12/05/2024
THIS IS WHY LONGER NAPS AREN’T HAPPENING ⤵️
I get it, you want your baby to sleep longer than 30min because you’re exhausted 🥱
Oh girl, I’ve been there 😣 My baby was a specialist at taking short naps. It was 28min on the dot, no matter what I tried. So trust me when I tell you I know how you feel! But also trust me when I tell you it can change!
If your baby is younger than 4-5 months, this is completely normal for them to have short naps (less than an hour).
Around 5 months old, naps start to consolidate and you can expect your baby to sleep 1h30 to 2h (sometimes more!).
When your baby is around 5-6months old, they have the ability to sleep longer ( 👉🏼 results of the 4 month regression!) so you can expect naps to be AT LEAST 1h.
If that is not the case though, here’s what can be the cause:
1️⃣ The sleep environment is not right. If your baby’s sleep environment is not optimal for good sleep, it will interfere with it. Make sure your room is dark! Babies should start napping in the dark around 2months old because they start being more interested in their surroundings.
2️⃣ They wake up out of hunger. Always offer a feed 20min before the nap to avoid them getting hungry while they sleep.
3️⃣ They need something to fall asleep. That 30min mark correspond to one sleep cycle. When your baby needs something to fall asleep initially like rocking or contact with the mom, 80% of the time they will need it to fall back asleep between sleep cycles. So if it’s not there, they will wake up and ask for it. When they are newborns, it can be easy to save the nap but as they grow older, saving the nap can be tricky.
4️⃣ The schedule is not optimal. When the schedule doesn’t follow your baby’s needs, your baby can be overtired or undertired. Both can lead to short naps!
👉🏼 Download my free sleep schedule guide right here: https://littlesleepybear.com/guides
