As your toddler is growing and developing not only physically but mentally, it can make it difficult for them to sleep well at night, as their brain is so active.
Learning new skills everyday can cause toddlers, particularly at the age of 2 years old, to develop sleep regression. Sleep regression is a period of time where your child begins fighting sleep at bedtime, waking through the night, or rising too early in the morning.
Sleep regression can be hard for parents to deal with, but its important to remember that it doesn’t last long, and it can be improved by things such as a good toddler mattress.
The reasons for toddler sleep regression
There are several reasons why a toddler might experience a sudden disruption to sleep, including:
Developmental advances – When a baby hits toddler age, they will experience a huge jump in their physical abilities, language skills and social abilities. This is a lot to take in at such a young age and can take a toll physical and mentally. So, its obvious that this could cause a short period of sleeplessness.
Separation anxiety – Up until toddler age, your child might have slept closer to you, such as in a cot in your bedroom. At toddler age, separation anxiety is a very prevalent emotion, and you might find your child will have difficulty getting into a new sleeping routine where they now have to sleep further away or have to fall asleep without a parent present.
Being overtired – When adults are tired, we know to hop into bed and get a good night sleep. However, toddlers don’t have the same awareness. Instead, toddlers will work themselves up and become agitated, pushing their bedtime back even further.
Change – Becoming a toddler involves a lot of change, and this means things around you change as well, such as your sleeping environment. When you hit toddler age, you might need to move into a new room, and this means a new bed and mattress to.
How to choose the best toddler mattress to help with sleep regression
There are a number of things to think about when choosing a mattress for your toddler, including allergies, fidgeting, growing and comfort. Here are some toddler mattress facts to help you along your way:
- Children’s mattresses could in open-sprung, pocket-sprung, memory foam and latex foam varieties, each offering different benefits for different types of sleepers
- Toddlers who have allergies might benefit from synthetic mattresses as their fibres are less likely to attract bacteria and mites
- If your toddler is going through potty training, purchasing a mattress protector and washable bed pads will help protect the mattress underneath and ensure our child can continue to use the mattress when they’ve eventually grown of out that phase
- 2–3-year-olds will benefit from a memory foam mattress because of their hypoallergenic properties.
What else you can do to help with toddler sleep regression?
Alongside getting the right mattress for your toddler, there are other things you can do to help your toddler throughout their sleep regression stage.
Ensure health and safety – If you notice your child is falling into a sleep regression phase, you need to firstly figure out if this is the case or if its an illness or issue such as teething, they are experiencing instead. Obviously, if it is a medical issue this needs attending to straight away.
If a part of your toddlers sleep regression is climbing out of their bed and wondering around, make sure their bed is low enough to the ground, so they don’t fall out, and make sure toys and other obstacles are put away at night so if they do get out of bed, they wont trip over them.
Maintain routines – If your toddler is going through sleep regression, you need to make sure you maintain a consistent routine. If not, when they finally fall out of their sleep regression stage their night routine could be a struggle once again.
Keep calm and consistent - Sleep regression is something most toddlers will experience, and it is no reflection on their behaviour. So, it’s important to keep calm and find patience when dealing with their nighttime habits. If your toddler sense frustration from you, this could make their sleep regression worse.
While sleep regression in toddlers might seem frustrating for parents, its important to recognise it’s a normal phase and that I can be made easier with a comfortable environment for your child, such as a good toddler mattress, and plenty of patience from the parent.
If your toddler's sleep regression doesn’t seem to subside after a month or so, then you need to address any underlying issues, and seek advice from your GP.
If you are still unsure of what mattress to get for your toddler, then get In touch with the Bed Guru team who will be able to advise you.