If your little one is experiencing disrupted sleep, you are not alone! It happens to every baby throughout their development and is totally normal.

But how we respond to these periods of disruption can have a huge impact on whether our little ones go back to a regular sleeping pattern quickly, or if their disrupted sleep becomes a habit and continues for months.

Often parents make assumptions about why their baby is experiencing a sleep regression and put it down to things like teething.

But often what we don't realise is there are actually many other things that cause a sleep regression.

If we assume the cause is something different to what it actually is and don't respond to the root cause quickly, we can actually prolong these sleep disruptions unnecessarily.

If the broken sleep patterns become a habit it can be much harder to fix than if we address the underlying problem quickly.

In this article I'll walk you through the most common causes of sleep disruptions (also known as sleep regressions), how to identify them, and how to approach each of them to get your little one's (and your!) sleep back to normal as quickly as possible, with as little stress as possible.

Identify The Real Reason For Disrupted Sleep & Fix it Fast!

Most Common Causes for Sleep Disruptions

Throughout your little one's first few years of life, you are going to experience multiple sleep disruptions.

And it's quite common for parents to attribute these sleep disruptions to teething.

But sleep disruptions can be caused by lots of other things as well.

What's important is that you correctly identify the cause of your little one's disruption and respond appropriately to that cause because if you misidentify the reason your little one's sleep is becoming disrupted and don't address it in the best way, then you can accidentally lead to your little one adopting a new sleep association, which turns a short-term sleep disruption into a long-term issue.

So, let's talk about the most common causes of sleep disruption, how you can identify each one of these, and most importantly, what you can do to get your little one through this sleep disruption as quickly as possible and get their sleep back on track.

So let's start with teething because this is probably the most common reason parents think their child's sleep has become disrupted.

Now, what might surprise you to know is that the painful part of teething only takes a few days and mouthing and drooling is not an indication that your little one is teething.

If it is teething which is causing your little one's sleep to become disrupted, you are gonna notice two things.

Firstly, you're gonna notice that when they are sleeping and they're waking up, their wake times are irregular.

But if they are waking every 60 to 90 minutes, particularly in that second half of the night, so in that early morning phase, then it is unlikely to be teething.

Rather, the reason your little one's sleep is disrupted is because of a sleep association.

Also, you are gonna notice a change in your little one's behavior during the day.

So, when they are teething, they are generally quite uncomfortable and a bit more fussy.

You'll also see that their gum is swollen, red, or there's a blue/grey cyst that's on their gum line, or you might even see that white tooth just below the gum line.

If your little one is happy during the day and you're not noticing these things on their gum, then it is highly unlikely that they are teething at this point and teething is causing sleep disruptions.

Acute illnesses, like an ear infection, a cold, a flu, or COVID can also disrupt a little one's sleep.

And generally, it's quite easy to pick up if your little one is going through an acute illness because you'll notice that they start to develop a runny nose, they might have a cough, they might change their appetite in response to a sore throat, they might start to pull on their ear if they've got an ear infection, or they might develop a fever.

Changes in your little one's sleep patterns can also occur when they're going through a sleep regression.

Now, sleep regressions tend to occur between 3 to 5 months of age.

When they're going through that 4 month sleep regression, 7 to 10 months of age; when they're going through that 8 month sleep regression, 18 months of age and 2 years of age.

Now, this does sound like your little one will be constantly going through a sleep regression.

But don't worry not all children experience a full sleep regression when they go through these stages.

What's important to know is that sleep regressions generally coincide with a cognitive or developmental milestone achievement and they can last anywhere from two to six weeks.

Generally, the length of time your little one will experience a sleep regression can depend on multiple factors.

So, it can depend on the cause, the child's skill, as well as our response when they're going through these sleep regressions.

So, for example, when a little one is going through the four month sleep regression, if they're able to fall asleep independently and able to link sleep cycles, then that sleep regression is going to be significantly less and quicker.

But if they need your help to fall asleep and stay asleep, then that sleep regression is basically a long term thing.

It's permanent because their sleep patterns have changed.

And then now waking up between sleep cycles and needing your assistance to get back to sleep.

How to Get Your Baby Through A Sleep Disruption as quickly as possible

Your little one's sleep can also become disrupted if they have retained a nap, but they need to drop it because they no longer need it in their day.

So, typically, babies follow a general age where they go through nap transitions, so they drop a nap.

So, between four to six months, they generally go from having four naps a day down to three; and between six to nine months, they go from three naps a day down to two; from 12 to 18 months, they go from two naps a day down to one and generally the most common age that they drop a nap is around 15 months; and then from two and a half all the way up to six years of age, they go from having that one nap a day down to having no naps a day.

