Hellobee

It’s always so fascinating to me to see how different kids have different sleep habits and patterns! So, here’s Jackson’s first 18-months of sleep, Q&A style.

What was Jackson’s sleep like as a newborn?

Like most newborns, he slept a lot! He had pretty awful reflux, though, so he really struggled to sleep laying flat on his back. We went through a very rough period in the first few weeks trying to figure out the best way to help him sleep, but once we got him some medicine things were much better. When he was very little, I often had to wake him up from 3+ hour naps to get him to eat, and it was so hard to keep him awake for more than what felt like a few minutes at a time! I don’t miss much about the newborn phase (I much prefer toddlerhood!), but I do miss the sweet, sleepy snuggles!

Has Jackson always slept in a crib? Did he cosleep or sleep in a bouncer or swing?

Jackson slept exclusively in the Rock ‘n Play for the first 5 months of his life due to reflux. Our pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to let him sleep there, and it was a life-saver for us. Once he hit 5 months and we started working on getting solid sleep routines started, we moved him over to his crib and it was a pretty easy transition, since his reflux was mostly under control at that point. He would sleep in a bouncer or swing at daycare, but at home for naps he wanted to be held! I couldn’t get him interested in a bouncer or swing consistently, and naps were mostly in my arms (sometimes in the crib) until we sleep trained at 5 months.

Did you swaddle? When did you stop swaddling?

Oh, yes! Jackson was a big fan of the swaddle! We swaddled him for every bedtime and nap until the morning where we came to get him and found that he had escaped the swaddle and rolled over – he was 4 months old when it happened the first time. We started weaning him off the swaddle after that, and we took our time with it. We did one arm out for a week or so, then both arms out (we stayed there for several weeks) before finally switching over to a sleep sack. He’s still using a sleep sack now but he’s gotten to a point where he can take it off himself if he wants to, so it’s probably about time for us to wean him off that as well!

Does he sleep through the night?

Yup. We’ve been lucky enough to have him sleeping mostly through the night since about 5 weeks old. At first “sleeping through the night” was 8:00 PM to 3:00 AM (and then back down for a few more hours) but from there it just continued to stretch out and now he consistently sleeps about 12 hours a night.

Did he go through any sleep regressions, like the famous 4-month or 9-month sleep regression?

I have to say yes, but they never affected us too drastically. The 4-month regression was probably the hardest on us, as he learned how to transition through sleep cycles and self-soothe when he woke up. Other than that I feel like we have noticed a few “off” nights right around the typical sleep regression times, but nothing major. Right now we should be in the thick of the 18-month regression, and I’ve definitely noticed some issues with sleep (if he doesn’t get a solid nap he has an awful time getting to sleep at night, he’s waking up during the night every once in a while) but nothing that is too terribly drastic.

Did you ever sleep train or nap train?

Yes, and we’re so glad we did. We nap trained at 5 months and didn’t end up having to sleep train separately from that because once naps were sorted out, everything else fell into place.

Did you ever have to re-sleep train after illness or travel?

No, we’ve been surprised at how flexible he is when it comes to recovering from things like that. When he’s sick, he tends to actually sleep a bit better as long as we give him medicine, and when we travel it usually only takes one night at home to get him back on track!

Did teething or physical milestones like rolling over or standing affect Jackson’s sleep?

Not notably. Physical milestones definitely never had an impact, though we did notice him having a harder time getting to sleep sometimes when he was teething – we just gave him a quick shot of Motrin and he was usually fine after that. I was very worried about this being an issue, but thankfully he tended to roll with the punches and sleep through any issues.

Will he nap anywhere else other than his crib, like in the stroller or carrier?

Rarely. He would nap just about anywhere up until we nap trained him, but after that we couldn’t get him to sleep anywhere but in his crib. If we’re totally desperate and out way past nap time we can sometimes get him to catch a nap in the stroller, but it’s a struggle. He’ll sleep in the car but never for more than about 45 minutes, so we try to avoid car naps as much as we possibly can!

When did Jackson drop from 4 naps to 3, and then 3 naps to 2?

By 6 months he was on 3 solid naps a day, he went down to 2 naps at 8 months, and he dropped down to just 1 nap a day at 17 months.

What is Jackson’s nap routine?

It’s very simple and easy – we take him upstairs, put him in his sleep sack, give him his binky and blankets (it used to be just his small lovey, now he needs that and a larger muslin blanket!), turn on his music, and head out the door.

What is Jackson’s bedtime routine?

Bath (most nights, unless we’re running late in our routine), put him in pajamas & sleep sack, then we read 3-4 books in his chair (and every night once we get close to that part in the routine he starts shouting “sit! book!”), then Mr. Garland and I sing a song and lay him down. I leave and Mr. Garland tucks the big muslin blanket in (while Jack whispers “tuck, tuck, tuck!”) and then he’s down for the night!

What is Jackson’s current schedule?

7:30 – Wake up
12:30-3:00 – Nap
6:30 Bedtime

If you could change anything about Jackson’s sleep, what would you change?

Honestly? Nothing. I love Jackson’s schedule and we’ve been so incredibly lucky to have a baby that likes sleep so much. I have zero complaints whatsoever!