In the first 12 months of life, a baby changes tremendously! There are so many developmental milestones that impact their growth and development. Babies grow from infants to young toddlers and become much more active!
Although there are many exciting changes to your baby at 12 months, there are also A LOT of changes to their sleep patterns. Your child may have been sleeping through the night or had minimal sleep issues and then there may be an increase in night wakings or other sleep disruptions. I understand how overwhelming this can be as a parent, I’m here to share more information on the 12 month sleep regression and how to help your child get back to sleeping through the night again!
The 12 Month Sleep Regression
There are A LOT of developmental milestones that take place in a child’s first 2 years of life, people typically call these sleep regressions. There are growth spurts, physical and verbal developments, it seems like a lot but these milestones are exciting! Prior to this point, you may have experienced the 6 month or maybe the 9 month sleep regression, those regressions are typically driven by physical developments like rolling, crawling, sitting and pulling to stand. Your baby may have also experienced separation anxiety during these timeframes.
At 12 months, your child is also entering toddlerhood – woohoo … right?! Toddlerhood is a whole new phase of development, they are slowly learning how to verbalize and communicate. They are also observing your actions, feelings and emotions. You may start to see your child imitate you or try to repeat your phrases (be careful if you have a potty mouth like me!). They can also pick up on your reactions, if they have a tantrum because they couldn’t put a toy together and you rush over to fix it, you best believe they will have a tantrum the next time they can’t put the toy together.
Try to let your child learn new things, including frustrations, these are all valid feelings and emotions that they have to learn. While it can be hard to watch, I promise they will learn to work through them! As your child grows and works through these developments, it can play an impact on their sleeping habits. Don’t worry – these aren’t long term sleep problems!
Is There A 12 Month Sleep Regression?
Sleep regressions won’t impact every child, especially if you have done some type of sleep training, typically those children don’t have as many disruptions to their sleep routines. The reason for the 12 month sleep regression are the physical, verbal and cognitive developments that your child is experiencing.
A few of the causes of the 12 month sleep regression are:
- Trying to walk
- Pulling to stand
- Babbling⠀
When your baby starts show signs of these new skills, they may start to take a bit longer time to fall asleep. They may also have difficult staying asleep for either nap or overnight sleep. Your child may have gone from napping during the day and then suddenly they are fighting naps or taking shorter naps. Sometimes parents tend to want to transition to 1 nap at this age (thinking your child isn’t tired enough) but I wouldn’t do that quite yet. I typically recommend waiting to transition to 1 nap until closer to 15 months. If you find that your child isn’t hitting “typical” milestones at 12 months, make sure you reach out to your pediatrician. Every child is different and perfect the way they are.
12 Month Sleep Regression Signs
Some of the common signs of the 12 month sleep regression are:
- Trouble falling asleep or settling down at bedtime and nap time⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- More frequent nighttime wake-ups⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Skipping a nap⠀
How Long Does 12 Month Sleep Regression Last?
The 12 month sleep regression typically lasts 2-4 weeks. There are different factors that can impact how long the regression lasts for your child. This is based on how quickly they learn some of their new physical and verbal skills. My best time to deal with the 12 month sleep regression is to focus on your baby’s sleep. If they are skipping naps or taking a long time to fall asleep at bedtime, make sure you move bedtime and naps earlier so that they aren’t getting overtired!
How To Deal With 12 Month Sleep Regression
- Practice new skills while awake
- Keep your toddler active and stimulated during the day
- Maintain consistency with sleep routine and sleep schedule.
- Continue following the America Academy of Pediatrics (APP) guidelines for safe sleep.
- Ensure sleep environment is calm and setup for solid sleep!
- Continue to offer 2 naps! Even though it may seem like your infant needs less sleep when they are protesting, the recommended amount of sleep doesn’t change.
- Use early bedtime if naps were off
Do All Babies Go Through Sleep Regression?
Short answer, NO! Many times, babies with healthy and independent sleep habits are not as impacted by sleep regressions. All babies will go developmental periods where they learn new skills, experience new developments and practice new things! The impact of these developments is truly dependent on your baby’s individual temperament, sleep patterns, routine, schedule and more. Typically around your baby’s first birthday, you will notice a lot of new skills that your baby is working on. This is exciting but doesn’t mean that you should do anything differently with their sleep.
Which Sleep Regression Is The Worst?
Sleep regressions are not enjoyable regardless of age – 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 18 months, etc. The impact of sleep regressions really depends on your baby, what skills they are learning at that time and how sensitive your baby is to change! I have found both personally with my own kids and with clients, the 4 month, 18 month and 2 year sleep regression tend to hit the hardest. The reason for this is because of the impact of developments going on at those ages. But again, that is just what I’ve seen, it can vary child to child!
Sleep Shore Sleep Consulting
Is your little one having difficulty self-soothing for naps? If your child is unable to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up at a normal time, it may be time to consider sleep training. Sleep Shore offers personalized solutions for each unique sleeping situation to get your little one on track- whether they’re a newborn, infant, or toddler. We also offer in home sleep training services in the Boston, Massachusetts, Central Michigan (Midland, Clare, Mt. Pleasant) and Traverse City, Michigan. Sleep training offers babies and children with the skills to fall asleep on their own so they can wake up feeling more well-rested- and in turn, you’ll feel more energized, too! See what this mama had to say about our sleep services below:
“As a first time Mom, I really felt lost with all the information and opinions out there. Nothing was working! Until we met with Molly. She is extremely responsive, caring and knowledgeable. I was heading back to work after leave and I had a lot of anxiety. She managed to get our 6 month old boy on a consistent schedule that worked best for his sleep needs. Our baby is able to calmly fall asleep in the crib on his own which was never possible before. We are now confident with a plan for night sleep. We have our evenings back to relax and unwind. More importantly, our baby is happier! Molly is so invested, she still checks in on us. I am so happy we decided to work with Sleep Shore- life-changing!”
Mom of 6-Month-Old