sleep regression has hit hard

something is going on with ellie these days... her sleeping habits are all out of whack! my once good sleeper is going through some kind of strange phase. her naps are getting shorter and shorter every day. not only are they shorter, but she wakes up screaming. she used to sleep an hour (which isn't that long to begin with for one nap/day). and then all of sudden it went down to 50 minutes, and then the next day it went down to 40 minutes, and then the next day to 30 minutes and then 20 minutes. and then yesterday, it was 15 minutes!!! what the heck is going on??? it's like she completely forgot how to self-soothe herself back to sleep. and her night time sleep has always been pretty good. but she woke up crying the other night and again last night. i've been researching and reading a lot online on what could be going on. i believe she's definitely too young to be dropping her naps completely. i mean, addison who is 5 still takes naps on occasion and has quiet time in her room every day. i'm a true believer that young children getting adequate sleep and rest is crucial in brain development and healthy brain functioning. if a child is overtired, then they'll have a hard time learning and controlling their attention or their mood/behavior will be affected. so i've always made it a point to be really consistent with naps and night time sleep. so i was looking around online to see if there might be an explanation for ellie's strange sleeping. and i came across something called "18 month old sleep regression". apparently it is quite common. the description fit what ellie is going through to a T! it's basically saying that at 18 months, sleeping habits get totally disrupted... daytime and nighttime... extremely short naps, waking at night, waking up hysterically crying. the cause is just from the child going through so many developmental changes particularly at this age... especially in the brain and with language skills. her mind is processing so much right now. i don't recall going through this with addison... though if I did, I probably blocked it out! it's really stressful (and not to mention tiring) for me as a parent. supposedly, this can last anywhere from a few weeks to months! I'm just going to try and continue to stay consistent (and patient) and just hope that this will pass quickly for ellie. well, thank goodness she is cute! how can i really get too upset looking at this face...



funny girl









loves wearing addison's dress up fancy shoes