You know what one of the worst sleep through the night myths out there is, in my opinion? The myth that once a baby starts sleeping through the night, that’s it – night waking over! Forever! And they all slept happily ever after.
Except no, that’s not how it works. Yes, teaching your baby to sleep through the night, or teaching your toddler to sleep through the night, is a huge milestone. And once your little one is capable of sleeping through the night, you can look forward to lots of rested, sleep-filled nights.
But sometimes, even ‘good’ sleepers turn ‘bad’. That is to say that sometimes, babies and toddlers who have been sleeping through the night for weeks, or even months, suddenly start waking again. This is normal – sleeping through the night is not a ‘one and done’ kind of thing.
But why do babies and toddlers who have been sleeping through the night suddenly stop? That’s what we are tackling in today’s article, readers. So read on for details, and find out why your baby or toddler’s nighttime sleep may have suddenly taken a turn for the worse!
Baby or Toddler Stopped Sleeping Through The Night? 7 Reasons Why
- Sleep regression — This is your most likely culprit. Sleep regressions often creep up out of nowhere,and they tend to wreak havoc on sleep – both the nighttime AND the nap time variety! Your little one’s age will be a factor here – if your baby or toddler is around 3 or 4 months old, between 8 and 10 months old, around 11 or 12 months old, 18 months old, or 2 years old, then you can probably attribute the new night wakings to a sleep regression.
- Growth spurt — Babies and toddlers go through a series of definite growth spurts in the first year, and those growth spurts can affect sleep in a big way. Namely, during a growth spurt, you may notice that your baby or toddler wakes in the middle of the night feeling hungry and wanting to eat. This can happen even if your little one has been sleeping through the night, with no night feeds.
- Teething — By age 3, your toddler will have a mouth full of teeth – that’s a lot of tooth-growing in just a few years! No wonder, then, that teething pain and discomfort seems to constantly plague babies and young toddlers. And, of course, teething impacts sleep; an imminent tooth can make for sore gums, which in turn makes for night waking.
- Illness — Cold and flu season is (thankfully!) just about done here in the U.S., but a wise parent knows that illness can strike anytime – and those illnesses affect sleep. And even something as innocuous as a mild cold can really do a number on a baby or toddler’s sleep, leading to lots of extra night wakings.
- Nap Transition — Your baby or toddler’s nap needs change quite a bit in the first 18 months of life, and all those nap transitions tend to keep your little one’s daytime sleep and feeding schedule in a fairly constant state of change. Naps may happen later than usual, or not at all, and those changes to daytime sleep will definitely impact nighttime sleep.
- Schedule disruption — Sometimes, things come up – and those things don’t always fit into your schedule. “Schedule-busters” like vacation, or maybe an after-school sport activity for an older child, can disrupt your baby or toddler’s schedule to the point where night sleep will be affected.
- Big life change — Big changes, like moving to a new house, the birth of a new sibling, a separation or divorce, etc. will definitely impact sleep. Changes like this may cause separation anxiety to grow worse, for one thing – toddlers may become extra-clingy and may become fearful and weepy at bedtime. Even babies will feel these changes, though, since they will no doubt mean disrupted schedules.
Your best bet in the case of a sleep regression is to wait it out as best you can, without reverting back to old sleep associations.
Your best bet in the case of a growth spurt is to offer extra feedings, and to remember that the growth spurt will pass. (Really, it will!)
Your best bet in the case of teething is to offer a little bit of pain-relieving medication (although you will absolutely want to check with your baby’s doctor first!) You can also try giving your baby something firm to chew on (even better, something cold and firm.)
Your best bet in the case of illness is to ask your doctor what you can do to help your baby or toddler feel more comfortable.
Your best bet in the case of a nap transition is to make sure that your little one isn’t napping too much during the day, and to make sure that all naps are over before dinnertime – no evening ‘naps’ allowed! 😉
Your best bet in the case of a short-lived disruption (like a week-long vacation, or a holiday) is to get back on track as soon as you can. In the case of a longer-term disruption (like an after-school program that lasts 8 weeks, for instance), you may want to adjust the normal schedule to accommodate this new activity.
Your best bet in the case of a big life change is to offer your baby or toddler extra comfort, and to operate a modified schedule (if necessary) while the changes are happening. Then, get back on track as soon as possible once the change is done.
