Sleep Regressions
Helping twins through sleep regressions
Sleep regressions are a natural part of babies’ sleep. They are a result of biological changes in their body, such as hormonal fluctuation, cognitive and physical development. The main sleep regressions are at 4 months, 9-10 months, 12 months and 18 months.
While no amount of sleep training can prevent these regressions from occurring, good sleeping habits will minimise their impact on your baby’s sleep, and ensure they do not last for very long. Your babies will experience some changes to their sleep routine, but with your help and support, they will return to a good sleeping structure very quickly.
things that make sleep regressions worse:
Lack of awareness of babies’ sleep and wake windows and lack of routine will result in your babies getting overtired frequently. During a sleep regression, this will make it harder for your babies to nap during the day. Difficulty in napping further increases their over-tiredness, and a vicious cycle will emerge.
Awareness of babies’ sleep needs plays an important role in tackling sleep regressions. Ensuring your babies gets an adequate amount of sleep during the day, is just as important as ensuring they don’t sleep for too long. Morning nap should begin no earlier than 9am, and last 30-60min (depends on babies’ age). 3rd afternoon nap should be gone by 9 months. Keeping the 3rd nap after 9 months will prevent your babies from being tired enough to settle to sleep for the night.
An untimely morning nap (too long and/or offered too early) will lead to reverse sleep face-shift. Babies will then fight their midday nap and be very tired by bedtime. This, in turn, results in frequent night wakings and early morning wake-ups (before 6am).
4-month regression:
This sleep regression is caused by a 2nd burst of melatonin production (sleep hormone), which changes the structure of babies’ sleep. Night sleep cycles change from 4-6 hours to 2-4 hours. When the regression is very bad, your babies will wake up every 2 hours. They do not know why they wake up, and can feel very frustrated and tired. Establishing a good sleep ritual, observing age-appropriate feeding windows, and introducing good sleeping habits, will help your babies reset their sleep debt.
At this age, a small scale of self-settling ability is emerging. Beginning sleep training can help your babies consolidate sleep cycles.
9-12 months sleep regressions
Developmental milestones such as a new motor skill, speech, and separation anxiety often set this regression off. If your babies aren’t upset by their newly developed skill (i.e. happily standing in their cot), leave them be. Depending on your chosen settling method, only assist them to lie back down during check-ups. Otherwise, they can remain standing as long as they are not bothered by it.
Separation anxiety peaks at 9 months. While sleep training is definitely possible, choosing a gentle method will best suit this age group and complement your babies’ developmental stage.
Dropping morning nap will make matters worse. Most babies need 2 naps until they are 15 months old. Your babies might protest their morning nap, it is very common! Growing social awareness and interests may pose difficulties in settling. Whereas before they were happy to leave a busy living room, now they will happily stay awake to not miss out and get upset when it’s time to nap. Skipping naps will lead to babies accumulating sleep debt, and they will be harder to settle later on. Babies will also sleep worse. Overtired babies tend to wake up prematurely due to high levels of cortisol (stress hormone) released as a result of fatigue.
If your babies become overtired as you tackle the sleep regression, an earlier bedtime will be your best choice. An earlier bedtime is the best solution for overtired babies. It helps reset their sleep debt for the night and the following day.
Diet:
From 6 months, your babies’ digestive system is ready to process solid food. While milk is still babies’ primary source of nutrition, introducing different food groups is important for your babies’ development. At this age, solids can make a big difference in the quality of your babies’ sleep, and a lack of protein, carbohydrates, and iron will hinder good sleep.
If your babies is still having a dream feed past 6.5 months, it’s best to drop it. It is better to wait for them to wake up to eat (will probably happen around 11pm). This way you do not disturb their deep sleep stage. Allowing your babies to finish deep sleep cycles will increase the quality of their sleep.
Feeding at night:
6 months
If your babies are over 6m, drinks formula and track above the 50th percentile for weight, they can sleep through the night with 1 bottle (no more than 150ml).
Breastfeeding babies do not need more than 2 feeds a night (mum, look at dropping it to 1).
7 months
If babies drink formula and have 2 solid meals a day (again, check for sufficient protein and carbs), they can sleep through with no feeds.
If breastfeeding with 2 established solid meals, your babies might need 1 feed, but only until 9 months.
From 9 months, with a well-established solid menu- babies need no feeds at all.
Dummy/ pacifier:
If your babies take a dummy/pacifier, it’s important that they learn how to find and replace it. If they still rely on you to replace the dummy, you can begin teaching them to do it on their own by ensuring there are plenty of dummies in their cot (either loose or attached to a Sleepytot) and only handing the dummy instead of putting it in their mouths. The less help your babies need to resume sleep, the better.
18-month regression:
This sleep regression is often set off by trying to drop to 1 nap too soon. Keep morning nap in place until at least 15 months.
Ensure morning nap is no longer than 30min, and is offered around 9:30am.
When your babies are happy to make it till 12pm with no nap, sleep for 1.5-2h at midday nap, or do not settle until after 10am for at least a week, then they are ready to drop the nap.
To help them adjust to the new sleep routine, offer the midday nap for 2 hours from 12-2pm, and once the new routine is established, from 1-3pm.
Offer an earlier bedtime for the first week as your babies get used to the new sleep routine (6-6:30pm). Once babies can make it till 1pm, bedtime can move to 6:30-7pm.
When babies protest the nap, but still need it: stick with the routine. Try to settle them for an hour, then cancel the nap if babies aren’t sleeping. Keep nap in place, even if no sleep is achieved. The message is “it’s nap time. We are not doing anything else right now”. When you are consistent, nap will fall back into place.
Good sleeping habits will help your babies go through sleep regressions much faster. Observing babies’ wake windows, offering naps at optimal times and for the appropriate length, establishing a good wind-down ritual, and awareness of babies’ diet - will get you and babies through these sleep regressions and establish a great sleep routine.
No matter which sleep regression you are facing right now - sticking to your routine is the best solution to ride the storm.
The best fix for sleep regressions is teaching babies to self-settle. You can find out about what goes into twin sleep consultation and supporting self-settling skills in my “Parents' Guide to Twin Sleep Consultation”.
Find more free sleep guides and tips here.
If you want to work on your babies’ sleep regression, book a sleep consultation package today, or learn how I can help you and your little ones in a free 15-minute discovery call.