The 18 Month Sleep Regression

Like probably a lot of baby and toddlers, Erin has had her ups and downs when it comes to sleeping. When she was about a year old we went through a phase of her just not wanting to sleep at all. However, as soon as I started putting her down for naps alone and letting her get to sleep on her own, we were doing really well. Erin was doing so well that we even moved her from cot to toddler bed (full post to come soon). Unfortunately, the 18 Month Sleep Regression seems to have hit us (Erin is 19 months old now).

I’ve actually never really paid too much attention to these sleep regression dates because I’ve always tried to put Erin’s sleep issues down to something else; teething, being ill etc. She has nothing else going on like that at the moment though so I guess this is the only real reason.

We used to co-sleep with Erin and it took quite a lot of work to get her to sleep in her own cot and her own bed. Sometimes I really miss co-sleeping because the cuddles are so nice but I know getting Erin to sleep alone is for the best, especially as she’s starting nursery in January! Now though, Erin seems to hate sleeping alone. We’re back to getting her to sleep in our bedroom and then moving her into her own bedroom. Bedtime has gone from being quite a quick thing to a bit drawn out again! However, it’s nowhere near as bad as what it used to be though.

Nap time is also becoming an issue. Some days Erin gets up at 5am and most days she’s awake by 6am. Quite a lot of the time she’s already getting tired again by 10/10:30 and just recently she has just been refusing to sleep. It’s not that she’s dropping the nap because she’s definitely not ready for that. Instead, she fights and fights and fights it. Erin can spend ages rubbing her eyes and getting more and more grumpy but the minute. I have had to resort to putting Erin in the pushchair and going for a walk for the best part of an hour. This is always my very last resort though because I don’t want her to get used to this.

Did your children go through the 18 Month Sleep Regression? If they did, I’d love some tips if you have any!

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