So, now that we know the most common causes for sleep disruptions, let's talk about what you can do to help your little one through these stages as quickly as possible and get their sleep back on track.

So the very first thing is if you know that your little one is sick or is teething, then you obviously want to address their pain and try and relieve it for them.

So, this might mean that you need to talk to their doctor about ways that you can relieve that infection, or get rid of that infection, or help them with their pain when they are teething.

The second thing you wanna do is keep their room cool, dark, and quiet, as this promotes optimal sleep.

Now, if your little one is learning a new motor skill, this is really important because if their room is bright and they can look around, then of course they're going to practice that new motor skill, like sitting up to look around their room and explore things that they've never done before.

Also, a dark room is really helpful when your little one is learning to link sleep cycles because when they wake up between sleep cycles, if the room is dull and boring, they're more likely to fall back asleep.

Now, if your little one's discomfort during these stages means that you do want to temporarily sleep in the same room if you weren't sleeping in the same room, then I would recommend that you start to sleep in their room, not bring them into your bed because it's going to be easier for you to get their sleep back on track if you keep their sleeping environment consistent.

So, if they know that they sleep in their cot for all naps rather than in mom and dad's bed.

The next thing you wanna do is make sure that your little one is following age-appropriate naps, wake times, and total amount of sleep during their day.

Now, this is because unrealistic sleep expectations can actually make the sleep disruption significantly worst.

And that is because if your little one is not tired, so you're putting them to bed before they're tired and they're sick or teething.

Then, of course, they're gonna find it difficult to fall asleep because they're in pain.

Or if your little one is learning a new motor skill and they're not yet tired, then they are going to use this time to practice that new motor skill, which often means that they can get into the position.

So, your little one might have just learned or is learning to sit up, but they can't get out of that sitting position and this will often result in them yelling out to you to come back in, to lie them back down, and get them comfortable again.

And this can get you into the habit of falling into constantly going back into your room to help your little one fall back asleep.

Now, if you wanna know what the age-appropriate sleep times are for your little one, then make sure you click on the free sleep guide that I have in the description box below, where I outline how many naps your little one should be having, the wake windows they generally have at that age, as well as their total amount of sleep in the 24-hour period.

The next thing you wanna do is try and keep your bedtime routine and that nap time routine consistent.

So, you wanna continue to use the same nap and bedtime routine that you were using with your little one if they were previously falling asleep independently before this sleep disruption to give them the opportunity to fall asleep.

So, you would go through the general routine and then you put them down to sleep.

If do not go to sleep, then you would come back into the room.

You would go back through that sleep routine, so the last part, so that might be getting them up and singing a song and then put them back in their cot and then leave.

If they continue to stay awake, then you would come back into the room and then you would try and help them fall asleep by using some different comforting technique.

So initially, I would probably start with shushing, and then patting, and then gradually move to picking them up if needed.

But you wanna try and stay off your little one.

So, you don't wanna touch them so much so that they aren't becoming reliant on you to fall asleep.

You also wanna keep track of when your little one waking up at night.

So if they're waking when it's a usual feed time, then you would obviously feed them.

But if they're waking when it's not a usual feed time, what you wanna do first is just wait.

So you might just wait five minutes and see if they go back to sleep.

If they do not go back to sleep, then obviously, you would go in and if they're sick or have a fever, then you would give them some pain relief if needed and recommended by their doctor.

And then, you would help them go back to sleep by doing that sleep routine.

So, just the last part of your bedtime routine and then putting them back into the cot and you would then leave the room.

And if they do not go back to sleep, then you would come back in and then you would try and comfort them to go back to sleep.

So, you wanna hold off on that feed and use other techniques like shushing, patting, and then picking them up and feeding them because if they become reliant on that feed to get to sleep or you holding them to get to sleep, it is really difficult to drop that sleep association when they become well or move past that sleep regression.

So, we wanna try and prevent us falling into that trap because it's gonna be so much harder and it will extend that sleep issue.

Now, if your little one's sleep disruption is happening because they are learning or have learned a new motor skill, so they might be able to roll, they might be learning to sit up, stand, or cruise, or walk, then you wanna give them the opportunity to practice that skill during the day.

And this is going to ensure that it gives them lots of opportunity to practice and master that skill.

And what we tend to notice is that once a little one has mastered that skill, the novelty of doing that skill tends to wear off and it can only cause a few days or a week of disruption rather than a long-term disruption.

If you do not think your little one is teething, is ill, or going through a sleep regression, then you might be wondering whether or not it is time to drop a nap and that is causing the sleep disruption.

And if it is, then the obvious answer is to drop that nap.

But if you do it too early, it can also cause lots of problems.

Baby Development Newborn Sleep