14 months, Resistance at bedtime

Learn how we helped Patch, 14 months, go from being rocked to sleep with to 2-3 wake ups overnight to falling asleep independently and sleeping through the night.

During our initial sleep consultation with Mom, Jodi, she immediately shared “The bedtime routine is sometimes sooooo long. I keep thinking about what is going to happen when I have an 18 month old that cannot sleep independently and a newborn that requires us to be present. I would say there is already household strain on the amount of times he is waking up in the night and I know a newborn will compound this. Also, we are tired!!!!”

That is what pushed Jodi to reach out to us when her 14 month old son was resisting bedtime and waking 3+ times overnight.

At the time of our consultation, Jodi also shared that she was expecting their second child soon and was concerned about how she and her husband would juggle both a toddler and a newborn that were waking up multiple times overnight.

Patch’s sleep story

Between bedtime taking “soooo long” for Patch and the multiple overnight wakings, Jodi knew it was time to teach him independent sleep skills and reduce the night wakings.

Rocking Patch to sleep was something they had both enjoyed in his first year, but they found that it was not as easy to rock him to sleep anymore. What used to take 5-10 minutes was now taking over an hour. Rocking him into a deep sleep was taking longer and longer and when they thought they were safe to transfer him to the crib he would wake upon transfer and they would repeat the same steps all over again.

Mom shared that every night was different and unpredictable. “Sometimes we can just make sure he has his pacifier and pat the mattress. He will lay down and we can cover him up and pat his butt or rub his back. Other times we pick him up and rock him back to sleep.”

Giving Mom the confidence and proper coaching to implement his plan and the sleep training method starting at bedtime and overnight with consistency was the first step to more predictable bedtime and overnight sleep.

early morning wakings as a result of sleep debt

Patch was in an overtired cycle due to his frequent night wakes and resistance at bedtime. The overtired cycle Patch started to cause early morning wakings beginning as early as 3:30am. This led to a very inconsistent nap schedule when he was home on the weekends. The one nap schedule he followed during the week at daycare was nearly impossible to match due to his tiredness and sleepy cues starting mid-morning on the weekends.

Removing sleep associations led to more sleep

By removing the sleep associations of rocking, replacing the pacifier, and patting/shushing at bedtime and overnight, Patch learned to sleep 11-12 hours overnight. Parents decided the right method for Patch was to stay in the room while he was falling asleep but remove the physical touch. They were able to be present and give him verbal reassurance at bedtime. Within the first week, the bedtime routine and time to fall asleep was significantly improved.

With continued time and practice, he overcame the early morning wakings. These can take the longest to see improvement! We continued to work on daytime schedule adjustments to help him take longer and more predictable naps.

At the end of our two weeks of coaching support, Patch was a well-rested toddler ready to embrace big brotherhood!

Sleep resources to help your family

We supported Jodi’s family with our 1:1 Ultimate sleep plan. We provide a personalized sleep plan, track feeds and sleep in an app that we monitor daily, and provide daily email check ins for support, guidance, and accountability. 1:1 personalized sleep coaching is available to families worldwide starting at 3 months of age up to 4 years!

Looking for a customizable and self paced approach? The Well Rested Course will walk you step-by-step through a completely customizable sleep training experience. The Well Rested course includes my expert methods and tips that I have used with 1:1 coaching over the past 5 years but allows you to take it at your own pace. A step by step approach to teach your baby to fall asleep independently, wean overnight breast and bottle feeds, sleep 11-12 hours overnight, AND you’ll have a plan to navigate any future regressions or bumps in your journey. I’ll also help you set up a daytime routine and nap schedule that fits your family’s lifestyle and values. And you’ll get age-specific guidance to meet your baby right where he or she is developmentally at every stage from now until your baby turns 2.

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