Sleep Tight: Surviving Baby's Sleep Regression
It’s the question New Jammies moms and dads hear once consistently when their babies reach at least three months.
Does he sleep through the night yet?
Just when parents can confidently answer yes, it seems, sleep regression makes sleeping through the night seem like a distant memory. What exactly is sleep regression again?
According to babysleepsite.com, sleep regression is described as “a period of time (anywhere from 1-4 weeks) when a baby or toddler who has been sleeping well suddenly starts waking at night, and/or skipping naps (or waking early from naps) for no apparent reason.”
“Parents often describe being caught totally off guard: you think your have conquered all your little one’s sleep challenges, when suddenly, out of nowhere, you’re back to constant night wakings and nonexistent naps,” says the website.
In the babysleepsite.com article “4-Month Sleep Regression Explained (sometimes 3 and 5 months too),” it notes that changes that happen with the 4-month sleep regression are permanent changes.
“By 4 months, your baby has ditched her babyish sleeping patterns and is sleeping more like an adult – and that translates into frequent night waking (and lots of fussing) along with shortened naps.”
New Jammies Classic Stripes Sleep Sacks
Changes in sleep can also happen at 8-10 months and 11 or 12 and 18 months, and even at 2 years old, and beyond. The “Sleep Regressions: Everything You Need to Know” article’s author, Emily DeJeu, says the key to coping and moving past sleep regression is to “know the what, the why, and the when behind common baby and toddler sleep regression – now how about the ‘how to’? As in, “How the heck do I fix this and get back to my peaceful nights of sleep again?!?!”
“Well, for starters, remember that the 4-month sleep regression is a permanent change – there is no going back to the way things were,” DeJeu writes. “Once you are through the worst of the 4-month sleep regression you will want to focus on helping your baby break her sleep associations, and on heaping her learn to fall asleep without help from you. Once she can do that, she will be well on her way to sleeping through the night, and establishing a more predictable daytime schedule.”
For mom-of-two Nicole Ludlow, New Jammies founder and CEO, she found herself up every night with one child or the other just last week for various reasons. Her 3-year-old often kicks his sheets off at night, then is cold or wakes and is afraid of the dark.
“I just ordered him a nightlight because the one we had wouldn’t stay on all night,” she said.
Her younger 16-month-old used to wake for a bottle after she stopped nursing, but now she can mostly just change his diaper and he will go back to sleep.
“Last night both kids slept through the night. Overall I would say they are good sleepers, just those quick wake-ups when they need comforting disrupts my good sleep,” she adds. “I am finding daytime naps sometimes seem to help them sleep better at night.”
Nicole says she always tries to determine what is really the cause of any sleep change, especially if it has to do with teething.
“We can usually tell before bed if it’s his teeth and he is really fussy,” she says. “If teething is causing extra fussiness, we usually look for signs like rubbing face and putting hands in mouth, and then check his gums. If it looks like one is coming through I will give him the recommended dose of Tylenol before bed. It’s pretty rare, but helps on occasion.”
For free resources from the Baby Sleep Site, click here.
_______________________
Sign Up and Save!
Join our e-newsletter list and receive discounts on select New Jammies every month.
New Jammies was born as an environmentally responsible company offering 100% certified organic cotton and flame retardant-free children’s pajamas. Learn more at newjammies.com.