My child is not sleeping….help?? (I hear this a great deal.)

The fact is there are a number of things that will affect a child’s sleep. The number one issue that affects a child’s sleep is actually something to be celebrated.

What??

Celebrate the fact your child is not sleeping??

Yep. 

The number one reason for a change in your child’s sleep is the fact that your child is progressing in their development.

So you can say..a child’s sleep regression is a progression. Your child is developing and growing which affects their sleep.

What is a Sleep Regression?

A sleep regression is when your child’s sleep takes a turn to the difficult side. You had a few weeks or days of great sleep and then wham, you are up several times or fighting with your child to get them the sleep they require.

When is it a True Regression?

Changes in a child’s sleep will happen several times. If the change in your child’s sleep has lasted for more than 4 days and cannot be blamed on an illness or growth spurt then you are in the midst of a regression.

Common Sleep Regression and the reason for it…

4-month Regression: 

This is when our little ones are moving from the newborn sleep cycle to the sleep cycle that is similar to yours and mine. They are moving from 2 stages of sleep to 4 to 5 stages of sleep per sleep cycle.

6 to 8 month Regression:

This is when our littles are learning the concept of Object Permanence. They are beginning to understand that an object may still be there even if they do not see it. 

8 to 9-month Regression:

This is typically related to a developmental milestone. At this age, there is so much growth going on that it does play havoc with our child’s sleep.

Typically, the developmental milestones that are occurring at this age are as follows: learning to crawl, standing, walking and babbling.

18-month Regression

This can usually be related to increased separation anxiety. This age is famous for this! It does make putting your little one down for sleep a bit more difficult.

2/2.5-year-old Regression

This is usually when our little ones have a verbal explosion! Has your child started to talk a great deal more? This is usually the culprit to sleep-related issues at this age.

The best thing you can do if you suspect that your child is dealing with a sleep regression is to be patient. If your child had a good sleeping pattern before and you do not introduce any new sleep associations your child should be back on track in 4 to 7 days.

If a week has passed and you are still dealing with the sleep regression then I would recommend that you look at your child’s wake time. Your child will most likely benefit from a 15 minute increased time they are able to stay awake from sleep to sleep (waketime).

If you are a Parenting Foundations Member, please feel free to send me a message so I can help you further. If you are not a member yet you can click here to learn more about becoming a member which gives you direct access to me, Brenda from Parenting Foundations.