The Regressions No-One Tells You About...
You have probably heard of the most common sleep regression (or progressions), which present at particular ages due to developmental leaps. These regressions typically cause babies and children sleep to fall apart, even if previously good sleepers.
But did you know that there are 2 other regressions which can occur for your child, particular when you are working on improving their sleep?
These two regressions are not commonly talked about, and you won’t find much about them during a Google search. But, I am here to give you all the information you need to understand what is really going on with your child sleep, when you are doing everything to make positive changes.
What Are They?
Introducing, the Psychological Regression and the Biological Regression.
As mentioned, these regressions present during times when you are improving your child’s sleep. It can be super frustrating when you are actively working hard on your child’s sleep, only to see that every time you make some progress, your child’s sleep takes a big step backwards. The good news it, these regressions show that we are actually making progress, which is the silver-lining through the process.
Psychological Regression
The Psychological Regression is triggered due to the changes that you’re making in your child’s sleep expectations, and is a completely involuntary response to the changes made by your child’s subconscious brain. The subconscious brain sees any change as a threat and as it begins to notice a consistent change around the 3rd or 4th 24-hour period, it will have its ‘last stand’ to confirm that this shift is safe.
This means that your child’s emotional response at this time will be increased as you continue to work on your sleep improvement plan. Your child will likely cry excessively and their sleep will be exceptionally poor through this period. They may take a long time to settle, wake many times, stay awake for a long period overnight, early morning wake OR abandon naps, but don’t worry! It’s only temporary.
If you are working with me to navigate your plan, then you can be 100% sure that the main cause to your child’s emotional response is due to the changes that you have made over the last few days. Rest assured that this regression is because your child is looking for reassurance that the new sleeping conditions are the new normal.