The 8 to 10 Month Sleep Regression: Why It Happens and What Helps

What's going on

• Somewhere between about 8 and 10 months, many babies who slept well start waking more, fighting naps or standing up in the crib. It usually lasts about 2 to 6 weeks.
• It's not a true step backward. It tends to come with big leaps:
• Movement: crawling, sitting up, pulling to stand and cruising. Babies practice new skills everywhere, including at 2 am.
• Separation anxiety: babies now understand you exist when you leave, and they protest it (see the separation anxiety guide).
• Nap transition: many are moving from 3 naps to 2 (see the nap transitions guide).
• Teething and more interest in the world, which makes feeds and naps distractible.

What it can look like

• Waking crying one or more times a night after months of longer stretches.
• Standing in the crib and not knowing how to get back down.
• Short naps or refusing the second or third nap.
• More clinginess at bedtime.

What helps

• Practice new skills in the day. Lots of floor time to crawl, pull up and cruise. Show them how to lower down from standing by bending their knees, with your hands guiding, many times a day.
• Lower the crib mattress to the lowest setting once they can pull up, and remove anything they could climb on.
• If they stand in the crib, lay them down once or twice calmly, then let them work it out. Many sit down on their own once they've practiced it.
• Extra daytime connection for separation anxiety: peekaboo, hide-and-seek games, and saying goodbye when you leave the room (see the baby games 6 to 12 months guide).
• Keep the routine steady. Same steps, same order. A short extra cuddle is fine; avoid adding new habits you don't want to keep.
• Watch total sleep and wake windows (about 2.5 to 3.5 hours by now). An earlier bedtime can help while naps are shaky.
• Full feeds in the day. Busy babies sometimes eat less in the day and make up for it at night.

Responding at night

• A brief check, a calm voice and a pat can reassure without starting a new pattern.
• If you used a sleep method before, return to the same steps once any illness or teething pain has passed.
• If you didn't sleep train and want to now, it's a reasonable age to start (see the gentle and graduated sleep training guides).

When it isn't a regression

• Fever, ear pulling with fussiness, a cough, fewer wet diapers or refusing to eat suggest illness rather than a sleep phase.

When to check in

• Mention it at the next checkup if night waking stays frequent for more than about 6 weeks, or your baby snores loudly most nights.
• Bring up development if by about 9 months your baby isn't sitting without support, doesn't bear weight on their legs when held standing, or has lost skills they had.