My LO will be 11 months old in a few days.. she is cutting her two top teeth and has been waking many times at night wanting to be held… we never did any type of sleep coaching and have always rocked her and she would sleep throughout the night until recently… I’m thinking this is not just teething because even with pain relief she wakes often. She is working on unassisted standing and walking so I think we may be hitting the 12 month regression… my question, is it possible to instill healthy sleep habits during this time? Or should we ride out the regression and continue to support her to sleep?
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Dear April,
I understand what that’s like my son was very disrupted when he cut teeth. In fact he had disrupted sleep for many years so I know how hard that is. From my knowledge of my own sleep routine is very important. It is possible to instil healthy sleep habits at any time. I would seek help from your doctor or maternal child nurse (depending on which country you’re from). You are going to need to stop rocking at some point as they become older - whether now is the time is really up to you +/- your health care provider. For me looking back - the earlier that he was independent the better so that I could sleep. At least your child has had good sleep before so hopefully they will kick back into that rhythm when the pain eases. All the best. I feel for the position you’re in, it’s really hard having interrupted sleep. Good luck and all the best
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Hi April,
Teething is so hard. My son is 14 months and is currently working through his first molar! It’s been brutal. Sounds like you’re dealing with a few things here. Teething of course can cause night wakings and discomfort, but also sounds like your little one may be hitting that 12 month sleep regression, especially if they’re starting to walk. Littles are working on so many new skills during this time and the brain uses sleep to consolidate those skills. This can lead to them waking up more alert throughout the night, which can be frustrating.
If you choose to, sleep training/coaching/habit building (whatever you choose to call it) is possible at any age. I would say that if your kiddo has been sleeping through the night already, she already has those self-soothing skills. Every one of us wakes up multiple times throughout the night without even realizing it, including babies and toddlers. So she has already been putting herself back to sleep regularly.
Definitely go with your gut on this - no one knows what’s better for her with regards to this than you do. If you want my two cents, I would say continue to give her that extra support during this time and ride it out. See if it passes in the next 4-6 weeks. If she’s still struggling after that time, you could look at starting to do some self-soothe strategies to reinforce the skills she already has. Happy to chat more here if you’re interested, otherwise good luck and hope you all get some sleep soon!
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