month sleep regression. At four months, newborns don’t do much more than sleep, eat, and poop. Babies at this age are still hitting developmental milestones and haven’t begun to adapt to an adult cycle.

For this reason, it would be hard to say any child younger than 12 months is experiencing sleep regression. When children are 12 to 18 months old, their sleep schedules are beginning to establish themselves enough that they have likely begun to sleep longer during the night.

If your 12-month-old child slips back into something resembling a 4-month sleep regression, that could be considered a sleep regression. This is because your child is old enough now that their sleep patterns should be developing toward an adult schedule instead of regressing back to a newborn schedule.

Give your child some time to work themselves out. If they aren’t finding their way back to their normal schedule, then make an appointment with your pediatrician. But luckily for parents, any regressions in sleep are temporary.

What are the symptoms of sleep regression?

The symptoms are different than what you might think.

Signs of sleep regression in older children include a child waking up more often during the night and taking naps during the day. If your child starts acting fussy or agitated at bedtime or even crying, this could be a sign. Be aware if your child starts skipping naps. If your child wakes up in the middle of the night and continues to resist going to bed, this could be a sign of a sleep regression.

But in most cases, regression in sleep for your baby isn’t dangerous. Stick to your positive sleep patterns, and your child should find their way back to a healthy sleep schedule.

What are the causes of sleep regression?

As your baby starts passing developmental milestones, it will wake up during naps or night-time sleep. Here are some developmental reasons for a baby to wake up:

• Teething

• Separation anxiety

• Growth spurt

As children can’t communicate their needs with words, it’s hard to discern the exact reason a child wakes up. It could be growing, teething, or just an upset stomach. Your baby may wake up for no clear reason at all. 

The best reassurance we can give you is that if your baby suddenly starts to wake up at night, these reasons will pass with time.

How to respond to sleep regression

When your child has started regressing in their sleep, it may be easy to blame your past tactics that may have been right all along. Here we’ll go over how to respond to a possible sleep regression:

Talk to your pediatrician.

Speak to a pediatrician about children’s sleep habits if you have any lingering questions about sleep regression.

Your doctor can tell you if they’re experiencing a sleep regression or simply waking up at night. They may even have some recommendations for better sleep hygiene that fits your children’s needs.

Especially for single parents or first-time parents, make an appointment and ask any questions you have about your child.

Practice flexibility with temporary sleep patterns.

The reality is that sleep regression will eventually work itself out.

As parents, you must keep a flexible mindset and remember that your baby doesn’t mean to wake you up. It simply doesn’t know any better. 

Picking a healthy routine and sticking to it will help you stay on top of your baby’s sleep habits.

Find support groups.

Support groups are a great way to build a community of people you can rely upon to vent your concerns or find answers about what your child is going through.

Many support groups focus on sleep training for new parents because it’s a confusing part of the life of a newborn and parent. Other parenting classes exist to help you feed your baby and keep them healthy.

Reach out to a community organization or pediatrician to find a support group near you. People also host remote classes online.

Keep routines consistent.

This means once you create a routine, you keep to it. 

An important aspect of this is keeping the rigorous fun and play time for the day to wear your child out. Then, once nighttime approaches, you can prepare them for sleep with calming activities. From baths and reading, multiple activities will signal to your child that it’s bedtime.

Patterns and routines that only happen once a month are hardly patterns at all, so keep your routines consistent.

Avoid bad sleep habits.

There are two general schools of thought: children either need to be self-dependent or feel warm, loving affection. 

Self-soothing is a common trait that children learn to do on their own, which means to soothe themselves when they’re just agitated. Alternatively, if your child hasn’t eaten, pooped, or been active enough, they may have too much energy and need affection.

The reality is that children need a bit of both — time for self-soothing and time for dependence — and it will be up to the parent to make that decision when the time comes. The problem is that both tactics can become neglect and coddling when done too excessively.

Ask for help.

One of the hardest things when raising your child is to admit you’re unsure or to ask for help.

Single parents may find this difficult, but no one is alone in raising children. Friends and family members, if given the flexibility to adapt their schedule, may be happy to help. These friends and family members might even give you the space in your schedule to get some good night’s sleep.
If your co-parent or family member is watching the baby tonight, consider trying Khalili’s plant-powered sleep medicine to get restful sleep.