It’s 1:47am and my baby has been up six times.

Not fussing. Not “needs a quick pat back to sleep.”

Full. Screaming. Like I’ve abandoned him in a dark forest.

I’m standing in the hallway outside his room, phone in hand, Googling “is this normal” for the fourth night in a row. My husband is asleep because one of us has to function tomorrow. The house is dead silent except for his wails and the sound of me slowly unraveling.

I’d heard about the 8-month sleep regression. I thought we’d dodged it.

We did not dodge it.

What Nobody Tells You About the 8-Month Sleep Regression

Everyone warns you about the 4-month regression. That one’s infamous. A rite of passage. You steel yourself. You survive it. You think you’re all good.

Then month 8 hits and your baby — who was finally sleeping in 6-hour stretches — suddenly thinks sleep is a scam.

Here’s what’s happening (and why it feels personal):

• They’re learning to pull up, crawl, cruise. Their brain is on fire with new skills. They practice them. At 2am. In the crib. While screaming.
• Separation anxiety kicks in. You leave the room and they think you’ve died. Every. Single. Time.
• They’re teething. Because of course they are. I swear they’re always teething.
• Naps are a mess too. They’re transitioning from 3 naps to 2, so daytime sleep is chaos, which makes nighttime even worse.

It’s not just sleep deprivation. It’s the betrayal of thinking you figured it out, and then your baby says “lol no — you really thought.”

The Things I Tried First (That Didn’t Work)

Before I turned to ChatGPT, I tried everything the internet told me to try:

“Maybe he’s hungry?”

Literally fed him and he still screamed 20 minutes later.

“Check the wake windows!”

Adjusted them. Anddd he still woke up every hour.

“Try a different bedtime routine!”

Made it longer, shorter, added a bath, skipped the bath. Did not matter.

“Just let him cry it out.”

Hard pass. Listen, no judgment if that works for you. But I was not emotionally equipped to hear him scream for 45 minutes at 3am while I sobbed in the hallway.

“He’s probably teething.”

Gave him Tylenol. He slept for one blissful 3-hour stretch and I thought we’d cracked the code. Next night? Back to hourly wake-ups.

I was exhausted, confused, and Googling “can you die from sleep deprivation” at 4am.

(Which btw yes, yes you technically can.)

How ChatGPT Helped Me Survive (Real Prompts I Used)

I was too tired to make a plan. Too overwhelmed to think clearly. So I started dumping my sleep chaos into ChatGPT and asking it to help me make sense of it.

Here are the actual prompts I used (with screenshots of what ChatGPT said back):

Prompt 1: “What the hell is happening with my baby’s sleep?”

Actual prompt:

My 8-month-old was sleeping in 4-hour stretches. Now he wakes up every hour screaming. He pulls himself up in the crib and cries. I've tried feeding him, rocking him, checking if he’s too hot/cold. Nothing works. What is going on?

Actual convo:

Why this helped:

It wasn’t a magic fix by any means. But it gave me context. This was actually normal. My baby’s brain was just doing too much at once.

This is a variation of prompt #1 from my 6-12 Month Pack - “My Baby Stands Up in the Crib and Then Screams”

Prompt 2: “Give me a realistic game plan”

Actual prompt:

Okay so if this is the 8-month regression, what do I actually DO? I need a plan that doesn't involve crying it out or buying $200 sleep programs. Give me 3-5 things to try tonight that are realistic for an exhausted person.

Actual convo:

What I tried:

• Earlier bedtime (moved it 30 minutes earlier)
• Extra floor time during the day so he could practice standing/crawling
• Shorter bedtime routine (he was getting overstimulated)

Did it fix everything overnight?

Gosh no. But the wake-ups went from every hour to every 2-3 hours. Which is honestly a miracle.

This is similar to prompt #3 from my 6-12 Month Pack - “Do We Nap or Just Suffer?”

