How Can I Get My Baby To Nap Longer?
Short naps can be very frustrating. But they don’t have to be that way! Your little one needs a nap until she’s about 3-4 years old, and we don’t want her catnapping for so long! Now that you know what can cause short naps, let’s go over a few tips and suggestions you can do to extend that nap.
Create a routine: It’s recommended to have a nap time routine with your little one. This helps signal your child it’s time to go to sleep and helps them wind down from play time to sleep time. A few books and some songs before going down is a great way to help her wind down.
Sleep space: It is suggested to have your baby sleeping in her regular sleep space for naps as well. Studies show that sleeping in the same space daily is a healthy sleep habit that promotes better sleep overall. Make sure the room is dark, so close those shades! And make sure the room is quiet and perhaps use a white noise machine to drown out that exterior noise that’s going on during the day in the house that can cause wake ups.
Awake window: This is the amount of time our little one can stay up before they enter their sleep window. Once they enter their sleep window, they start secreting melatonin, which is a calming soothing hormone that helps them get sleepy and fall asleep. If we miss that sleep window, and our child is still awake, but they have entered the overtired state and are secreting cortisol. Make sure to put your child down according to their awake window so they don’t get overtired and cause short naps. Don’t try to keep them up ‘as long as he can handle’ and stretch the window to ‘get in a longer nap because he’s so tired.’
Sleep Crutch: If you are doing something to or for your little one, she will need it to go back to sleep. These are known as sleep crutches, or sleep associations. Look at your routine and make sure that you are not ending it with having your child falling asleep in your arms or at the bottle. Once you are done with the routine, place your child in her sleep space awake and let her put herself to sleep.
Extra crib time: If your little one isn’t completing a full sleep cycle (naps less than 45 minutes), you want to try to leave her in her crib and give her some time to fall back asleep. Once she can put herself to sleep, she will be able to put herself back to sleep and connect those sleep cycles. It is recommended to leave her in the crib for an extra 30 minutes to see if she goes back to sleep.
Have questions about your little one’s naps? Let’s talk!