Your Baby Turned One! Here’s What Needs To Change

Congratulations! You made it! Your baby’s first birthday is here—and let’s be honest, this milestone is as much for you as it is for them. You survived! Time to celebrate! Your baby turned one!!

The time between 10-14 months is such an exciting and joyful phase. Every day, your baby seems to wake up as a whole new person—saying more, moving more, and sometimes… sleeping less!

In this blog post, we want to help you prepare for the changes and milestones to expect as your baby enters this incredible new stage.

YOUR ONE YEAR OLD’S DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES

First, let’s talk about your little one’s development. At this age, their body and brain are surging with growth and new skills:

• Physical milestones: Your child might be pulling up, cruising, or even taking their first steps. (If your little one is already running around, you’ve likely noticed how this affects their sleep—we’ll get into that shortly!)
• Cognitive leaps: Their brain is hard at work, learning new words and making connections about the world around them. They’re recognizing more objects, understanding routines, and exploring their home and the outside world in exciting new ways, and it’s a really cool thing to see. 

This stage is full of wonder, but it’s also a lot for your child to process. Their growth, both physically and mentally, plays a significant role in their sleep and daily routines.

At around 12 months, separation anxiety is at its peak! You probably didn’t need us to tell you that—you’ve likely already noticed how clingy your almost-one-year-old has become.

While it’s important to offer your child plenty of grace during this phase of emotional and developmental growth, it doesn’t mean they get a free pass to completely regress in their sleep habits.

In fact, as your child learns new skills—talking, walking, running, jumping, and forming stronger emotional bonds with you—they need restorative sleep more than ever to support their busy little mind and body.

Now that you understand what your baby is going through, let’s dive into a checklist to help you adjust to these changes as your baby turns one.

#1 – BEDTIME ROUTINE

The first thing to evaluate as your baby turns one is their bedtime routine.

No More Bottles by 13 Months

By 13 months old, all bottles and bedtime feeds should be gone. While we allow a little grace period, the transition starts when your child turns one:

• The bedtime feed should be the last to drop.
• If you’re nursing, we recommend nursing before the bedtime routine, so there’s no food or drink included in the actual routine after age 1.

Move to Sippy or Straw Cups

Developmentally, your child needs to transition from bottles to sippy cups (or better yet, straw cups) around their first birthday. Many Speech Language Pathologists recommend straw cups as they encourage a better connection with speech development.

Whatever cup style you choose, make sure to eliminate bottles by 13 months to avoid creating a strong habit of associating eating or drinking with falling asleep. This will help your child develop healthier sleep habits and make it easier for them to sleep through the night.

Bedtime Feeds and Nighttime Sleep

Your child is now ready to sleep through the night without additional feeds. Changing the bedtime feed is an essential step in this transition, helping your baby build independence and maintain restorative sleep.

#2 – NAP TRANSITIONS

Transitioning to One Nap: 12 to 15 Months

Between 12 and 15 months, your child will transition to one nap per day. However, this change doesn’t need to happen immediately when they turn one.

When Transitioning Early Is Necessary

For some families, particularly those with children in daycare or school settings, the transition may be influenced by the environment. If your child is moving to a classroom where all the children nap at 11:30 AM or 12:30 PM on a nap mat, you may feel your hand is forced—and that’s okay! Starting at 12 months, this is the earliest age when transitioning to a one-nap schedule becomes developmentally appropriate.

Don’t Rush the Process

That said, we encourage you not to rush into this change unless it’s necessary. Remember, your child is navigating a lot of developmental milestones at this age:

• Learning to walk and talk.
• Experiencing separation anxiety.
• Adjusting to new levels of independence.

Just because your child fights their afternoon nap one day or skips their morning nap doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready for one nap. These disruptions are often temporary and related to development rather than a true need to shift schedules.

The Key to a Smooth Transition

Take your time observing your child’s cues, and only move to a one-nap schedule when it’s clear they’re ready. This ensures they continue to get the rest they need to support their physical and cognitive growth.

Give It Time Before Transitioning to One Nap

When you notice signs that your child may be ready to drop a nap, we encourage you to wait 2-3 weeks to see if those signs persist. Often, nap resistance or disruptions can be linked to a developmental regression rather than a genuine readiness to transition.

During this time, give your child the space to work through the changes and adjust to their new skills and routines. If, after 2-3 weeks, they’re still consistently having trouble with naps, it may be time to transition to a one-nap schedule.

By allowing this adjustment period, you can ensure the move to one nap is truly aligned with your child’s developmental needs, setting them up for more consistency.

 #3 – SEPARATION ANXIETY

When your child is 12 months, and then 18 months, they surge through separation anxiety. Oftentimes, what we are looking at is your child laying their head down on your shoulder for a few moments of cuddles right before you get them into bed. What is happening is this moment of them laying their head down on your shoulder for a quick little snuggle or a quick little cuddle before you get them down in their bed, actually gives them the idea that they need you for their sleep. 

And that is not the case.

Your baby has not been using you as a mechanism for sleep, but this micro moment of your little one laying their head down on your shoulder gives them the idea that you have something to do with their sleep. 

So if you’ve been noticing that you lay your child just like you always have into their crib, you say goodnight and you leave the room and they start screaming, and it’s all of a sudden totally different, and you don’t know what’s happening, I would want to ask if they are having that moment of becoming sleepy on you before you get them in that crib. 

Essentially, what’s happening is that they’re looking for you to help them get sleepy and then you toss them in the crib and say goodnight and they’re like, whoa, I can’t do this myself! I needed you!

Sometimes a whole new prop is created at this age, because they’re looking for you to help get them sleepy again. 

So just be warned that if this is happening, it’s pretty normal. 

What we would want you to do instead is actually go through and put them in the crib and then walk around the room, turn the lights off, turn on your Rest, then come over, say your say your goodnights, say I love you and leave the room. 

It doesn’t have to be like this forever. We aren’t saying you can never cuddle with your child ever again. But we want you to note and be aware of the fact that at this age, it’s very common for your child to quickly start to associate you with helping them go to sleep if they’re allowed to have this time where they lay their head down on your shoulder for a small snuggle moment.

 CONCLUSION

If you have a one year old, we want to encourage you again by saying congratulations!! You made it, and we can continue to keep sleep a thing as your one year old makes huge growth and developmental changes this year!!

Here are the 3 key things to focus on now that your baby has turned one:

1. Drop the Bottle
2. By 12 months, your child should begin transitioning to sippy cups, with a straw cup being a great choice for speech development.
3. The bedtime feed will be the last to go, but by 13 months, bottles should be fully phased out.
4. Transition to One Nap
5. Between 12 and 15 months, your child will be ready to move to a one-nap schedule.
6. Avoid rushing this transition if it’s not necessary. Wait until they consistently resist the morning nap before making the change.
7. Maintain Independence During Separation Anxiety
8. Separation anxiety peaks around 12 and 18 months. While it’s tempting to snuggle your little one when they’re clingy, avoid turning this into a habit that could make you a sleep prop. Encourage their independence while still offering reassurance.