Prompt 3: “How do I not lose my shit at 3am?”

Actual prompt:

I'm so tired I want to scream. My baby is screaming. My partner is asleep. I feel like a failure mom. Give me something to repeat to myself when I'm standing in the hallway crying at 3am.

Actual convo:

Why this mattered:

Sometimes you just need someone to tell you you’re doing okay. Even if that someone is a chatbot.

This tone is all over my 6-12 Month Pack - especially prompt #47, “I Have No Braincells Left and Still Need to Function”

Prompt 4: “Night wakings triage - what to try first”

Actual prompt:

When my baby wakes up at 2am, I never know if he needs food, comfort, or just time. Give me a step-by-step decision tree I can follow when I'm half-asleep so I'm not guessing every time.

Actual convo:

Did it work every time?

Haha, nope. But it gave me a framework so I wasn’t panicking and trying random things at the last moment.

This is literally prompt #34 from my 6-12 Month Pack - “Night Wakings Triage: What to Try First”

Prompt 5: “Remind me this won’t last forever”

Actual prompt:

I need you to tell me that this sleep regression will end. Be specific. Give me a timeline. And don't sugarcoat it.

Actual convo:

Why I needed this:

Because at 3am when you’re on week 2 of hourly wake-ups, it feels like your new permanent hell reality. Having an endpoint helped.

Variations of this are in all my packs - the “give me hope but make it real” prompts

What Actually Helped (The Honest Truth)

What didn’t fix it:

• Cry it out (not for me thx)
• Fancy sleep programs (didn’t buy them — in this economy?!)
• Sleep training apps (way too tired to follow them)

What did help:

• Earlier bedtime - Moving bedtime from 7:30 to 7:00 made a huge difference
• More daytime practice - Letting him crawl/pull up during wake windows so he wasn’t doing it at night
• Shorter bedtime routine - Turns out he was getting turnt up, not calmed down
• Managing my own anxiety - When I stayed calm, he settled faster
• Having an actual plan - Even a loose one made the 3am wake-ups less panicky

How long did it last?

Three. long. ass. weeks. Then he started sleeping 6-hour stretches again. Not perfect, but definitely survivable.

Tips for Using ChatGPT During Sleep Hell

Be specific about your baby’s age and what’s happening.

“Help with sleep” gets generic advice. “My 8-month-old wakes every hour, stands up in the crib crying, used to sleep 4-hour stretches” gets targeted help.

Ask for decision trees, not just tips.

“Give me a step-by-step plan for night wakings” is more useful than “what should I do?”

Use it for emotional triage too.

It is not therapy. But when you’re crying at 3am and everyone’s asleep, it helps to type out how you’re feeling and get a compassionate response back.

Save prompts that work.

I keep a running note in my phone with my most-used sleep prompts so I’m not starting from scratch every single time.

The Truth About Sleep Regressions (And Using AI to Survive Them)

ChatGPT won’t make your baby sleep.

It won’t fix wake windows or cure teething or stop developmental leaps.

But it can help you:

• Understand what’s happening (so you’re not spiraling)
• Make a realistic plan (when you’re too tired to think)
• Feel less alone (when it’s 3am and everyone else is asleep)
• Triage in the moment (so you’re not guessing)

I built my 6-12 Month Pack because I got tired of retyping the same sleep questions at 2am. It has 60 prompts for this exact stage - sleep regressions, teething, developmental leaps, night wakings, nap transitions, and the “I’m so tired I can’t function” moments.

→ Grab the 6-12 Month Pack here ($22, instant access)

Other packs:

• 0-6 Month Pack (newborn survival, feeding, fourth trimester)
• 12-36 Month Pack (toddler chaos, potty training, tantrums)
• General Mom Pack (mental load, decision fatigue, invisible labor)

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You’re not failing bb. Your baby’s brain is just doing too much. This will pass.

(And until it does, there’s me, ChatGPT and coffee.) 🤎