12 Month Sleep Regression Tips

Apr 9

Your little one is about to turn one OR you just celebrated his first birthday… you are in awe of how much your baby has grown in 12 months… they may even be walking… with all of this growth and progress may also come a baby sleep regression at 12 months 🥴

We know a regression is a period of time when your baby’s sleep patterns change. It is a temporary set back from your normal sleep habits. It is a time when your baby would typically be sleeping but they may be awake more during the night and are having a hard time going BACK to sleep! Sleep regressions also present itself in naps.

In this blog, we will cover:

12 month sleep regression at night
how to deal with 12 month sleep regression
12-month sleep regression signs
how long does 12-month sleep regression last
12 month sleep regression waking early
sleep training while teething
12 month sleep regression naps
12 month sleep schedule

12 month sleep regression at night

A sleep regression may present itself in a lot of different ways, but if you have a child who typically sleeps through the night, you may find them being more wakeful at night (either happily or not). This can cause you to panic and start changing their habits or sleep schedule!

The best way through a sleep regression (yes you go through it, it doesn’t just go away) is to be consistent in your response. Try not to over tweak things or over respond. Obviously, there will be a time and place to go off script, but for the most part, the quickest way through it is to have a plan for how you’ll address new night time wakings (like your sleep training method) and try not to introduce a new habit that you feel isn’t sustainable once the regression is past.

12-month sleep regression signs

The most common sign you’ll see with this regression is almost always boycotting the second nap. A lot of parents will take this as a sign to transition to 1 nap which can actually backfire!

Transitioning too soon can create a cycle of overtiredness and it’ll feel like the wheels have completely fallen off of sleep. The stats show that about 17% of kids are actually ready to transition to one nap at 12 months, so technically some kids WILL be ready, but only a small percentage. We don’t want to always assume that they need to drop the nap!

Some trends you might notice if your child IS ready will be:

they typically transition to less naps on the younger side (the 4-3, 3-2 happened earlier than average)
they have lower sleep needs (meaning they sleep less than most kids their age)

If they’re not sleeping through the night at 12 months, that’s less of a reason to transition to one nap as they usually need that consolidated sleep to handle the longer wake times associated with one nap.

Other signs of a regression at 12 months are:

learning a new skill (walking, talking)
having a hard time winding down for sleep at naps or bedtime
waking overnight (and maybe staying awake for a while)
waking earlier in the morning

how long does 12-month sleep regression last

Sleep regressions are temporary- even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment. On average, we see them lasting anywhere from 1-3ish weeks. Of course, if newer habits creep in or if the second nap is dropped too soon, it may feel like the regression is going on and on! If you find that being the case, join our raising happy sleepers membership for some support through it and getting back on track!

12 month sleep regression waking early

Sometimes regressions coincide with a change in sleep needs We do know that early wakings are most typically caused from being overtired, but they can also indicate needing LESS sleep. (I know, it’s confusing).

Sometimes bumping 1-2 wake times by 15 mins or decreasing day time sleep by 15-30 minutes can help those early wakings a lot!

sleep training while teething

Something else you may see— one year molars! Teething doesn’t always impact sleep, but if it’s going to, those molars can be a real doozy. Check out this blog about baby teething and sleep to get more tips on how to handle this!

12 month sleep regression naps

Here’s our best tip:

try not to drop the second nap too early!!!!!

Sorry if we sound redundant 🤪. But honestly, keeping that second nap in place or continuing to offer it is almost always the solution.

If your child is having a lot of trouble keeping the second nap, then you can try:

limiting nap 1 to 45-60 minutes (this helps increase sleep pressure for nap 2 and it can be the longer nap)
increasing the timing before nap 2 (up to 4 hours) can also help increase sleep pressure to take the nap

If you try BOTH of those things and it doesn’t help— then it isn’t schedule related and is most likely just the regression. They WILL go back to napping! And if it goes on longer than 3-4 weeks WITH making tweaks to the timing, then it really could be time to transition.

(And here’s a blog to check out about nap refusals!)

12 month sleep schedule

Sometimes they just need a little schedule tweak to help them take better naps and sleep better overnight. Typical wake times will vary from 3-4 hours at this age. That may look like:

7:00am wake up
10:15-11:30am nap 1
3-4:00pm nap 2
7:30pm bedtime

OR, you could try:

7:00am wake up
10:30-11:30am nap 1
3:15/3:30-4:15/4:30pm nap 2
7:45/8:00pm bedtime

Or, you know, any variation of wake times since they’re not evidence based. Try not to tweak EVERY day. Give any change about 3-5 days before making another change. And try to change only one single thing at a time so you can spot trends/track data. Need a sleep log? Grab our free download!

how to deal with 12 month sleep regression

Remind yourself that it is TEMPORARY!! Have a plan in place for addressing skipped naps (ie early bedtime at 6pm), night time wakings (ie your sleep training method if you’ve sleep trained before, if not, research one!), and most importantly…. don’t panic, be consistent!

I know it’s easier said than done, but truly, the more consistent you are, the quicker you’ll get through it. We’re here for you!

While sleep regressions are hard on us as parents, it is equally hard on your baby. Especially if they’re overtired! Remember to give lots of extra snuggles and comfort in the meantime.

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