How-to Solve Short Naps

Are you struggling to help your baby lengthen their naps? Short naps can be very frustrating for parents, not only because of the things we want and need to accomplish while they’re asleep, but because they lead to an overtired, cranky baby!

But first, we need to define what a “short” nap is. Generally, I consider any nap less than 45 minutes (which is about the length of a sleep cycle during the day) to be short. This indicates that baby is not able to link their sleep cycles and is waking before they necessarily want to, because they don’t know how to get back to sleep.

While short naps relieve some sleep pressure, which is the biological drive for sleep that increases the longer we are awake, but they may not relieve enough sleep pressure.

Imagine holding a glass of water under the tap. The water pouring into the glass is sleep pressure building up as the day goes on. A nap is like pouring some of the water out so that it doesn’t overflow. The goal is to fill up the glass without overflowing it. That is the ideal amount of sleep pressure for baby to have a bedtime. Enough to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night long, but not so much that they are overflowing (overtired).

Sometimes, all we need is a short nap, which is often the case for the 3rd nap of the day. It is just a “bridge” to get baby to bedtime. But we also want to make sure baby is getting longer, more restorative naps so that they are rested, happy and eager to explore the world around them!

Now with babies younger than 5 months, there’s nothing wrong with helping them back to sleep! Whether that means extending the nap in your arms or reinserting their pacifier, it’s definitely okay to intervene! After 5 months of age, you have the option to teach them independent sleep skills so that they can lengthen their naps on their own.

But what about when your child does have the ability to self soothe and they’re still taking short naps? That’s what I’m going to help you troubleshoot in this post by sharing my Short Naps Checklist with you!

#1 Manage Expectations – Did you know that babies only begin to lengthen naps between 5-6 months of age? Before 5 months, it is 100% normal for nap lengths to range from 20 minutes to 3 hours! Short naps or “cat naps” are extremely common in 4- and 5-month-olds, so set your expectations accordingly! That way you’ll be pleasantly surprised when they do take a long nap but not disappointed when they don’t!

Also, naps will often take longer to come together even when nights are going well. There’s not as much working in our favor during the daytime. Their body isn’t producing the sleepy hormone, melatonin, until the evening time. Plus, they just don’t have as much sleep pressure before naptime compared to bedtime. So, it makes sense that naps can be harder than nights.

Be as consistent as possible and give it time to see improvements. Do a motion nap when you need a break (a nap in the car, carrier or stroller).

#2 Check Environment – Along the same lines of naps being harder than nights, environment plays a huge factor. It’s light out during the daytime! Is your child’s sleep space dark enough? When I say dark, I do mean dark. Like, I-can’t-see-my-hand-in-front-of-my-face dark.

And don’t forget about white noise! Your house is likely noisier during the day as well. Whether it’s older siblings, you in the kitchen doing dishes, the neighbor mowing their lawn - we need to drown out these sounds so baby can sleep well.

Look, I’m not saying I tip toe around my house while my babies nap. In fact, that’s when I like to vacuum! But you have to be realistic and depending on your living space, it is OKAY to accommodate the environment for your baby in order to set them up for success (I don’t care what your father-in-law says about it).

If you’re struggling with short naps and you haven’t taken extra measures in this area, it might be time to do so! Check out my free guide on setting up baby’s ideal sleep environment, including product recommendations!

#3 Reassess Wake Windows – Are they too short or too long? If baby is over or under tired, they will be more likely to wake up and not resettle after one sleep cycle. I often find that parents are too reactive to sleep cues and need to push their child’s wake windows more. Just because they yawned, doesn’t mean you need to immediately get them down for a nap. This is especially true during the first wake window of the day when they have a little “sleep hangover” from the night.

The key is to get to know your own baby’s sleepy cues, paired with recommendations for age-appropriate wake windows to find their “sweet spot”. There is always going to be a range and in the first year, they are changing rapidly! So, reassess this every few weeks! The goal is to push your baby’s wake window without pushing too far.

#4 Is Baby Waking Up Hungry? – Full feeds lead to long naps. This is one of the reasons why I recommend following an Eat-Play-Sleep routine. This means making sure baby is getting a full feed every 2-3 hours.

As wake windows start to increase, you may want to offer a small “top off” feed 20-30 minutes before nap time. This can be hugely helpful in lengthening naps! And yes, that means your routine will start to look more like “Eat-Play-Eat-Sleep”.

#5 Nap Routine – Don’t skip it! A brief routine can be very helpful to “cue” help your child and help them be ready for sleep. You can’t expect them to go right from playing in a sun-filled room to being ready to fall asleep within a few minutes, especially if you’re looking for independent sleep.

A good nap routine may look like this: Go to baby’s nice dark room, turn on a lamp, put on their sleep sack, play calmly and/or read books for 5 minutes, then turn on the white noise machine, turn off the lights and put them into their crib awake but ready for sleep. Say your key phrase and leave the room. A key phrase is a short, repetitive phrase that you use in all sleep situations, such as “It’s sleepy time ____, I love you”.

#6 Double check your responses – Do you need to give them more space? Oftentimes our anxious over responsiveness as parents is the problem. Get out of your own way and allow them to figure it out! Remember, naps are harder than nights. It may take longer for them to fall asleep.

As a general rule, if your child falls asleep within 20 minutes, they were ready for their nap. If they fall asleep immediately? They may have been too exhausted. And if it takes longer than 20 minutes? They weren’t tired enough yet.

For some children, checking on them in regular intervals will be reassuring for them. But for others, your interventions will be too stimulating. Get to know how your unique child responds to figure out how much support they need.

Personally, I love listening to my daughter babble away as she puts herself to sleep at nap time! It’s so funny. My son (her twin) never does that. Every child has their own way!

#7 Are You Overdoing Motion Naps? – Motion naps are just like they sound, naps that are “in motion”, so in the car, a stroller, or even the baby carrier. These are a great tool, especially for the last nap of the day, which can be harder to get but is so needed to avoided overtiredness at bedtime. But if they are becoming habitual (daily or close to it) baby might be holding out for one and needs more independent sleep practice.

If you are using motion for more than half of your baby’s naps, it may be time to slow down and prioritize their schedule for a bit. Ask for help, if possible, to allow them to get more of their naps at home in their sleep space. While motion naps are not “bad”, they are less restorative than a horizontal, motionless nap. So, while useful, try to limit your reliance on them.

Your baby doesn’t hate napping in their crib, they just aren’t used to it. The more you practice, the easier it will get!

#8 Waking for the Day at a Consistent Time? – Make sure baby is starting their day at a consistent time each day so that their body clock can get into a reliable rhythm. This will help them will learn to expect naps at the same times each day (for babies 7+ months on a set nap schedule).

When I say a consistent time, I don’t mean down to the minute, but for sure within half an hour. So, if your desired wake time for baby is 7:00a.m., starting their day anytime between 6:30-7:30a.m. is acceptable. Thirty minutes in either direction will keep their schedule on track.

I know it can be tempting to let them oversleep, but you’ll likely regret it later in the day! Exceptions are when they’re sick or have had a rough night for whatever reason (developmental milestone, teething, etc.) In these cases, allow them some extra sleep but still keep it within reason! You can allow longer naps and do an earlier bedtime to make up for lost sleep, rather than letting them sleep in 2 hour later than normal.

#9 Give it more time – When it comes to baby sleep, this is often the answer. If you have addressed every item on this checklist and there’s no room for improvement in any area, then you need to give yourself the gift of acceptance! It is likely just a phase. But if you’ve been struggling for more than a few weeks and cannot figure out why, it may be time to book a call to get an expert, outside perspective!

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