9 month sleep regression advice??

[Newmummy2026]

nearly 9 month old waking every hour overnight. Having a real challenge with night time sleep despite sleep training for the past month. She is feeding well during the day, nappies all good, pain relief for teething pain when it gets bad, wakes 7:30am, first nap around 9:30, second nap around 2pm. Struggling to lengthen day naps, currently only getting roughly 1hr day sleep as naps are not much longer than 30mins a time. I know she is likely overtired as a result but I don’t know how to make her nap longer? She wakes herself and is quite alert after only 30-40mins napping. Bedtime at 7/7:30pm. Had a few days going down really well, and even her first sleep through the night! but the last two days this hasn’t been the case, Now cries hysterically, won’t accept bottle or rocking. Literally have to put her down in the cot and wait her cries out because nothing seems to help soothe her. wondering does this phase get easier and will she consolidate her sleep eventually? Feel quite drained functioning on 2-3hrs broken sleep every night not sure how much longer I can manage this.

Hi love,

I saw this message at 3am and my heart broke for you.

So I know how tired you are so I won't do a big paragraph.
Here are some quick fire tips that helped me and my wee boy when he was below a year old.

• White noise
• A sleep spray especially "My Little Coco Sleepy Head Sweet Dreams Pillow"
• A herbal sleep aid like "Natures Aid Mini Drops Bed Time (Chamomile & Lemon Balm)"
• Place a piece of YOUR own clothing in the cot with baby for some comfort.(It has your scent) KNOW we're not supposed to have anything in the cot with baby but this really helped calm my boy who won't let me put him down.

I hope that helps xxx

@Lauracrazygirlthankyou for this. I’ll give the spray a try! I’ve tried leaving my clothing around her bedspace, not directly in the cot but hung over the base. I am just hoping for any long stretch of sleep either day or night to be honest. Just so I can rest xx

I feel so overwhelmed like my mind can’t make sense of what wake windows, schedules etc are needed at this age. Struggling to keep to any sort of routine at this point

Oh dear. 💔

If it helps, here is my night routine that I used on my son when he was about 9 months. (This is after dinner)

6:30pm - Make the house dark, close all the blinds and only keep light on that you need.
This subconsciously tells the child its no longer day time and we're getting ready to sleep

7pm - Bath time - Ideally as warm a bath as your little one can manage and use bubble baths that are designed to help you sleep. Like 'Child farm slumber time bubble bath'
Again keep the bathroom as dark as possible use a night light if you have one.

7:30 - Bottle of milk and soft music in the background or white noise in the background.

Hopefully your little one should fall asleep and stay asleep for a bit longer.

How did she and you sleep last night?
Xx

I think the idea there should be a routine isn't really true. They change so rapidly. It can be more helpful to think of things as phases, and some phases are very short-lived.

Even if holding doesn't stop the crying it may be more comforting. It's awful I know, can you sleep 7-11 or take turns with your DP?

I remember this phase being so exhausting. My little one went through a similar stretch around this age, with short naps and frequent night waking, and it felt like nothing I did made any difference.

If she’s otherwise feeding well and seems comfortable, I’d try not to obsess over making the naps longer. Sometimes those 30–40 minute naps are just where they are for a while. An earlier bedtime helped us when daytime sleep was poor, because overtiredness seemed to make nights even worse.

Also, 9 months can bring a lot of changes—teething, separation anxiety, new skills, and developmental leaps can all affect sleep. It can improve again, even after a few really awful nights. Hang in there; 2–3 hours of broken sleep every night is genuinely brutal, so make sure you’re getting whatever help you can during the day. ❤️

Thankyou all for your supportive words. Ive scrapped all ideas of routine and worrying about her wake windows. Just trying to follow her ques and try to not over think/worry! Her naps are still less than 30 mins at a time but instead of trying to keep her awake I let her nap more frequently when I can tell she needs it. Usually after 2.5/3hrs awake time.

she slept for 10 whole hours last night which I could have cried when I woke up. I know not every night will be the same but it’s given me hope she can fall asleep for longer. I think my anxiety around trying to keep a schedule and seeing things online that I ‘should’ be doing at this stage is exhausting and actually not helpful for me. So I’m just going to try and avoid social media influence and be more present for her! She’s growing so quickly I already regret a lot of my postpartum because I’ve wasted so much time worrying, trying to fight some sort of routine and feeling sad most of the time.