Unpacking the 6-Month Sleep Progression
And ways to cope with this phase
A big milestone in your baby’s life is the six month sleep regression, or progression as I like to call it. If you're currently navigating this phase, keep reading! In this blog post, I will delve into the reasons behind the 6-month sleep progression and provide you with practical strategies to help you and your baby sail through this temporary sleep disturbance.
What’s happening?
Around the age of 6 months, your baby undergoes significant physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. These transformations can disrupt their previously established sleep routines, leaving you wondering what happened to your once peacefully sleeping baby. This is why the term progression is more appropriate. While sleep may be going backwards for a while your little one is making some big, important steps in their development.
While every baby is unique, the 6-month sleep progression typically manifests through frequent night waking, sudden difficulty falling asleep, shorter naps and increased fussiness.
“Understanding that there are some big changes happening for your little one, will make dealing with the regression a bit easier.”
While for most babies this progression occurs around the six month mark, it’s good to know that every baby develops in their own time and you might notice a progression or regression in sleep anywhere between 5-7 months.
Understanding that there are some big changes happening for your little one, will make dealing with the regression a bit easier. Several factors contribute to the 6-month sleep regression:
Rapid brain development: Around this age, your baby's brain is rapidly developing, with new neural connections forming. This cognitive leap can affect their sleep patterns.
Physical milestones: Many babies start rolling over, sitting up, or even attempting to crawl around the 6-month mark. These newfound skills can disrupt their sleep as they try to practice them.
Solids: At six months, most babies will start to be introduced to solids if they haven’t already. This can cause some disruptions in sleep as their little tummies need to adjust.
Separation anxiety: Around 6 months, babies become more aware of their surroundings and may experience separation anxiety, making it harder for them to fall asleep or stay asleep without their caregiver's presence.
Try these strategies to cope with this progression
Offer a lot of daytime practice and playtime to get them to perfect their new skill and get it out of their system going into the night!
For a couple of nights, you might need to offer some more support while they’re ‘stuck’ in a position they don’t know how to get out of. This daytime practice and you assisting them will help them get more comfortable overtime.
Offer solids early in the day, to minimise the impact of these new foods onto your little one’s night sleep.
Focus on connection during the day and before bedtime. Make the wind-down nice and long with lots of 1 on 1 time to fill their cup.
Don’t forget to increase their awake time. At around 6 months, we’re looking at 2.5 hours awake time for most babies. If you little one is taking a long time to settle, (20+ minutes) see if increasing the wake window helps to build sleep pressure.
The 6-month sleep progression can be a challenging phase for both babies and parents. Understanding the reasons behind this temporary disruption and implementing the strategies mentioned above will help you navigate this stage. Remember, it's essential to be patient, flexible, and adapt your approach to suit your baby's needs. Usually, a sleep progression lasts about 2 weeks. Hang in there, and remember that better sleep days are ahead!
