19 MONTH SLEEP REGRESSION HOW TO

Just thinking about a new motor skill, let alone practicing it, can throw a baby’s sleep off. I’m in motion!Īs with any sleep regression, any new motor skill can cause a sleep regression. I’m not gonna lie, there has been a 3 am viewing of Dora at our house in the past before we knew what was going on, and recently there has been some pointing to the living room yelling “play, play” at 2 am. And she has decided that what is what she wants to do right now.watch Dora.

Perhaps she surfaced between sleep cycles and remembered that awesome Dora episode she watched that day. Your toddler is blossoming in vocabulary and gaining many more words. Where your toddler previously fell asleep quietly there is more crying at bedtime, or where you toddler previously slept through the night, there are frequent night wakings or night wakings that last a long time, such as an hour or more. Sometimes at night they surface between sleep cycles and think back to their day and their blooming autonomy and want reassurance that Mom is still there. Children simultaneously crave independence but are also scared of that increased independence from Mom. Parents provide a strong base of security from which the child can venture out to assert their will. The Cause of the 18 Month Sleep Regression Can I trust the world?Īccording to Erikson’s famous stages of psychosocial development, 0-2 years is where the child tests the theory of “Can I trust the world”? Around 18 months toddlers are becoming more independent from Mom physically and emotionally. If something is distracting the child, the child will have difficulty relaxing into the next sleep cycle and the result is a “night waking”.

19 MONTH SLEEP REGRESSION HOW TO

Kids who know how to self-soothe will be able to relax themselves into the next sleep cycle without much fuss. What is going on in the sleep regression?Īs you know, night waking usually occurs when a child surfaces in between nighttime sleep cycles.Ī nighttime sleep cycle is 3 hours. Tarts to set in which often leads us to vary our responses and we falter in our ability to respond consistently, which becomes a slippery slope of bad habit building. The tears seem so much more intense and the night waking so much longer. Your toddler may seem inconsolable and the techniques you previously used to reassure just don’t work! Where we were previously able to handle a sleep regression with some verbal reassurance or some physical touch, this sleep regression may look completely different. It is confusing too since it can appear as early as 16 months and last on and off for many months to follow. The night wakings seem longer and the regression itself seems to last longer. Wiser, calmer, more experienced, one plans on dealing with this sleep hiccup of increased night waking in a similar manner.īut this one is different. Why the 18 month sleep regression is the WORST!īy 18 months, we’ve all dealt with the 4-month and 12-month sleep regressions and survived. I had life by the balls! And then the 18 month sleep regression hit… and humbled me. I had been back to work for about six months, managing home and the work front and proud of my “good sleeper”.

19 month sleep regression