Help Your Baby or Toddler Sleep Through The Night Again
It’s true that babies and toddlers who know how to sleep through the night don’t do so always and forever. There will be night wakings, and sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do to avoid those night wakings (like in the case of illness, or growth spurts, or sleep regressions).
But remember, if your baby or toddler has never slept through the night, and still needs to be constantly rocked or nursed or held to sleep, you may have a bigger sleep problem that you need to deal with. Sleep associations like these can be changed, and you can help your baby or toddler learn to fall asleep on his own (which is the first step to learning to sleep through the night).
If you’d like to personalized help in changing your baby’s sleep associations and working towards sleeping through the night, we are here for you! Our personalized consultation packages offer a range of support, and our trained sleep consultants are ready to work one-on-one with you to improve your baby or toddler’s sleep. Take a look at our consultation packages, and see which one looks like a good fit for you.
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If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
For those persistent toddler sleep struggles, check out The 5 Step System to Help Your Toddler Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your toddler sleep through the night and enjoy a better daytime schedule.
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If you are tired of wading through stacks of baby sleep books that just aren't working, if you are beyond exhausted and just can't solve your child's sleep problems on your own...then personalized sleep consulting is for you. We have been around since 2008 and invite you to tap into our MANY years of experience. Our team of expert consultants will create a Personalized Sleep Plan® just for your family and then support you through every step of implementing your plan. We encourage you to consider our personalized, one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultation packages if you want to see real, meaningful results now. Your consultation package also includes ample follow-up help, designed to help you troubleshoot problems and tweak your plan as needed.Learn More About Services
For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3 Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night.
Learn More About The 3-Step System
If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
Learn More About Mastering Naps
For those persistent toddler sleep struggles, check out The 5 Step System to Help Your Toddler Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your toddler sleep through the night and enjoy a better daytime schedule.
Learn More About The 5-Step System
Join our VIP Members Area packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, and more. As a VIP member, you'll also enjoy a weekly chat with an expert sleep consultant.
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Anaira says
Hello…!
Please tell me you can help! ?
I have a 8 month old daughter who was a perfect sleeper since she was born. From the moment she learned how to flip onto her stomach at 4.5months old, her sleep’s gone out of the window!
She is almost 8 months old now and wakes up 7-8 times at night and need to be held(no rocking or feeding necessary.. just holding her works) to go back to sleep. And this has been the case for the last 2 months now.
I was hoping it was just a phase but looks like this is becoming a norm now. Any suggestions or recommendations would really help…!
Ps: she is not yet teething
Janelle Reid says
HI @Anaira, thank you for writing to us. I’m so sorry you are experiencing so many night wakings with your 8 month old. We would love to help. Here is a link to download a free guide which will give you some tips on how to help her sleep through the night (at 8 months we’d say you may only need 1 waking a night for feeding, and some babies can sleep through by this point, just to give you a general reference of what the end goal can be, but don’t worry that you’re not there yet, it’s possible!): https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-through-night-free-ebook/
The guide will give you tips on how to help her sleep on her own, rather than needing you to come hold her. If you find the guide gives you a good place to start and you need more help with the next steps, we would love to help you with that as well. We offer one-on-one personalized consulting with our highly trained sleep consultants and would love to work with you should you need the help. Here is a link to read more about our personalized services: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
If you have questions please feel free to contact us directly anytime at [email protected]. Hang in there!
Kelly Sinclair says
Our previously sleep trained daughter who went down easily and on her own at night is suddenly screaming the second we try to put her down. She immediately stands up (she’s 14 months old) and has cried so hard she’s vomited. We’ve started trying the old 5/10/15 minute sleep training check ins, but after nearly two hours last night she fell asleep on my husband’s shoulder and he managed to sneak out of the room. She doesn’t wake up once asleep, but bedtime has become a nightmare. No obvious cause (no new teeth, sickness, etc), though she also started fighting naps a month ago (trying to deal with that as a separate issue). Is attempting sleep training again be right approach? Any other suggestions? She was never this hard to get down, even as an infant. Thanks!!!
Janelle Reid says
@Kelly Sinclair – Thank you for writing to us! I am so sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with your 14 month old’s bedtime. This can be a tricky age as your daughter is going to continue to grow into independence and realize what’s going on more often and may push back a little more (my son is 14 months as well – so I totally get this). If you haven’t yet, I’d recommend downloading our free guide for toddler sleep tips! You can sign up to receive it here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/toddler-sleep-tips If you find you need more help and continuing the sleep training isn’t producing any results, let us know! We have an amazing team of sleep consultants that can look at the full situation and help give you tips specific to her. Feel free to contact us here if you need: [email protected].
