Sleep regressions: do they really happen?
Not exactly. Sleep regressions are actually a progression of the brain, not a regression. As your baby gets older, her brain starts to develop and she begins to develop more sleep associations. This means, she begins to associate certain things with falling asleep. This could be a bottle, being held, a pacifier, a certain song, or simply having you in the room (really, it could be anything or multiple things). Whenever she develops those associations, later in the night when she wakes up, she might need those things that she had at bedtime in order to return to sleep. So, although it may seem that she is waking more often than usual, it is really that she can’t get herself back to sleep. Although it is concerning any time your baby sleeps less than usual, it is really a good thing because it means your baby’s brain is developing in the way that it should.
About Dr. Melisa Moore
