Toddlers Don’t Sleep Through the Night Either!
In the first year of parenthood, the most commonly asked question must surely be: “Does your baby sleep through the night?”. As many as one third of parents admit to lying about their babies sleep patterns, fearing judgement of family and friends if they tell it how it is.
Yet evidence supporting the normality of night waking throughout the first years of life continues to grow, challenging western beliefs that waking and feeding during the night gradually decrease after the early weeks. In fact, periods of increased waking - inappropriately labelled “sleep regressions” - continue throughout the first and second year.
Are they really “Sleep Regressions”?
These regressions – commonly seen around 4, 9, 15 and 18 months, often coincide with major milestones like rolling, crawling and walking. Rather than regressing, infants are really progressing and we should see these periods of sleep disturbance as signs of normal development.
Parents often see these disruptions to previous sleep patterns as a problem, yet they are just a temporary change and responding gently and reassuringly to help your toddler fall back to sleep is all that is needed.
In addition to these “sleep regressions”, other developmental factors will disturb sleep in the second and third year of life:
Development
Sleep disturbance is a common part of the development, which continues into the second year and beyond. In the second year some developmental stages are more challenging – happening around 13 months, 15 months and 17 months. With long fussy periods up to a month each, the first six months of the second year might sometimes seem like one, big sleep disruption!
Mobility and Sleep Disturbance
It makes sense that learning to move would disturb sleep – and science is now proving this is the case. A 2013 study showed that babies not only have sleep disturbance in the month before the reach the crawling milestone, but up to three months afterwards! It is likely that other achievements like sitting, standing, walking, climbing and running would challenge babies and toddlers in the same way - and at the same time!
Exploding Vocabulary!
Around 18 – 24 months toddlers typically go through a “language explosion”, with a surge in the number and usage of words. Moving from learning single words at a time, in a slow but steady, predictable pattern, toddlers around this age become capable of learning multiple new words at once and make great advances in communication. Some children may have disrupted sleep during this developmental period – or be busy chatting when you try to help them back to sleep!
Teething
The initial teeth which appear in the 6-12 month age group are exciting but are “relatively” simple in structure, erupting without too much distress involved. The first eight teeth are two-sided, with a single sharp surface moving up through the gum tissue. These are the incisors, which work like pairs of scissors to slice food. These generally erupt in order between 6 and 16 months.
It is the more complex teeth which can cause more disturbance as they pass gradually up through the gums. The “eye” teeth or “canine” teeth are formally known as cuspids and these trypically emerge from around 16 months, taking up to 23 months for all four to emerge. Then there are the first molars, often known as the “one year old molars” which appear around 14 - 19 months.
Finally - for now - the “two year old molar” make an appearance between 23 and 33 months. (After this you get a break until your six year old begins loosing those first teeth while beginning to see emerging “six year old molars”!)
“Teething” is a generic term which is applied to many symptoms but medically recognised for just a few. Basically, babies experiencing movement through the gums are cranky because it is uncomfortable. They might experience aching jaws, tender gums and general discomfort. Teething does not cause fever, runny noses, ear infections or other signs of illness. However, the period of teething also overlaps the period of frequent common viruses as toddlers are more exposed to people and places. So a child who is teething might also have a virus AND be going through developmental leaps!
At any one time, your toddler can be experiencing multiple changes in their body and brain which lead to disturbed sleep, trouble falling asleep and difficulty falling back to sleep. Which then disturbs parental night sleep, making everyone tired and cranky!
There is no doubt that on-going, interrupted sleep is hard work for parents – especially when combined with paid work, study or caring for other children. However, it is important to understand that night-waking is a normal part of early childhood and not a problem to be fixed. Instead, we need to look at ways to help children and adults return to sleep as quickly as possible. When families accept that it is natural for children – and adults – to wake during the night but it is also normal for children to need parental support to return to sleep, there is less stress around the waking less resentment of the child involved.
