"When do baby sleep regressions happen, and how do we survive them?"

Have you ever wondered why sleep regressions happen just when you think you're starting to get a handle on things?

Sleep regressions happen at various times throughout the baby years, and yes this might sound cheesy but, these transitions from one phase of development to another are really progressions - a sign that your baby and their sleep are maturing!

And let's face it, the further away you get from the newborn phase of sleep, the better... Am I right?!

So exactly what is happening during a sleep "regression", when should we expect them. and how do we survive them?

6-8 weeks old

At this age, your newborn baby is now out of the newborn coma, and ready to interact with their world! Soothing techniques that worked a couple of weeks ago might no longer be as effective, and your baby will start to fight sleep when they are overstimulated and/or overtired.

You'll also start to notice that naps amongst chaos are no longer quite so easy. Brand new babies are overwhelmed by their new world, and so in environments with lots of noise, light and smells, their brain "shuts down" to block out the stressful chaos. At 6 weeks and up, this skill starts to wear off, and naps in a crowded restaurant may no longer be quite so easy!

How to survive this phase?

Begin to offer naps and nighttime sleep in a consistent enviroment that is conducive to sleep: i.e: cool and dark, swaddled, with white noise. Try to balance naps on the go so that 80% of baby's sleep happens within this environment.

Habits start to form at this stage, so make sure your pre-sleep habits and routines are sustainable! If you start adding lots of support to sleep, i.e feeding and rocking to sleep or bouncing on a yoga ball for an hour and a half, your baby will store these routines as "how sleep works", and can easily fight sleep on the occasions where this is not offered.

4 months old

AKA the most infamous sleep regression! This really is the biggest phase of change in your baby's sleep, and also the most positive - your baby's sleep cycles are maturing and they will soon be capable of consolidating their nighttime sleep!

When babies are born, they have no regulatory system when it comes to sleep, so it is unpredictible and chaotic by nature. Once we begin to approach 16 weeks old, a very tiny but mighty part of your baby's brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, finally begins to develop!

This system is responsible for regulating:

• Body temperature

• Metabolism

• Appetite

• Hormones

• And most importantly, sleep!

At this stage, your baby's sleep hormones are beginning to peak at predictable times on the clock, so it's time to move away from wake windows, and instead plan naps at consistent times on the clock.

This might look like:

Nap 1: 08:30am, Nap 2: 11:00am, Nap 3: 1:30pm, Nap 4: 4:00pm, Bedtime 6:00-7:00pm

Ahead of this development and as early as 12 weeks old, your baby's naps can become chronically short lasting just 30-45 minutes, which can lead to them being super overtired and fight their nighttime sleep, it's a vicious cycle! And precisely why this phase can be so challenging.

On shorter nap days, bring bedtime as early as possible to help them avoid fighting nighttime sleep.

6-8 Months old

At this stage, your baby will drop their afternoon catnap, which you'll be pleased to know. is the easiest nap transition of the 3!

Around 8 months old, your baby moves through their first phase of learning "object permanence", which can cause temporary separation anxiety, AKA screaming their head off every time you leave the room, and especially at bedtime...

How to survive this phase?

Avoid sneaking out of the room! Your baby knows what you're up to, and this will only perpetuate their anxiety. Instead, keep your exit consistent! After their bedtime feed while reading their favourite bedtime book, sing your bedtime song (you are my sunshine, twinkle twinkle etc), say your bedtime mantra ("Mummy loves you, it's time for night night"), and leave the room.

These 3 elements will cue your baby that bedtime is coming, which means time to say goodnight. Once you say goodnight and leave the room, return immediately if your baby starts to cry for a quick in-crib cuddle, big kisses, repeat your bedtime mantra, then leave the room.

If your baby continues to cry at bedtime, set a timer for as long as you are comfortable with, then stand in their doorway, blow kisses and say your bedtime mantra, then leave the room.

With this routine, you offer consistency and predictibility, which is very comforting to anxious babies wondering where you've gone! By visiting in this way and avoiding too much stimulation which will only further disrupt sleep, and by continually showing up for them by saying "hey, I'm here for you, I haven't dissapeared" you are helping to comfort them while learning object permanence! "Even though I can't see you, I know that you are still here for me".

Twelve Months old

There is SO much going on around the time of your baby's first birthday, and some big milestones are on the horizon! Milestones are THE BIGGEST disruptor to infant sleep, so this one can be a long ride...

As well as walking any day now, your baby's language centre is developing rapidly! Both of these milestones can cause significant disruption to their sleep, essentially because, their brain is so excited to master these skills, that it insists on working at it during sleep time... Not very logical is it? So making sure your baby has plenty of opportunity to practice these skills during awake time will help limit the time spent on it when they should be sleeping.

Sleep disruption at 12 months old is often misconstrued as your baby being ready to drop to a 1 nap schedule, but don't be fooled! Your baby has a biological need for 2 naps per day until 15-18 months old at the earliest, so don't be too hasty with making changes to their sleep schedule, it will only make things worse...

Often when babies start to take shorter naps or wake more frequently at night, we can mistakenly think that this is a sleep regression at play but, it can more often mean that baby's sleep schedule is not suiting their body clock, or their fall asleep associations are actually the culprit of disrupted sleep.

My customized sleep support is here for you and a free assessment of your child's sleep challenges and eligibility for sleep training support is just a click away!

Here's to downtime, date nights, and a Jolly Good Night's Sleep...