How to Lengthen Naps
I really, genuinely believe that nap time is God’s gift to moms of small children. He wants us to have at least a brief and fleeting reprieve each day. Did your baby get that memo- the one that says they are supposed to take a nice long nap every day so you can chill/exercise/work/nap/clean/fold laundry/scroll insta/Google “How to Lengthen Naps?”
If your baby is less on-board with God’s design for babies: read on, mama.
In order to lengthen naps, you need to understand a little bit more about naps generally. They are necessary, but they are not as restorative as nighttime sleep. They are not driven by melatonin or a heavy sleep pressure built up from a day of play. The sun is up and shining, which means it is playtime, right? Older siblings are running around like medium-sized insane people- also an indicator that we should stay awake. Right?
Your little wide-eyed tot is confused. So, though your baby needs to nap, their little bodies are not primed to nap as well as they are for nighttime sleep. This is a big part of what makes them extra challenging.
There is also the bit about “wake times,” which, if you aren’t already familiar with, I can provide a wake time chart in another post. If your child isn’t tired enough, they won’t be able to nap and will cry and cry when placed in their crib. If they are too tired, same deal. So. Much. Crying. None of us want that.
Finding that sweet spot for your child is a combination of knowing the general ranges that are typical for your little one’s age and knowing your own baby. Some babies need more sleep than others. Some parents drew the short straw on infant sleep and have a baby who just doesn’t need that much rest to stay happy, healthy, and strong (sorry, mama).
So, here we go. How do you get your little to nap longer?
1) Make sure your baby’s wake windows are appropriate for their age and for their individual needs. If you know you have a low-sleep-needs-baby, you may need slightly longer wake times than the “average.”
2) Put your baby down for naps awake. Sleep training is probably 80% of the battle toward baby’s best naps. A baby who cannot connect sleep cycles without your help is going to max out on naps at under an hour a piece. Overcoming that means you need to work on independent sleep habits.
3) Your baby is taking too many naps and it might be time to drop one. Multiple short naps can indicate that your baby is ready for fewer, but probably longer naps. The transition may be tough, but on the other side you will more than likely be getting better naps. If taking that leap sounds intimidating or you don’t know how to start, shoot me a message and we can work through it together!
4) Darken the room, use a low, rumbly white noise, and make sure you have a short naptime routine in place to cue to your little one that sleepy time is coming. It can be just a quick five-minute ritual- diaper check, close the curtains, sing a lullaby, into bed, sleep.
**It is important to know that there are some babies out there who are just short-nap-kids. It’s life. They were probably like that as newborns and may stay that way through toddlerhood. I am so sorry if this is your child, as it means a little less downtime for you both. But if your child sleeps great at night, takes some naps, and is happy, healthy, growing, and meeting milestones, then you may just need to learn to accept your child’s need for less sleep.
If everything above is in place, here a few more tips:
If your baby is taking 15+ minutes to fall asleep with lots of playing or protesting, but takes a good nap (1 hour+) and wakes up pleasant and ready to play- try adding about 15 minutes to the wake time before that nap. Though the nap was good, they might not have been quite sleepy enough.
If your baby falls asleep in under 15 minutes, takes a short nap (under 45 minutes), but wakes up pleasant and ready to play, try adding about 15 minutes to the wake time before that nap. They were probably not quite ready for a good nap.
If your baby plays or protests for more than 15 minutes, falls asleep and naps for under 45 minutes, but wakes up happy, try adding 15 minutes to their wake time before the nap.
If your baby falls asleep quickly (under 15 minutes), but takes a short nap and wakes up crying, fussy, and stays a bit grumpy after you get them from their crib, try shortening their wake time and put them down for that nap about 15 minutes sooner.
If your baby is consistently waking up from naps crying and fussy, whether nap was under or over an hour, try putting them down a little earlier for a few days.
If your baby falls asleep independently and within 15 minutes and takes a long (1-hour+) nap, you have found their sweet spot! Yay! Try to replicate the schedule again tomorrow!
There you are! This is the criteria that I use every day working with real parents and real babies. Learning how to “listen” to your baby when they tell you they are too tired or not tired enough can go a very long way toward baby’s best sleep. Patience is key and naps can take a long time to fall into place- partly because you should wait 3 days before making changes to see if there is a pattern at play and partly because wake times change so quickly during the first year that every time you find a good schedule, your little one will need to tweak wake times again. Once you get there, the tips above should help you continually adjust on a rolling basis
Good luck and sweet dreams!