Hang in there, and I hope you see an improvement soon!
David says
I don’t know what is causing my 3 ur old daughter to break night, she has been doing so for months, she has black circles under her eyes, right now it is 3:17pm. and she hasn’t slept since yesterday night nor have I because of her sleeping pattern which consist of staying up all night and sleeping all day. I have tried scheduling designated naptime, trying to keep her up and active all day but nothing is working. I am afraid that maybe it’s related to hyperactivity? Or a much more serious issue, this is effecting her eating schedule because she sleeps all day and also effecting me and my wife’s sleeping schedule as well. I would appreciate any advice you can give me to correct this Thank you. I am afraid this is or will hurt her growth and development and or health
Janelle Reid says
Hi @David, I am so so sorry to hear your have been struggling with your daughter’s days and nights being flipped. That can be a challenging thing to break, but we have helped families before in your same situation so please know, there is hope! Because it’s going on so long, I would highly recommend working with a sleep consultant. They will be able to provide information for you that is specific to your situation and give you a step by step plan to get back on track. You can view our different packages to work with a consultant here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/ or you can email us directly at [email protected] and we can help you select the package that would be best for your situation. Hang in there! I hope we are able to work with you to sort this out. Thanks for visiting the Baby Sleep Site!
Angie says
Up until my daughter was 11 months old she slept great! Then she contracted a stomach virus and was vomiting every 30 minutes through the night, so I had to hold her all night. That was the case for the first night, then I held her again through the night the following night more for precautionary measures and to try to rehydrate her. Ever since then she wakes up multiple times a night (she’s now 13 months old). I do breastfeed, and she usually goes back to bed quickly. At first I tried rocking her back to sleep and that did work about half the time. Now she ALWAYS pulls at my shirt…and lately she’s been waking every 2 hours. She wants nothing to do with my husband – she screams until I walk in the room. She only has 4 teeth now, and her first one did happen to start around that same timeframe. So…sleep regression, teething, enjoyed having me hold her all night…maybe a combination of all those things? She also doesn’t eat solids very well and she’s a petite little thing, so maybe a growth spurt too? Help…I’m tired!
Janelle Reid says
@Angie, Thanks for sharing with us. I am so sorry you are going through so many different things all at once between growth spurts, teeth, and worst of all – the dreaded stomach bug! If you haven’t yet, you will hopefully find our free ebook 5 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night helpful. You can sign up to receive the guide here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-through-night-free-ebook/
If you need more information specific to your situation, our sleep consultants are here! Just contact us here and we can help find the package that will be best for you: https://www.babysleepsite.com/contact
Hang in there! I hope things start to improve for you soon!
Buesington says
Thank you for responding! This morning was a doozy…screaming from 4:45am to 6am when he fell asleep again for about half an hour. Maybe I should stop picking him up/nursing him until it’s time to get up? Is he perhaps napping too late/too early, or going to bed too early (he takes about 45 mins to fall asleep lately).
Emily DeJeu says
@ Buesington – hmmm….well, it could be good to cut out the morning nursing, but then again, the early-morning breastfeeding session is protective of your milk supply. You know what I’d recommend checking out? In our Members Area, we have an e-book (no extra cost to you – you can read it as many times as you want to in the Members Area) called Shift Your Child’s Schedule, that has lots of tips and sample schedules designed to help you shift early-morning waking. We also have a case study in the Members Area that walks you through each step of one family’s efforts to shift their child’s early-morning waking. Both may be really helpful to you! You can read about the Members Area here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/#membership
Hope this helps! Best of luck to you and to your family 🙂
Traci says
I have to say, we’ve honestly never really noticed a sleep regression like this before. She transitioned to one nap at 18 months beautifully and this is the first time we’ve dealt with this type of night waking. I don’t see any teeth coming in and the only ones left are her 2 year molars.
Buesington says
Two months ago, around 13 months, my son started waking in the wee hours (around 5am). This has been really tough on me since he wakes up for good around 6:30. Just as I’m falling back asleep, he’s up again! There’s something about those last few hours of sleep that really throw off my day when disrupted.
