How to Get Through the 12 Month Old Sleep Regression

Going through the 12 month old sleep regression can be difficult. Learn how to get through this challenging phase as quickly as possible!

12 Month Old Sleep RegressionHitting that one-year mark is often a celebration not just for the baby, but for us parents who somehow survived a year of raising a baby. And for the lucky ones, sleep deprivation is a distant memory reserved for the newborn stages. I have a good sleeper, we can finally say at this stage.

But sometimes, the celebration is short-lived when you’re hit with sleep issues you never anticipated.

My 12 month old, who normally got at least 11 hours of sleep, started waking up more frequently at night (with the first one starting barely an hour after bed). He’d wake up at 5am, making him sleepy as the morning wore on. And he’d cry through both his morning and afternoon naps.

The good news was that I knew he’d slept well up to that point and could do so again. A few tweaks were all it took to get him sleeping through the night and taking good naps once again.

Take a look at these simple ways to get through the 12 month sleep regression and return to your normal patterns again:

Toddler Waking At 5am

1. Schedule the first nap 3 hours after waking up

Whether your 1 year old woke up several times at night or really early in the morning, it’s tempting to push that first nap sooner than usual. After all, you’re both exhausted from the lack of sleep, and she’s likely more than ready for that next nap.

Instead, see what happens if you schedule that morning nap no sooner than three hours after she wakes up in the morning. If she woke up at 6am, put her down at 9am. With consistency, this can hopefully get her back onto her usual sleep schedule and avoid creating a new one based on an early wake up time.

Free chapter: Interested in learning about sleep training? Join my newsletter and get a preview of How to Teach Your Baby to Self Soothe. This chapter is all about the mindset needed for successful self-soothing and helping your child put himself to sleep (it works for toddlers, too!):

How to Teach Your Baby to Self Soothe

2. Offer the last feeding earlier in the evening

Does your toddler still rely on nursing or feeding to fall asleep at bedtime? Doing so might be denying her the chance to learn how to fall asleep on her own, instead of needing milk to do so.

One trick is to nurse or feed earlier in the evening. For instance, offer milk directly after dinner (or even with dinner). Or the last feeding can happen at the start of the bedtime routine, like right before the bath.

The one-year mark was when I not only introduced cow’s milk but also transitioned from a bottle to a sippy cup. Gradually, I phased out the nursing sessions and bottles in favor of drinking more independently and, down the line, with meals.

Get more tips on how to introduce cow’s milk to your toddler.

How to Introduce Milk to 1 Year Old

3. Have a (really) early bedtime

When most parents hear the advice to have an early bedtime, they might think of bumping the time by 15-30 minutes at most. But considering that you’re course-correcting your child’s sleep, experiment with drastic changes.

In short, put him down for the night much earlier than you usually do.

If he normally sleeps at 7:30pm, put him down at 6:30pm. The end of the day is the most tiresome for all of us—the early bedtime could be the welcomed rest he truly needs. And good, quality sleep can reap even more of the same.

4. Give your child a lovey

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A sudden separation anxiety at bedtime can strike when toddlers hit new developmental milestones. They might question whether we’ll return in the morning or wonder what lurks behind the darkness.

One of the simplest ways to make sleeping a more pleasant experience is to give your child a lovey, stuffed animal, or special blanket. Each of my kids has one (even until now!) that they sleep with for every nap and through the night. It’s the constant comfort they have, a reassurance that they’re not truly alone.

5. Keep check-ins brief and infrequent

Do you feel like you walk into your child’s room a zillion times a night? Does nap time hardly happen because you check in each time he cries?

We all want to comfort our kids for every fussiness or cry we hear. Unfortunately, if done too often and for every little thing, they think that there is something wrong. That maybe they actually can’t fall asleep on their own, much less alone in the room. That every disruption is cause for concern.

The solution? Don’t check in on him every time.

First, learn to decipher his cries. Is he whining and complaining, or is he genuinely crying and upset? Reserve your check-ins for when he truly needs your help.

Then, keep those check-ins brief—no more than 30 seconds each time. The goal isn’t to calm him down or stay in the room until he falls asleep. You’re making sure that there’s nothing wrong (like a soiled diaper or vomit), and reassuring him that you’re still here.

And finally, start timing your check-ins, going in every 10-15 minutes if he’s still crying. He has more chances to actually fall asleep during longer stretches than if you enter the room each time he cries.

6. Be consistent with your strategy

Going back to your good sleep habits happens with consistent repetition. Flip flopping between, say, having your child stay in his crib and bringing him to your bed sends mixed messages.

Instead, plan ahead and hold your ground. You might even give yourself a “pep talk,” reminding yourself that, while it might be rough, this is your plan of action. This can help you resist the temptation of perhaps bringing him to your bed or sleeping in his room.

The more you follow through with your word and remain consistent, the more he realizes that this is simply the way things are. Give him the benefit of the doubt that he truly can get through this.

How to Get Toddler to Stay in Bed

Conclusion

Sleep problems improve, but they don’t always go away entirely. Even when things have been humming along just fine, we might still hit a sleep regression at 12 months, leaving us trying to remember what to do.

Thankfully, you have options.

Experiment with the time your child sleeps, from trying an early bedtime to keeping him awake three hours before the first nap. Offer the last feeding earlier in the evening to avoid relying on feeding or nursing to fall asleep. Give him a special lovey to make the time apart from you more comforting.

Check in briefly and at set intervals—doing the opposite might confirm his suspicions that something is worrisome. And stay consistent with your plan so you avoid sending mixed messages.

You can get through the 12 month old sleep regression — and go back to celebrating the other milestones of hitting that one-year mark.

Get more tips:

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How to Teach Your Baby to Self Soothe

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4 Comments

  1. My biggest struggle is getting my 12 month baby to sleep through the night without waking me up every 30 minutes or every hour. I get no sleep at night and am exhausted. It’s affecting me because I have had many days where I don’t want to do anything. His first nap of the day is always easy but getting him down for his second nap is always hard. Also it’s hard to do a bedtime routine because I sometimes work at night so I don’t get to keep him on that same routine.

    1. Nina Garcia says:

      Hi Amy! Since your baby is now a year old, have you considered sleep training him so that he can learn how to put himself to sleep when he wakes up throughout the night? That’s what helped me finally get a full night of sleep.

  2. My son slept through the night from week two of life and then around month 9, started a sleep regression and I’m honestly not sure that I’ve had a full nights sleep in the last 3 months now. He’s up every hour. The only thing that will help put him back to sleep is a bottle. He eats and drinks plenty through the day so I’m pretty sure it’s not real hunger. He won’t let us give him his soother, he throws a fit and screams bloody murder if we try and pick him up. I’m usually such a patient person but after weeks of this, I find myself getting frustrated with him which makes me feel super guilty. I don’t know what to do anymore!

    1. Nina Garcia says:

      It’s definitely frustrating when your little one stops sleeping so well and wakes up at crazy hours of the night. It sounds like he’s grown used to drinking to fall asleep, so much so that he doesn’t even like to get picked up or get soothed with a pacifier.

      Definitely check out the self soothing ebook, because it shows you how to wean him from night feedings, whether out of hunger or out of habit. If he’s actually drinking the milk, there’s a good chance that it’s both. So what you’ll do is gradually lessen the milk he gets at night and transfer that over to the day time. The goal is that he’ll start taking in calories during the day like you and I do, and sleep all night. You’ll also be teaching him to stop relying on the bottle to fall asleep, and instead learn that he can fall back asleep when he wakes up at night.