Show Notes
Your toddler's been a great sleeper for months. Then one night they start demanding more books, more cuddles, more everything. You're trapped in the room for two hours wondering what happened to your independent sleeper. This is the 18 month sleep regression, and it's less about sleep and more about boundaries. Sally and Bec break down why this regression happens right when toddlers learn to use words to influence their world. They explain why giving in to one more book turns into 17 books by night three, how to hold clear limits without negotiations, and why it can still take two hours even when you're doing everything right. Plus the strategies that work throughout the day to fill their cup so you can hold firm at bedtime. What You'll Learn: • Why the 18 month regression is about boundary testing, not self-settling • How language development triggers bedtime battles • The exact bedtime routine strategy: verbal cues for last book, last cuddle, last kiss • Why bore-to-reassure works better than negotiations • Realistic timeline: 2-6 weeks regardless of your approach • What happens when you try to max them out with long wake windows (spoiler: it backfires) • Micro-moments of connection and choice throughout the day • How to avoid creating new sleep associations while navigating the regression Chapters: 00:00 Intro and scheduling queen banter 04:22 What is the 18 month sleep regression 08:19 Setting clear verbal boundaries at bedtime 11:47 Realistic expectations: how long it actually takes 15:44 Why connection matters but boundaries hold 21:01 This isn't sleep training, it's limit setting 26:41 What NOT to do: extending wake windows 30:21 Filling their cup throughout the day 34:00 Wrap up and encouragement
🎙️ ABOUT NAP TRAPPED Sally Woods and Bec Maher are baby sleep consultants who believe exhausted parents deserve real answers, not judgment. Each episode of Nap Trapped breaks down one sleep challenge with evidence-based advice and a healthy dose of humor.
Links 📩 Get updates + exclusive tools: Subscribe www.naptrappedpodcast.com
📸 Follow Sally & Bec on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesleepconcierge/ https://www.instagram.com/_thesleepcentre/
🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
podscan_iUuGjmVySs0SbIO2kTBujJmNhawXVV6d
More from Nap Trapped
Happy Sleep Detectives Day to all who celebrate. Bec held all the power this week. Sally hadn't seen a single question, and we worked through five cases straight from our question box.
A mum on TikTok put it perfectly: maybe mums who sleep train don't want their baby to cry. For us that's not controversial at all. It's the take that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.
Happy Sleep Detectives Day to all who celebrate! We open the Nap Trapped question box and answer your real-life baby sleep questions, from mum versus dad at bedtime to a 23 month old who's started climbing out of the cot. And a mum from our Spotify comments wrote back to tell us her twelve month old has slept through the night two nights straight, one and a half weeks into night weaning and modified Ferber. Case solved. Case closed.
Welcome back to part two of our 100th episode with That Sleep Doc, Dr Sujay Kansagra. He's a child neurologist and sleep medicine doctor at Duke University and the inventor of the Lullabee smart crib mattress. This half is where Bec finally gets to ask about a real bugbear of hers, low sleep needs, and Sally asks Sujay to diagnose her. We get into what actually decides how much sleep our babies need, why six hours of naps won't give you a twelve hour night, whether overtiredness is really a thing and how Sujay copes with the trolls in his comment section. Then it's a very slow fast five, the Lullabee versus the Snoo and the biscuit question we promised you.
We made it to 100 episodes and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate. Sally's heart was beating the whole time 'cause she's that much of a fangirl.