How To Lengthen Short Naps
If your baby is consistently waking after just 20-30 minutes, you’re not alone - and it can be exhausting. Many young families struggle with cat naps, which can start as early as 8 weeks. These short naps are developmentally normal up until your baby is about 5-6 months old, at which point their sleep cycles mature. At this age, some babies magically start napping longer while others might need a bit more help to learn how to connect their sleep cycles during the day. Cat naps can be caused by a variety of factors: The sleep environment, hunger, a sleep association, over- or under-tiredness (so tricky!).
So, how do you lengthen these short naps?
Work on Night Sleep First:
Poor night sleep can reinforce short naps, so I always recommend working on night sleep first. Nights don’t need to be perfect, but somewhat predictable: It’s totally fine for your little one to wake once or twice to feed, but we’re aiming to minimize nights with long or frequent wakes. Worth noting: Long night wakings are often (not always) caused by suboptimal sleep schedules during the day while frequent wakings might be caused by a sleep association. Identifying and introducing an age appropriate settling technique is a big step towards removing sleep associations.
Create a Sleep Conducive Environment and Routine:
Make the room really dark (I mean it!), keep the temperature between 68-72 degrees, and use white noise. If you haven’t already, establish a consistent nap routine: it doesn’t have to be fancy or long-winded - just do the same steps in the same order every time.
Avoid Hunger:
Feed your baby 30-60 minutes before the nap to prevent them from waking up hungry. Why not right before the nap? Because we don’t want feeding to turn into a sleep association.
Aim for Consistent Nap Timing:
Once your little one takes 3 or fewer naps, try to maintain consistent nap times. When setting your daily schedule (once, not every day), consider appropriate wake windows for your baby. Maintaining a consistent schedule stresses many families out (and sometimes it’s just not feasible) - I totally get it! To make things more manageable, aim for a consistent start window rather than an exact time!
Proactively Lengthen the Nap:
If your baby’s nap lasts less than 1 hour, help them fall back asleep by, e.g. , shushing or patting. However, for some babies, this support can be more stimulating, so consider waiting 15 minutes before going in, especially if they’re just happily rolling around or low-key complaining.
Aim for 1 hour in Crib:
Aim for at least 1 hour in the crib, even if your baby doesn’t fall back asleep. For example, if they wake after 30 minutes, wait 15 minutes before providing support, and then give them another 15 minutes (with or without support) before ending nap time.
Lastly: Naps can be sooo tricky (much trickier than night sleep for many babies)! It might take a few weeks for your little one to connect sleep cycles. Don’t give up! You got this 💪