Just this week we’ve gotten a few nights of solid sleep again. I think it may be his nap transition – going from 2 to 1 took several months and now that we’re on a consistent daily schedule again, I’m hoping his night sleep goes better again.
I never know if I’m doing the right thing by nursing him back to sleep (he falls asleep alone otherwise), but it’s the quickest route to get back to sleep for him and myself! Otherwise he stands at the crib yelling for me forever. I’m hoping this is a phase that will blow over soon. Fingers crossed!
Is there another possible reason for the early waking (aside from nap transition)? He eats within an hour of bedtime, then nurses right before going to sleep. He won’t nurse when he wakes up for good if he’s woken at 5 to nurse. I’ve been putting water in his crib in case he gets thirsty. He takes 2.5-3 hour naps consistently from around 12:00pm – 3:00pm and he’s in bed by 7:30pm (though he sometimes isn’t asleep until after 8). Such bizarre behavior!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Buesington – early waking is really common, actually, so this is very normal! We generally recommend that you don’t get him up for the day until 6 a.m. at the earliest; instead, just do your best to keep the hour from 5-6 as boring as possible. If you go in to comfort him, just be quiet and dull about it 😉 Then, when the morning wake-time finally comes, do a big, dramatic wake-up. The idea is that if you do this, you’ll eventually reset the morning wake time.
Hope this helps! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Traci says
Thanks! Since she is right in between, is this most likely the 18 or 24 month regression? Or neither? We seem to have breezed through the other regressions so much so I’m not sure I even noticed any sleep issues at all. I’m hopin this ends soon, we all need some sleep!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Traci – hmm…..I’d be inclined to think 18, actually (unless she already went through that one??). What do you think? Does that seem to fit?
Traci says
My 20.5 month old is currently in the throws of something, quick lived, I hope. She has slept through the night since finding her thumb (oh no!) at 10 weeks and has put herself to sleep since before she was a year old. Suddenly 9 days ago, she started screaming at bedtime and refusing to go to sleep and then began waking during the night and being awake for up to 4 hours at a stretch before falling back to sleep. She has also fought naps. We rock her for naps and she was so easy to put down and would usually stay asleep for 2 hours. now, she instantly wakes (no matter how deeply she appears to be sleeping) as soon as she hits the mattress and the nap is over. We finally cut the night waking to 45 min last night after letting her cry for a short time (20 min) and then simply going in and sitting in her room . She instantly calmed and went to sleep. Could this be the 18 or 24 month regression? please help! Is it ok to sit with her until she falls asleep or will we be creating a whole new set of problems? She was such a dream sleeper before we were totally taken by surprise and want our sweet sleeper back! Letting her cry it out is TOO hard!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Traci – toddler sleep is def. tough. As for sitting with her while she sleeps – provided she’s falling asleep without any “work” on your part (aside from sitting nearby) is definitely preferable. You could just start moving your chair a little further from her bed each night, until you’re sitting in the doorway, and then you’d move to sitting just outside the doorway. That tends to be a gentler way to ease the transition from you in the room to you out of the room.
Hope that helps, Traci! Best of luck to you 🙂
Emily DeJeu says
@ Sharon – there is a regression that happens around 2 years of age – you can read about it here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/toddlers/5-things-about-2-year-old-toddler-sleep/. It could be this, coming on a little late. I’d advise you to stick to what you normally do, and to do your best to avoid creating any new bad habits. Maybe your husband could go in and do periodic checks for a few minutes, leaving your little guy in bed but reassuring him that all is well. Odds are that this will pass after awhile (maybe a week or two).
Hope this helps, Sharon! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Sharon says
AAHHH, what has happened to my great sleeper please. We sleep trained with our son at the age of 12 months as we were both seriously sleep deprived. We were very successful. We have handled nap transitions and everything else thrown at us so far. His schedule at the moment is out of bed at 7am. Think he may be wakened earlier but waits quietly until dad goes to get him up. Goes down for nap at 1pm and is straight out to sleep most days. Woken after 1.30hours. Down to night sleep between 7/ 715pm. This has been his routine for nearly a year. Recently he has started wakening at odd times 11pm-till 1am and 8.45- 10.30pm and just calling out for “Daddy” or “come get me”. He does not sound upset just wide awake and wanting up. Sorry i forgot to mention he is 2.4yrs old. Any tips please?