18-month sleep regression

What It Means

The 18-month sleep regressionSleep regressionA stretch when a baby or toddler who was sleeping fairly well starts waking more at night or fighting sleep, usually for a week or two. See more is parents' shorthand for a spell of night waking, bedtime protests or skipped naps in a toddlerToddlerA child from 1 to 3 years old, the stage CDC's parenting guidance places between infancy and the preschool years. See more around a year and a half old. Pediatric bodies don't define it. At this age HealthyChildren.org, the AAP's site for parents, describes separation anxiety at its peak, and Mayo Clinic says most children have moved, or are moving, to a single nap. Either change can unsettle sleep for a stretch.

How Parents Say It

• "He's fighting his nap every single day now."
• "She screams the second I leave her room."
• "We're down to one nap and bedtime is a mess."

The Breakdown

What the sources say happens around this age

What helps

1. Keep the same bedtime routineBedtime routineThe same short series of calm steps a child goes through each night before sleep, such as brushing teeth, reading a book and lights out at a set time. See more every night, in the same order.
2. When separation anxiety wakes your toddler, go in calmly, reassure them and leave, even if it takes several visits a night for a while.
3. If the morning nap has become a fight, keep in mind that Mayo Clinic says most children switch to one midday or afternoon nap between 12 and 18 months.

When to talk to the doctor. Call your pediatrician if poor sleep goes on well past a week or two, if your toddler seems ill, or if you're worried about their development.

Good to Know

Cleveland Clinic says sleep regressions typically last a week or two, and research hasn't shown them happening at a fixed age for every child. HealthyChildren.org notes that separation anxiety can last several months and may bring a strong preference for one parent at bedtime. For the crib itself, HealthyChildren.org says to move a child to another bed once they're 35 inches (89 cm) tall or the side rail is below three-quarters of their height.

Related Terms and Categories

• Sleep regression

  A stretch when a baby or toddler who was sleeping fairly well starts waking more at night or fighting sleep, usually for a week or two.

• Nap transition

  The stretch when a child drops a daytime nap, such as going from three naps to two, from two to one, or from one to none.

• Toddler

  A child from 1 to 3 years old, the stage CDC's parenting guidance places between infancy and the preschool years.

• Bedtime battles

  The nightly struggle when a child stalls, protests or keeps getting out of bed instead of settling down to sleep at bedtime.

Baby and toddler