Is the 8 month sleep regression a hoax?

Sleep regressions aren’t real! I will continue to repeat this. I often think they are talked about as a marketing ploy to get more clicks and sell unnecessary products. The only parents who can talk about their baby going through a sleep regression are the parents of 3-4 month olds. These are the only babies who are experiencing actual changes in their sleep cycles. But every parent knows that in the first year of life your perfect (or not so perfect) sleeper will hit some additional bumps along the road.

So what gives at 8 months?

Something is certainly happening but it has definitely been mislabeled as a sleep regression! This mislabel is problematic because it causes parents to act in a way that only prolongs the sleep disturbance. They assume that because it is a sleep regression, their baby now needs additional support to go to sleep, or that they need to change everything they are doing, and that is entirely wrong.

The things disrupting your baby’s sleep at 8 months are surprisingly unrelated to sleep cycles and completely manageable during the day! So read on to understand what is going on, and how you can help your baby (and in turn, yourself).

Inappropriate Schedule

This is the number one culprit of an 8 month old that isn’t sleeping well. At 8 months your baby should be very solidly on 2 naps. No occasional 3rd nap in the car, no little snooze here and there. Two solid naps that are spaced out by 2.5-3.5 hrs and that last approximately 1-1.5hrs.

Here is a sample schedule for an 8 month old: 

7am Wake Up

9:30am-11am Nap 1

2pm-3:30pm Nap 2

6:30pm Bedtime Routine

7pm Bedtime

A baby that does not have enough time awake will resist sleep or wake up early and a baby who has too much time awake will be overtired. Gone are the days of being able to put your baby down after just 2 hours of awake time. They need sufficient sleep pressure for great sleep!

Lingering Drowsiness

Very much related to the schedule, if your baby is taking a little snooze at that bedtime feeding, or before a nap, you are in for a whole lot of crying. 8 month old babies should be fully awake before all sleep so that they can be aware of where they are, and in control of putting themselves to sleep. Consistent independent sleep skills are crucial for these little ones.

Crawling

Right around this age is when our tiny babies are suddenly becoming so much more mobile. Some 8 month olds are getting on all 4’s and getting ready for blast off, others are scooting around and army crawling, and our future olympic athletes are pulling up to stand. If any of this movement is new to your baby it is very likely that it will interrupt their sleep. Practice the new skill during the day, make sure they have plenty of time outside of containers like car seats and baby swings, and be patient as they work it out. The night interruptions from a developmental milestone should last no more than a week, but how you respond to the night wakes will determine if it goes beyond that, or self resolves (more on that later).

Separation Anxiety

If your 8 month old is almost 9 months, you may be experiencing some of the initial signs of separation anxiety. Your baby is now aware that you can leave and this makes them upset, especially when you put them down for sleep! You can reassure your baby that you will be back, get in plenty of cuddles and connection time when you are there, and know that this too shall pass! What you shouldn’t do is start picking your baby up all throughout the night and changing your sleep expectations. During this stage I highly relied on my baby carriers. My littles wanted to be close to me when they were awake, so I did my best to wear them around while still doing what I needed to do. I can still remember trying to put my daughter down, and having her lift her little legs up in refusal! I also made the rookie mistake of signing her up for daycare right at 9 months, but I had no idea! The key thing here is to comfort them and still hold the same independent sleep expectation.

Teething

This happens all throughout the first two years of life and if we were to change our sleep expectation every single time we think our baby is teething, we would be giving a series of confusing messages. We are also often wrong. Just because your baby is bringing their hands to their mouth, does not mean they are teething. The only true way to know is to visually see the white tooth about to pop from under the gum. It is also important to understand that the tooth does not break the gum, instead the gums separate to let the tooth through. The discomfort your baby feels is inflammation, not the sharp pain of an object breaking skin. If your baby is over 6 months I recommend giving them an anti-inflamatory like Motrin. During the day you can give your baby frozen teethers to gnaw on and within a few days the tooth should be out!

Feeding issues/ Night Feeds

We aren’t really given a guideline as parents as to how much our children should be eating, and we often forget to increase the amount of milk and solids we are offering. This is a gentle reminder to increase ounces as necessary and begin to offer 3 solid meals if you are not doing that already. It may be that your baby is just hungrier now!

On the flip side, by 8 months the middle of the night feed needs to be gone. 8 month old babies are now very aware and could be using their night feed as a sleep prop. At 8 months your baby should sleep 10-12 hours overnight with no feeding. Our digestive system needs to rest and repair (and most of our immune system is in the gut!) and removing the feed is part of that. When you do this, once again, make sure to increase the food you are offering during the day since the calories from the night feed are still needed in a 24 hour period.

So what should you do if any of the above are causing night wakings?

First, pause. Wait 10 minutes to see if your baby can go back to sleep on their own. Then go in and comfort your baby verbally. You can do a few pats on the back and reassure your little one that everything is ok and they can go back to sleep. Make sure there is nothing physically wrong such as fever or a full diaper, but once you are sure all of their needs are taken care of, leave the room.

It is normal that when you leave the room again your baby’s crying increases in protest. Stay consistent and go back and check your baby after another 10 minutes. Do this until baby falls back asleep. This will only become a true sleep regression if you begin to add unnecessary things back into your baby’s nights such as additional feeds, additional rocking, or co-sleeping. Your 8 month old will LOVE that and promptly ask for that every night moving forward. However, if your response remains calm, consistent, and confident, and you have addressed all of the other possible causes for night wakings, your baby will go back to solid nights within a few days.

If your baby does not have independent sleep skills, this would be a great time to introduce them with sleep training. Many of my clients never even deal with “regressions” (they aren’t real) because their babies have solid sleep skills that they can rely on through all of the developmental changes that will undoubtedly occur.

I hope this guide was helpful and provided necessary insight to get you back on the sleep train. For additional and personalized support please schedule a call with me here!

Sleep Well,

Steph