Photo by: Micah Sittig

I Wonder What She Dreams About: The 7 Stages of Toddler Sleep

by Amy of "The Little Things"
Photo by: Micah Sittig

The seven stages of toddler sleep (also known as Why I Don’t Let My Daughter Sleep In My Bed):

  • Rapid Limb Movement (RLM)
  • The drooling stage
  • The twitching stage (not to be confused with RLM)
  • The heavy breathing stage
  • The sweating stage
  • The grunting stage
  • The continuous flip flopping stage

The final two stages lead inevitably to the awakening of the toddler, which, if you’ve experienced all seven stages, is always about an hour too soon.

Amy Mossoff lives in the DC area with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, and writes on parenting, Objectivism, and all the good Little Things in her life.

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2 Comments

I had no trouble having my children sleep in our family bed for years. My daughter slept beside me until she was five and my son moved from the bed to a sleeping bag at the foot of our bed and slept there until he was nine.( He did not have to sleep there. He had a room and a bed of his own too.) He will not admit this, but I do feel that this family bed as well as breastfeeding and a nurturing style of mother has kept my family very close. My son still calls me often to "check in"...

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This sounds great. I have a two year old that I had to transition into a bed because he is such a crazy sleeper and was worried that he could hurt our newborn. I let him climb into bed when dad leaves to work. How did you get good sleep with so many people in your bed?

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