Case Study of the 2-Year Regression

You’re in the right place to learn all about this regression, why it happens and how to conquer it, through the real-life example of a family that I worked with!

Meet the Taylors…

Theirs is a CLASSIC case of the 2-Year Sleep Regression.

First, it's important to know that not every regression affects every child. There's the 4-month regression (the real TRUE one, which is really a “progression” to the 4 stages of sleep that adults have), the 6-month regression, the 8-10 month regression, the 12-month regression, the 18-month regression and finallyyy, the 2-year regression. 

You should not live your life in fear of these potential regressions. You will likely sail right through some of them. But it's also likely that at least one or two will hit your household a little harder.

That's exactly what happened to Katie & Evan with their little girl, Indy. She had just turned two, a few months after becoming a big sister!

Indy had always been a good sleeper. Because of this, they had never felt the need to sleep train. At the end of their bedtime routine, they were always able to rock her a bit (which they loved!) and then lay her in her crib where she'd sleep the night away. 

Until suddenly, that wasn't working anymore. They'd lay her down, like they'd done hundreds of times before, but instead of going off to sleepy land she'd pop right up and SCREAM! If you have a child this age, you know how intensely they can protest! They told me that she'd chuck her pacifier at them when they tried to leave the room, and the girl had good aim! 

Then the crib climbing began.

She even had a safe way of doing it. Whereas some kids lean headfirst over the edge, scaring the crap out of their parents, Indy would get her legs over first and then lower herself down. They'd put her back in, she'd pop right back out. This would last for HOURS! 

Katie told me about a recent night out they'd had to a concert. It was their first night away from both kids! After the show, she checked the baby monitors from her phone and saw that both kids were awake, and it was very late. Grandpa and Grandma handled it, but it made it harder to relax knowing things weren't going too smoothly back home. And it was frustrating too!

What had happened to their good little sleeper?!

Evan sometimes traveled for work, which meant Katie would be on her own at night with a 4-month-old and a regressing two-year-old. By the time she'd get Indy to sleep, she'd barely get to lay down before her son was up for a night feed.

We met via Zoom to review their personalized sleep plan on a day when Evan had just returned home from a work trip. Katie was understandably exhausted, living on fumes from the few hours of broken sleep she was getting.

Like any other family, they had tried to figure this out on their own before calling me. They had hoped it would get better with time. They had taken the important step of dropping the bedtime bottle, hoping that alone would solve it. But it had been a couple months of these unresolved sleep issues and they were ready and eager for a solution.

During our free sleep chat, before I wrote their sleep plan, I'd convinced them to keep Indy in a crib. Like many parents, they thought the fix might be to move her into a toddler bed. They even had her new big girl room all ready for her, as they were preparing to move the baby out of their room and into the nursery. But I really believed we'd be able to get her back to sleeping well in her crib and they trusted me. 

The plan we came up with was for them to acquire a second crib, and we'd still make the move to her new room but into her new crib instead of a big girl bed. Night one of sleep training would be the first night in her new room. Since our habits and our environment are so intertwined, it's always helpful to make these changes at the same time. New room, new crib, new way of learning to fall asleep!

We also had another big decision to discuss during our consultation.

The pacifier. Keep it or ditch it? 

Now, I'm not anti-pacifier up to a certain age. But I did advise that they get rid of it because it had become a problem (the whole chucking it across the room at them thing). Pacifiers are considered a sleep prop, whether they're a negative or a positive one depends on what your child is doing with it. If they're losing it or tossing it, and expecting you to give it back to them, it's now become a negative prop.

If sleep were going well, then I would have advise keeping the pacifier until they were ready to drop the nap, closer to age 3, because why rock the boat?! But that wasn’t the case for this family.

That same day of our consultation, the “paci fairy” came to visit Indy's house! (I told you these parents were eager to get started!) Katie sent me a video and it was sooo cute. They definitely understood the assignment! 

With Indy's help, they gathered up her “beppas" and buried them in their flower garden out in front of their house. Then they went to the store and Indy got to pick out a new lovey and a toy. When they returned home, “magically” there were little pom pom's and cake pops in the garden bed where'd they'd buried the pacifiers. 

We'd planned on giving her a few days to adjust to life without pacifiers, in case she needed some extra comforting, before starting the sleep plan. So, how'd she do with this first big change? Glad you asked…

Indy rocked that part. But now it was time to sleep train.

I won't lie to you. Night One was rough! It took just over an hour and a half for her to fall asleep. She screamed for about the first hour, begging them, “hold me!” She attempted climbing out, but her new crib was a bit deeper plus she was quickly redirected, so it was a failed attempt. (I'm telling you, it's much easier to teach a 2-year-old to stay in their crib than it is to try to teach them to stay in their toddler bed). 

Katie or Evan was in the room with her the entire time, they traded off so that they could continue to offer her calm support. Once again, they understood the assignment. 

When she was asleep shortly after 10:00pm they were so relieved. Yes, it was hard. But it had already been hard, bedtime had been taking 3-4 hours! They knew this was what they need to do in order for everyone to get the sleep they need (and for them to maintain their sanity as parents). 

She woke up early the next day, and Evan went back to provide support in the way our sleep plan outlined. She went back to sleep. 

Night Two only took 20 minutes. And she slept a full 12 hours. 

By Night Three she was out in 5 minutes, no tears. 

They had their 12-hour unicorn baby back! Except now she was falling asleep truly independently! A truly amazing and incredibly rapid transformation. 

Katie and Evan have their evenings back, Indy is waking up happy and rested, and the whole family is in a better place. 

I am so grateful to them for trusting me and taking this leap of faith.

So, what causes the 2-year regression? 

1. Testing Boundaries. This starts as early as 12 months but it just. keeps. getting. worse. So, if you've escaped it until this point, here it is. They may be crib climbing or just exhibiting an extremely high stamina for protesting.

2. Two-year molars! These are the END of baby teething for your little one, isn't that crazy?! And it can happen anytime between 19 months and 3 years of age. Sometimes it foes unnoticed, but if the swollen gums are going to bother them, it's going to be at bedtime or during the night when they're laying flat and don't have anything else to distract them.

3. FOMO. They are aware that life is going on without them outside of their bedroom door and they don't like it! (ever wondered why you toddler naps at daycare but not at home? Because everyone else is too!) This can especially be the case if there's a new sibling, which oftentimes can happen at around this age.

4. Lingering Sleep Props. If you've held onto sleep props for too long, such as the bedtime bottle, rocking, the pacifier, etc., this is the age where a lack of independent sleep skills can start to cause issues, if it hasn't already (18-month regression).

Congratulations to the Taylor Family on a successful sleep training journey!