The 8 to 10 month sleep regression is a temporary phase where a baby who was sleeping reasonably well starts waking more at night, fighting naps, or both. It is driven by developmental leaps rather than anything going wrong, and it usually settles within two to six weeks.
It tends to arrive alongside crawling, pulling up, and the dawning realization that you still exist when you leave the room. All three make sleep harder for a while.
How long does the 8-10 month sleep regression last?
Most babies work through it in two to six weeks. That range is a rule of thumb rather than a research finding, because “sleep regression” is a parenting term rather than a clinical one, and the largest real-world study of infant sleep found wide variation between babies with no single age at which sleep shifts for everyone.
In practice the timing tracks your baby’s development rather than the calendar. The length depends on how quickly the underlying skill consolidates, so a baby mid-way through learning to pull up will often settle once standing feels routine rather than thrilling.
If disrupted sleep has continued for more than about eight weeks, it is worth looking for a separate cause rather than assuming it is still the regression.
What causes sleep regression at 8-10 months?
Four things, usually overlapping.
Developmental milestones. Crawling, pulling up to stand and cruising all land in this window. New skills are rehearsed at night, which is why you may find your baby wide awake and practicing at 2am.
Separation anxiety. Around this age babies develop object permanence, the understanding that you continue to exist when out of sight. That is a cognitive leap, but it also means your leaving the room becomes something to protest.
Teething. Discomfort makes falling asleep and staying asleep harder. It rarely explains weeks of disruption on its own, but it compounds everything else.
Sleep pattern changes. Many babies are ready to drop from three naps to two around now. A schedule that no longer matches how much awake time your baby needs will look exactly like a regression.
Why is my 8-month-old refusing to nap?
Nap refusal is often the first sign, and it usually has one of four causes. Work through them in this order.
They are practicing a new skill. If your baby is trying to crawl or scoot, that is very likely the cause. Give them plenty of floor time to practice while awake. Once a skill stops feeling novel it stops being a distraction at nap time.
They are still on three naps. As babies grow they need longer awake windows before they are genuinely tired. An eight-month-old on a three-nap schedule may simply not have built enough sleep pressure. Moving to two naps often fixes nap refusal within a week.
Separation anxiety is peaking. If your baby is fine until you leave the room, this is the likely culprit. A consistent, comforting pre-nap routine helps, as does practicing short separations during the day so that your returning becomes predictable.
They are pulling up in the crib and cannot get down. Standing is far more interesting than lying down. Lower the crib mattress to its lowest setting for safety, consider a sleep sack to make climbing harder, and give plenty of practice at pulling up and sitting back down during awake time. Getting down is the skill they are missing.
What does the regression look like?
Commonly some combination of: more frequent night waking, taking much longer to fall asleep, shorter naps or refused naps, standing or crawling in the crib instead of settling, and being harder to console than usual.
You will not necessarily get all of these, and it can shift from week to week.
Why is my baby waking every hour at 8 months?
Hourly waking is the most alarming version of this regression, and it is usually the same causes stacked on top of each other rather than a separate problem. A baby who is mid-milestone, short on sleep pressure from too many naps, and newly aware that you leave the room can wake at the end of almost every sleep cycle.
All babies surface briefly between sleep cycles. The question is whether they can get themselves back down. During a regression the answer is often no, because the thing that wakes them, a new skill or the urge to stand, is also the thing that stops them settling again.
Two things make it worse and are worth ruling out first. An overtired baby wakes more, not less, so a schedule that is running short on daytime sleep tends to show up at night. And a habit introduced to survive the first few bad nights, such as feeding back to sleep every time, quickly becomes the only route back to sleep.
If hourly waking has lasted more than about eight weeks, or your baby seems in pain rather than unsettled, treat it as something other than the regression and speak to your pediatrician.
What actually helps?
Keep the bedtime routine identical. Predictability is doing more work than any single technique. A warm bath, a book, dim light, the same order every night.
Check the schedule. If your baby is fighting the third nap or taking an hour to fall asleep at bedtime, the awake windows are probably too short. Our guide to wake windows by age sets out the ranges, and the 3 to 2 nap transition guide covers the change itself.
Give the new skill daytime airtime. Floor time to crawl, furniture to pull up on, practice at sitting back down. Skills rehearsed by day are rehearsed less at night. Our playtime activities for your 8-10 month old has ideas that target exactly these skills.
Protect the sleep environment. Cool, dark and quiet, with white noise if the house is noisy.
Respond consistently, but keep it boring. If your baby wakes, comfort them without switching the lights on, chatting, or lifting them out unless you need to. The aim is reassurance without the wake-up becoming interesting.
Do not start something you cannot sustain. Introducing a new habit mid-regression, such as feeding to sleep or lying with them until they drop off, tends to outlast the regression itself.
Should I sleep train during a regression?
It is usually better to hold steady than to start something new mid-phase. If you already have an approach, keep it consistent. If you are considering starting, waiting until the regression has passed generally makes it easier for everyone.
When should I speak to a doctor?
Most regressions resolve on their own. Talk to your pediatrician if disrupted sleep continues beyond about eight weeks, if your baby seems in pain rather than unsettled, if there is snoring or labored breathing during sleep, or if feeding or weight gain has changed alongside the sleep.
Persistent sleep disruption that does not fit the pattern above is worth ruling out properly rather than waiting.
FAQ
Is the 8 month and the 10 month regression the same thing?
Broadly yes. It is usually described as a single window between 8 and 10 months, driven by the same cluster of developmental changes. Some babies hit it at 8 months, others closer to 10, and a few get a shorter second dip as a new skill lands.
Can teething alone cause a sleep regression?
Rarely on its own. Teething discomfort makes existing disruption worse rather than causing weeks of it. If teething is the only explanation you can find and the disruption has lasted more than a couple of weeks, look at the schedule and at new skills first.
Should I drop to two naps during the regression?
If your baby is showing readiness signs, yes, and it often improves things. Fighting the third nap, taking a long time to fall asleep, or early morning waking are the usual signals.
My baby only wakes when I leave the room. Is that separation anxiety?
Very likely. It typically peaks around this age. Short, predictable separations during the day help, as does keeping your response at night calm and consistent so that your returning is reliable but unexciting.
Will my baby's sleep go back to how it was?
Usually, yes, once the skill consolidates. Sleep at this age is not a straight line, and a dip during a developmental leap is normal rather than a sign that earlier progress has been lost.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics. (2022). Separation Anxiety and Sleeping Trouble in Young Children
- American Academy of Pediatrics. (2009). Emotional and Social Development: 8 to 12 Months
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Milestones by 9 Months
- Atun-Einy, O., and Scher, A. (2016). Sleep disruption and motor development: does pulling-to-stand impact sleep-wake regulation?
- Berger, S. E., and Moore, C. T. (2021). A time series analysis of the relation between motor skill acquisition and sleep in infancy
- Macknin, M. L., Piedmonte, M., Jacobs, J., and Skibinski, C. (2000). Symptoms associated with infant teething: a prospective study
- Paruthi, S., et al. (2016). Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: a consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
- Mindell, J. A., Leichman, E. S., Composto, J., Lee, C., Bhullar, B., and Walters, R. M. (2016). Development of infant and toddler sleep patterns: real-world data from a mobile application
