Sisters and sleep experts Eve and Gem reveal some of their tried and tested sleep techniques for babies aged 6-18 months.
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00:00 If you're struggling with your baby's sleep and you're desperate to improve the whole
00:03 family's energy levels and wellbeing, keep watching.
00:07 We're going to be revealing some of our tried and tested sleep tips for babies aged 6 to
00:12 18 months.
00:18 In this age group, 6 to 18 months, much changes. Your baby's going to go from having around
00:22 3 naps at about the 6 month mark, dropping down to 2 around the 7 to 8 month mark and
00:27 dropping down to 1 around the 15 to 18 month mark. Anything from 45 minutes to up to 2
00:33 and a half, 3 hours can be normal for naps at this stage. And at night, you're going
00:37 to want to get a good 10 to 12 hours sleep. Sleep can be solid from this age and no night
00:42 feeds are necessary, but if you want to have a night feed in, that's absolutely fine. It
00:46 is of course up to you.
00:49 Between 6 to 18 months, there are some developmental changes that can impact sleep. Around month
00:54 7, we have separation anxiety and this can present again in the early toddler years.
00:59 Absolutely, but these needn't throw sleep completely off. They are just going to be
01:04 bumps in the road that can absolutely be overcome.
01:07 So the good news at this age is that 11 to 12 solid hours of sleep are truly absolutely
01:13 within reach. So the only thing that is going to come between you and achieving that kind
01:18 of sleep is if your baby is going to be really reliant on some help to get to sleep, such
01:23 as feeding, staying, patting, rocking, etc.
01:27 Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing any of those things. They just don't
01:32 go hand in hand with best possible sleep for your baby.
01:36 We want you to know that it is within reach and it's there for the taking. The single
01:40 best thing that you can do to enable the sleep that your child is capable of at this age
01:44 is to allow them to learn how to fall asleep independently and peacefully.
01:48 It can be really helpful to use nap gaps at this stage so you're tuning into your baby
01:53 and not clock watching.
01:55 And at the 6 month mark you're looking at around 2 hours of a nap gap and at the 18
01:59 month mark you're looking at about 4 hours of awake time before the next sleep.
02:03 We like to work with nature so feeding before naps and bedtime sleep is still what we advise.
02:08 And good old fashioned fresh air and light will be your friend as well. But follow your
02:13 baby, you don't need to clock watch. Look at what your baby is doing. They will show
02:17 you if they appear really groggy you might need to increase the sleep and if they're
02:21 rested and good to go then you're doing great.
02:24 The single biggest factor in preventing parents from making change when it comes to sleep
02:28 is fear of control crying or damaging the attachment between your baby and you.
02:32 But the truth, the truth that we must shout from the rooftops is that it is exhaustion
02:38 and sleep deprivation itself that is the eroder of attachment.
02:41 We can't be the patient loving parents we are underneath the exhaustion if we're dragging
02:46 ourselves through the day only to dread the night.
02:48 And in fact it was exhaustion that led me to crash my car with my baby in it at 10 months
02:53 old because I was so terrified of doing sleep teaching.
02:57 And you can do sleep teaching in the most responsive need meeting way. It's exactly
03:02 what we do here at Calm and Bright and you don't need to choose between a well attached
03:06 baby and a well rested baby.
03:08 If you want to learn more about improving your child's sleep at different ages be sure
03:12 to check out our other videos on the Yahoo website.
03:15 And catch us speaking live at the baby show events throughout the year.
03:19 Follow us on @CalmAndBrightSleepSupport on socials.
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