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3 Year Old Sleep Regression And 7 Best Sleep Routines For Your Toddler

3 year old sleep regression

Sleep regressions are a normal part of childhood and development. That doesn’t mean that they’re fun. 

With a bedtime and sleep routine being rejected by your toddler, night waking, and you falling asleep standing up while trying to instill good sleep habits in your child, toddler sleep regressions can be rough.

In this article, we’ll discuss toddler sleep regression, specifically 3 year old sleep regression, why it happens, what you can do about it, and how to get through it and establish healthy sleep habits for your whole family.

What are sleep regressions?

Sleep regressions occur several times during childhood, meaning your child’s sleep patterns have been interrupted. This usually takes place while your little one is on their way to reaching certain developmental milestones.

Daytime sleep may increase or decrease, several night wakings may occur where there weren’t before, and what was once a reliable sleep pattern seems to have flown right out the window, often with the parent’s sanity.

How often do toddlers have sleep regressions?

If you have always had a baby who could fall asleep on their own, in their own bed, and stay asleep through the night, and suddenly, at three years old, everything has changed, count yourself lucky.

There are many sleep regressions along the way.

There’s a common eighteen-month sleep regression, a two-year-old sleep regression, and a 3 year old sleep regression.

Some children show signs of experiencing every single one of these, and others will only really experience mild sleep regressions.

The good news is that each sleep regression will eventually run its course, and your child will get back to a bedtime routine that allows you to sleep as well.

The bad news is that there’s not much you can do until it does pass, aside from trying to be patient and tell yourself that this time of nighttime sleep chaos will eventually end.

3 year old sleep regression and separation anxiety

3 year old sleep regression

Most sleep regressions are fairly obvious. 

However, a 3-year-old sleep regression maybe just a bit harder to spot due to several different issues that can be causing it.

For example, rather than an actual sleep regression, some three-year-olds are actually experiencing night terrors (night time fears), which are not incredibly common but also not unheard of at this age.

Night terrors are frightening dreams for a child; they often wake up screaming and cannot calm down for extended amounts of time. They may even refuse to get back into bed for the night.

What contributes to 3-year-old sleep regression?

If a sleep regression suddenly derails your child’s sleep schedule, it may help you regain some semblance of sanity if you can pinpoint certain things that may be contributing to it.

A three-year-old is growing quickly, and experiencing developmental milestones. So it’s easy for a parent to overlook all of the significant changes that often occur for a child of this age that can affect the child profoundly.

1. Potty training

Many toddlers start to potty train in earnest at the age of about three. 

A child’s bedtime routine can quickly become chaotic when you have a little one who needs to get up to pee 18 times a night.

The bladder and bowels can relax at night, so the need to urinate more frequently isn’t just a trick played by your toddler so that they can get out of bed. 

This constant need to go potty can contribute to toddler sleep regression.

2. Moving from a crib to a toddler bed

Even if your toddler could fall to sleep independently in a crib due to your efforts to sleep train them as infants, moving a toddler out of the crib and into a toddler bed in their own room can contribute to sleep regression.

Separation anxiety, fear of the dark and the new space, and the need or want to be near what’s familiar can all cause a spiral.

If you have recently transitioned your toddler to their own bed or their own space, and they are suddenly fighting bedtime, there’s a good chance that this is a major cause.

3. A new sibling

If your toddler was an amazing sleeper and there’s now a new baby in the family, it may take a few weeks and some sleep disruptions before everything returns to normal.

Toddlers are dependent upon routine, attention, and affection from caregivers. If everything in their world has changed due to the birth of a new sibling, sleep regression may occur until this change becomes the new normal.

How much sleep should a 3-year-old get?

Even at three years old, your child should get 10 to 13 hours of sleep a night to maintain proper health.

While a few sleepless nights won’t affect most children terribly, a few weeks of very little sleep or poor sleep can cause further sleep issues and health problems.

3 year old sleep regression

3-year-old takes hours to fall asleep

If you have a three-year-old experiencing sleep regression and want to know what you can do to help them learn new habits that will accommodate their needs, along with the physical changes they are experiencing, then you can try the following tips.

While some of the following suggestions are okay to experiment with, the golden rule of a good bedtime routine is to stay consistent.

  1. Maintain early wake-ups – Even if your little one has frequent night disturbances and screams your house down five or six times per night, continue with the daily routine of waking up early. The idea of getting a few extra hours of sleep in the morning by letting three-year-olds sleep in is tempting but will continue to cause problems with sleep issues.
  2. Introduce a night light or white noise machine – Fear of the dark is expected at this age. Sometimes their room can get a bit too quiet when a toddler is trying to rest for the night. Try putting a night light in the room or playing white noise for a few days to see if it resolves some sleep problems your three-year-old is experiencing. While you want the room dark enough to sleep in, a bit of light won’t hurt if your child is afraid.
  3. Trade nap time for quiet time – If your child has started to refuse a nap during the day, trade it out for time spent every day where they lie in bed and remain quiet and calm. Let them cuddle their favorite stuffed animals, hum a favorite song, or listen to soft music. But make sure that there is a time designated each day for some rest.
  4. Give self-soothing a shot – You may do more harm than good if you run into the room when your toddler starts to fuss. Using a baby monitor to check and ensure that everything is safe allows your child to self-soothe and put themselves to sleep without your interference. Sleep needs to be learned independently sometimes.
  5. Address new fears and be supportive – Ask your child what the problem is. A specific piece of furniture may look scary in the dark. Perhaps you’re running the dishwasher at night, and the noise scares your toddler. You should listen if your child has the language skills to communicate their fears with you.
  6. Monster spray saves the day – While imagination is a beautiful thing to have, sometimes three-year-olds get a bit carried away. Convincing themselves that a monster is under the bed or in the closet can cause many sleepless nights. Make it a big deal. Make some spray (just water with some lavender essential oil) and stick a label that says it’s monster repellent. Spray the areas your child is afraid of, and see if it allows your 3-year old sleep without any more disturbances.
  7. Assess if your child is testing limits – If your child is supposed to be sleeping but makes a fuss at bedtime, and you allow them to stay up to calm down or let yourself be convinced that they aren’t tired yet, they may be testing you. A toddler may decide that bedtime can be manipulated if they just scream and make a big enough fuss. This is why consistency and routine are so important.

A summary of 3-year-old sleep regression

Hopefully, these sleep tips and information have given you some help you’ve been seeking. 

If nothing seems to work and your child is still refusing sleep, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s doctor for help or suggestions about the underlying cause. 

In some cases, you just have to ride it out. In other cases, however, there could be an issue, such as an illness you aren’t aware of.

Bedtime and sleeping are essential for a child. Developing good habits and maintaining good health is important. If you need more tips, ask for help from friends, family, and your family doctor so that everyone can get better sleep as soon as possible.

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