What is a sleep regression?

If you’ve ever gotten into a solid rhythm with your baby’s sleep, only to have them start waking up at all hours or suddenly resisting naps, you’re could be dealing with a sleep regression. Sleep regressions can feel like a curveball when they hit, but understanding what’s happening can make them a bit easier to handle.

When do sleep regressions happen?

The term “sleep regression” gets thrown around a lot – you’ve probably read that regressions happen at 4 months, 8-9 months, 12 months, 18 months and 2 years. But here’s an important distinction: only the 4-month sleep regression is backed by real scientific change in how babies sleep. At around this age, babies’ sleep patterns mature, and they start to sleep more like adults do, with light and deep sleep periods in their sleep cycles. This shift means they’re more likely to wake up between cycles, which can cause some rough nights until they get the hang of it.

The other “regressions” are less about changes to sleep and more about developmental leaps. At these milestone ages, babies and toddlers are often busy mastering new skills or going through big cognitive changes, which can disrupt their sleep. So, while they’re often called regressions, we like to refer to them as “sleep blips” instead. The only true regression is at 4 months.

 

What do sleep regressions look like?

Every little one is unique, some parents barely notice the 4 month sleep regression (or the developmental sleep blips!) but here are some common signs that your little one might be going through the regression:

• More frequent night wakings (even if they were previously sleeping well)
• Hard to get down for naps or bedtime
• Shorter naps
• Waking after one sleep cycle day and/or night (typically 30-45mins)
• Early wakes

What happens during the 4 month regression?

Before the regression, your newborn spent long chunks of time in deep sleep. Now their sleep cycles have matured and they experience periods of light and deep sleep, just like we do as adults. This means they now need to be able to ‘link’ sleep cycles to achieve long periods of sleep. You may find they’re suddenly waking every 45 mins as they reach the end of one sleep cycle and can’t start another.

If your little one is ‘helped’ to sleep at the start of a sleep, for example by feeding to sleep, rocking to sleep etc, you may find they start waking after one sleep cycle because they need that same ‘help’ to get back to sleep. They’re not able to settle themselves into another sleep cycle and so wake and cry for you to help them back to sleep. It’s entirely up to you how you want to respond to the regression – some parents are happy to continue helping their little one get to sleep, whilst for others this is a time to make a change and gently help their little one learn how to self settle.

How do I work on self settling?

This is completely up to you and your family. Here at Positively Parenthood we don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach and so in our Newborn, Baby and Toddler courses you’ll find a range of sleep coaching techniques. All of the techniques are for working on self settling, but some are more gentle ‘in the room’ methods and others are more typical ‘in and out the room’ methods. There is no right answer, you just need to choose whichever method feels like a good fit for your family and, most importantly, one you feel you can be completely consistent with.

If you want more of a personalised approach, you can book a 1:1 with us to talk about your little one and make a completely tailored plan to put into action.