Sleep disruptions at 22 months are extremely common, and there’s rarely a single cause. Most toddlers this age are dealing with a collision of developmental changes, physical discomfort, and a newfound desire to control their world, all of which can wreck sleep for weeks at a time. The good news: nearly all of these causes are temporary and manageable once you identify what’s going on.
The 2-Year Sleep Regression Can Start Early
Sleep regressions in toddlers commonly happen around 18 months, 2 years, and 3 years. Your 22-month-old may be hitting the 2-year regression ahead of schedule. This one typically lasts 2 to 6 weeks and is driven by a surge in independence, imagination, and boundary testing. Unlike earlier regressions that are mostly biological, this one has a strong behavioral component: your toddler now has the language skills to ask for one more story, another cup of water, or a trip to the potty at bedtime. They’re not trying to manipulate you. They genuinely want more control over their routine, and bedtime is the most obvious place to exercise it.
Common triggers that can kick off or intensify the regression include the arrival of a new sibling, moving from a crib to a toddler bed too early (which removes the physical boundary that helped signal “sleep time”), and second-year molars coming in. If several of these overlap, sleep can fall apart fast.
Molars May Be the Hidden Culprit
Second molars, the last baby teeth to arrive, typically erupt between 23 and 33 months. At 22 months, your toddler could be right on the early edge of this process, with swollen gums and discomfort that’s worse at night when there are fewer distractions. Difficulty sleeping is a recognized symptom of teething, and molars are larger and more painful than the front teeth your child cut as an infant.
If your toddler is drooling more than usual, chewing on things, tugging at their ears, or refusing harder foods, teething pain is a likely contributor to the sleep trouble. The discomfort tends to come and go as each molar works its way through, so you may see a few bad nights followed by a stretch of decent sleep before the next tooth starts moving.
Separation Anxiety and Bedtime Fears
Separation anxiety peaks between 9 and 18 months for most children, but it can resurge in the second year as your toddler’s imagination develops. At 22 months, many kids begin to understand that when you leave the room, you’re somewhere else doing something without them. That realization can trigger a new wave of clinginess, especially at bedtime, which is the longest separation of the day.
Signs this is playing a role include excessive distress when you leave the room (or even when your toddler anticipates you leaving), temper tantrums at bedtime, and repeated calling out for you after lights-out. This is developmentally normal and not a sign of a deeper problem. A consistent, predictable bedtime routine helps because it gives your toddler a sense of what’s coming next, which reduces the anxiety of the transition from “together time” to “alone time.”
Nightmares and Night Terrors
Toddlers at this age are starting to dream more vividly, and that means nightmares can begin disrupting the second half of the night. If your child wakes up crying, seems scared, and has trouble falling back to sleep, they’ve likely had a nightmare. They’ll recognize you and want comfort.
Night terrors look very different. They happen during the deepest stages of sleep, usually in the first few hours of the night, often before you’ve even gone to bed yourself. During a night terror, your toddler might cry uncontrollably, sweat, shake, breathe fast, thrash around, or stare with a glassy-eyed look. The unsettling part: they won’t recognize you and may push you away if you try to hold them. The reassuring part: they’re not actually awake, they won’t remember it in the morning, and they’ll typically fall right back to sleep on their own. Night terrors are more common when a child is overtired, so adjusting the schedule can reduce their frequency.
Their Schedule May Need Adjusting
At 22 months, toddlers need about 11 to 14 hours of total sleep per 24-hour period, including naps. The average is around 12.5 hours. Most children this age should still be taking one nap per day (don’t drop it yet, as most kids aren’t ready to stop napping until closer to 3).
The key number to pay attention to is wake windows: the stretch of time your toddler is awake between sleep periods. At 22 months, the sweet spot is roughly 5.25 to 5.75 hours. That means if your child wakes at 7 a.m., their nap should start around 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. After the nap ends, aim for 5.5 to 5.75 hours of awake time before bedtime.
Two common scheduling mistakes cause nighttime problems. First, a nap that’s too late or too long pushes bedtime later, leaving your toddler wired and overtired in a frustrating cycle. Second, a wake window that’s too short before bed means your child simply isn’t tired enough to fall asleep, leading to an hour of stalling and protest. If bedtime battles are the main issue, try shifting the nap 15 to 30 minutes earlier and keeping it to about 1.5 to 2 hours, then recalculating bedtime based on when the nap ends.
Signs That Point to Something Medical
Most sleep disruptions at this age are behavioral or developmental and will resolve on their own. But a few physical signs are worth paying attention to because they suggest something that won’t improve without intervention.
Snoring is the big one. Occasional snoring during a cold is normal, but regular snoring, especially with pauses in breathing, gasping, snorting, or choking sounds, can indicate pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Other signs include mouth breathing during sleep, restless sleep where your toddler constantly changes position, and nighttime sweating. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the most common cause in toddlers, and the condition is treatable. If your child snores most nights and seems tired or cranky during the day despite getting enough hours of sleep, that’s worth bringing up with their pediatrician.
What Actually Helps at 22 Months
Start with the basics: a consistent bedtime routine that follows the same steps in the same order every night. At this age, the routine should be short enough to avoid becoming a stalling tool. Three to four steps is plenty: bath, pajamas, a book or two, lights out. Keep the total routine under 30 minutes.
If your toddler is stalling with requests, build those requests into the routine before they can use them as delay tactics. Offer the cup of water and the extra hug as part of the sequence, then set a clear boundary. Toddlers this age respond well to limited choices that give them a sense of control: “Do you want the blue pajamas or the green ones?” feels like autonomy without derailing bedtime.
For teething pain, a cold washcloth to chew on before bed and age-appropriate pain relief can help take the edge off enough for sleep to happen. For separation anxiety, a brief, calm, and confident goodbye is more effective than lingering. Drawn-out reassurance can accidentally signal to your toddler that there’s something to be worried about.
If you suspect the schedule is off, keep a simple log for a week: when your toddler wakes, when they nap, when they go to bed, and how long it takes them to fall asleep. Patterns usually become obvious quickly. A toddler who takes 30 or more minutes to fall asleep at bedtime often needs a longer wake window before bed, while one who’s melting down before dinner may need an earlier nap or a slightly earlier bedtime.