Our sweet baby James turned one last week, which is just crazy to me and I have so many feelings about it. But thinking about him turning one and also thinking about what sleep changes are upon us, I wanted to share with you!
So in this post, I’m going to share three sleep changes or “remember this”s that I want you to know, and that are top of mind for me, as my baby is now one, including:
- Introducing a lovey
- Taking milk out of the bedtime routine
- Preparing for the transition to one nap
Introducing a Lovey
An exciting addition that’s now safe for your 12-month-old to sleep with is a lovey!
Up until now, it’s not been safe to have anything in the crib with your baby, but once they turn one, you can introduce one!
I go into all of the details about how to introduce a lovey in this post, but I just want to remind you that a lovey is not a make it or break it when it comes to sleep! If your baby has had a hard time sleeping, a lovey definitely isn’t going to fix that. And similarly, if your baby has been sleeping well, giving them a lovey won’t mess it up.
I like the idea of loveys, as it’s one extra piece of familiarity to bring when traveling, or a comfort device for when you have a babysitter. But some families choose not to give one, which is totally fine, or some parents try to give their baby one, but they just couldn’t care less! They just keep throwing the lovey out of the crib, or they never touch it. And both of those are okay, because again, loveys don’t make or break sleep.
Taking Milk Out of the Bedtime Routine
The next adjustment I want to put on your radar around the 12-month mark is pulling milk out of the bedtime routine.
Until now, milk has been an important part of your baby’s bedtime routine. And if they’ve been sleep trained, it’s hopefully the first step so they’re not getting drowsy or trying to doze. But it’s been an important step!
Now that they’re one, however, we want to think about our end goal of them not needing any milk in the bedtime routine, just like you and I don’t need a glass of milk to go to sleep. And then we think about how we’re going to get there.
So when you first started introducing solids to your baby, it was really just for practice; milk was absolutely their main source of nutrients. But as they got older and older, you started adding meals, and by 9-10 months they’re usually eating three meals a day.
I’d say at that point, milk and solids are about equally important; your baby really needs both. And then as you start nearing 12 months old, solids continue getting more important.
It doesn’t have to be the day they turn one, but it’s around that time when we want to see solids be your baby’s main source of nutrients, and milk be an added bonus.
If you’re nursing, you can of course nurse however long you want to and it works for you and your babe. And if you’re using formula, you can stop buying it (yay!).
But either way, a goal we’re working toward is no more milk in the bedtime routine.
If a family comes to me with a 13-month-old and they’re ready to sleep train, we talk about moving toward no more milk in the routine, but at their own pace/what they’re comfortable with.
If a family comes to me with an 18-month-old and they’re ready to sleep train, we pull that milk out of the bedtime routine much more quickly.
How to Take Milk Out of Your Baby’s Bedtime Routine
Once you feel comfortable with the amount of solids your baby is eating, here’s how I recommend pulling milk out of the bedtime routine…
If you normally nurse your baby at 7, or give them a bottle at 7, and have them in bed around 7:30, you might start by nursing or giving them a bottle at 6:45, playing a bit, and then starting the bedtime routine.
Then after a few days or a week, you might nurse or bottle feed at 6:30, then play for a bit, then start the bedtime routine. Then 6:15, then 6, and eventually your baby just won’t be hungry because they just had dinner, or it’s dinner time.
And ta da, no more milk in the bedtime routine!
Very connected to all of this, 12 months is when you can start giving your baby whole milk. As a nursing mom who loves nursing well beyond 12 months old, I start introducing milk to my baby at some meals. All of my kids have taken to whole milk at different speeds, but this is when we started introducing it.
If you’re bottle feeding, you can swap out the formula for whole milk, or just move to milk in a straw cup. But that all helps with and is connected to pulling milk out of the bedtime routine, with the end goal of dinner being the last time your baby has milk for the night.
And you might be wondering why this matters – why do we have to take milk out of the bedtime routine!
For some older babies who still have milk in their bedtime routine, even if they’re not falling asleep on the bottle or breast, they still have milk and sleep closely connected. And I’ve worked with families who have done all the things and still can’t figure out why sleep hasn’t clicked, and sometimes it’s so “simple” as no longer offering milk in the bedtime routine.
Also, for some babies who now get a bottle of whole milk before bed rather than formula, sometimes the natural sugars in the milk can actually cause a bit of a sugar crash overnight and can cause a wake up. I’d love to avoid that, if at all possible!
And again, a baby who is 12+ months old just shouldn’t need milk in the bedtime routine anymore once solids are the main thing.
If you’re reading this and your baby still falls asleep on the bottle or breast, this is different. If you have no desire to sleep train and it works for you to feed them to sleep and they’re sleeping well, I’m not saying you need to stop nursing or bottle feeding to sleep. But if you’re ready to sleep train, or if you sleep trained a few months ago, I’m talking to you.
If all of this makes you wonder about bedtime snacks and what the guidelines are there, come back next week as I interview a dietician all about bedtime snacks.
Weaning From the Bottle
In the same realm of balancing milk and solids, and solids becoming the main source of nutrients, thoughts of when to wean from the bottle should also be on your mind!
I go into all the details of how to wean your baby from the bottle here, so if this is all new to you, definitely check out that post. And I talk about weaning from nursing here, which some mamas are ready for at 12 months old, whereas others want to keep going! And both are totally fine!
Weaning from bottles versus breastfeeding are two very different conversations.
Prepare for the Transition to One Nap
The third and final adjustment I want to put on your radar when your baby turns 12 months old is the transition to one nap. I am not saying it’s time to transition to one nap – our James is still very much on a two-nap schedule – I’m just putting it on your radar.
Most babies transition to one nap sometime between 13-15 months old, though some do as early as 12 months, and some hang on as long as 18 months old.
So in the mean time, you may have to tweak your baby’s two-nap schedule – we just did this with our James! A 2 am wake-up started creeping back in, and at first I figured it was due to his cold, being stuffy, and not nursing as well during the day, so I’d honestly just feed him and put him back to sleep.
But after a good week or two I was like okay, something else is up. And we lengthened each of his wake windows by 15 minutes, pushing his whole schedule back, and he’s back to sleeping through!
So still definitely on a two-nap schedule, but little changes will be necessary until it’s time for one nap.
Now, if your baby is in daycare, there is a good chance they will transition to one nap when they turn 12 months old. I talk more about realistic daycare expectations here, but just know that most daycares change babies to one nap when they turn one. Some even move babies to a floor cot at this time!
Which does not mean it’s time to move them to a big bed at home, and it also doesn’t mean it’s time to transition to one nap at home. If they’re still taking two consistent naps at home on the weekend but they’re taking one nap at daycare, as long as they’re still sleeping well across the board, it’s okay!
Once those two naps are no longer working on the weekend, or their nighttime sleep starts getting thrown off, it might be due to such different schedules between the week and weekend.
Conclusion
The goal of this post is to let you know what changes are on the horizon for your soon to be 12-month-old, or what changes should be top of mind for your newly minted one-year-old!
No hard and fast “do this now”s, but some “keep in mind”s and “know this”s in regards to safe sleep and loveys, milk in the bedtime routine, and the transition to one nap.
Also remember, however, if you don’t want to introduce a lovey now that your baby is one, don’t! If your baby has been struggling with solids and you’re nowhere near being able to pull milk from their bedtime routine, or transition away from bottles? Don’t!
I’m not here telling you what and when you have to do things, I’m here to help your whole family get the best sleep possible. And today that looks like teaching you about how some things can or will start shifting as your baby gets older.
With Grace,
Lauren
