All About Naps
Let’s chat naps! I know this topic comes up a lot with parents, and naps can be overwhelming to navigate. It may be reassuring to know that your baby’s nap needs change dramatically in the first year, and with the shifts in their development, there will be shifts in their sleep patterns too. What worked at 6 weeks won’t work at 6 months - and that’s normal! Your baby isn’t broken; they’re just growing. :) Below is a general idea of what you can expect at each age.
Naps by Age
0-3 Months: Newborns sleep a lot, and their sleep can be erratic and unpredictable. Newborns cannot follow a “nap schedule,” but you can help establish a rhythm throughout the day with feeding, wake time, and creating a comforting routine before sleep such as a diaper change, swaddle, and snuggle. At this age, your baby may take 4-6 naps/day, and the length of each nap may vary.
3-6 Months: During this time, babies start producing melatonin, the sleep hormone, and their sleep patterns start to consolidate a bit more. While the length of each nap may vary, you may notice more of a pattern with 3-4 naps emerging during the day - morning, mid-day, and afternoon, with a possible late afternoon catnap.
6-9 Months: Most babies settle into a 2-nap rhythm during this time - with one longer nap in the morning, and one longer nap in the afternoon, with a possible 3rd nap depending on the length of the others.
9-14 Months: Most babies are well into their 2-nap rhythm by 9 months and that pattern continues for awhile until your baby is ready to drop down to 1 nap. Some drop down to 1 nap as early as 12 months, but most babies drop to one nap sometime between 14-18 months.
14/15+ Months: Your baby will consolidate their sleep into one long 2-3 hour nap during the day. Sometimes this transition can be tricky for some babies, and it may take a few weeks before your baby can successfully connect several sleep cycles to get one long restorative nap during the day.
Wake Windows + Sleep Cues
An important element to navigating naps is understanding your baby’s wake windows. A “wake window” refers to the amount of time your baby is awake between sleeps. Wake windows include everything that happens from the time you get your baby up, to the time you put your baby back down for sleep such as feeding, diaper changes, play time, bath time, and even your baby’s wind-down routine leading into the next period of sleep before nap or bedtime.
What’s the significance of wake windows in relation to naps? If your baby’s wake window is too short or too long, this can impact their ability to fall and stay asleep. Identifying your baby’s ideal wake window, or “sweet spot,” can help improve sleep onset and encourage sleep cycle connection.
The recommended wake window for your baby depends on a few things, such as their age and amount of sleep prior to waking. Sometimes when babies are well-rested throughout the day, their wake windows tend to be longer in the afternoons and/or evenings. It’s best to follow your baby’s sleepy cues within an appropriate wake window for their age. Sleepy cues include yawning, redness above the eyebrows, whining, and disengagement. Once you notice one or more of these early sleepy cues, start your baby’s nap/bedtime routine. Below are recommended wake windows by age.
0-12 weeks: 45-90 minutes
3-4 months: 75-120 minutes
5-8 months: 2-3.5 hours
9-12 months: 3-4 hours
13-14 months: 4-6 hours
15+ months: 5-6 hours
Common Nap Challenges
Some common nap challenges I see include short naps, babies who fight going down for naps, and napping on the go. Below are some tips for these common issues parents face when navigating their baby’s naps!
Short Naps
Babies’ sleep cycles can be anywhere from 30-45 minutes. A nap under 45 minutes indicates your baby slept for a single sleep cycle, so we will consider a “short nap” to be anything under 45 minutes. These shorter naps can be common with babies under 4 months because nap patterns really don’t regulate until sometime between 4-6 months old. Naps between 0-4 months can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. That’s normal!
Once your baby is developmentally capable of connecting daytime sleep cycles more frequently, you can encourage your baby to get two full sleep cycles (about 90-120 minutes of sleep for any given nap) by doing a few things:
Ensuring your baby’s wake window is appropriate and that you’re not putting your baby down too early, and not putting your baby down too late. Undertired and overtired babies can have a harder time connecting sleep cycles.
Checking your baby’s sleep environment.
Helping your baby learn how to fall asleep without props such as movement or feeding, so that your baby can fall asleep independently, which can help them connect sleep cycles more easily, and enables them to fall BACK asleep on their own if they wake up during the transition between sleep cycles.
Fights Naps
Does your baby seem to have daytime FOMO and hates going down for naps? This can be common, especially when babies are going through developmental leaps when their awareness and engagement with their environment is more acute. And some babies will just always resist going down for sleep because it’s way more fun to play than it is to sleep!
Establishing a consistent naptime routine can help your baby learn what to expect when it comes time for sleep. Help your baby wind-down and relax before naptime with some books or songs in the nursery where s/he sleeps. Turn on a sound machine, turn off the lights, and create a dark, cool, comfortable space that encourages sleep for your baby. Rock, sway, and snuggle before laying your baby down.
Make sure your wake window is appropriate, and your environment encourages sleep. Focus on full feedings throughout the day so you’re not trying to put your baby down for a nap when s/he could be hungry, or adversely if s/he has a full belly and is uncomfortable. Feeding your baby earlier in the wake window is a good way to ensure your baby has enough energy to get a full feeding, and isn’t going down with a belly that is too full or uncomfortable.
Napping on the Go
Do you need to be home for every nap with your baby? Absolutely not! In fact, I encourage you to get out of the house at least once a day and do a nap on the go - stroller, carrier, carseat, pack n play, contact naps - all are great ways to encourage sleep for your baby while you’re out and about. It’s important for you to get fresh air, exercise, meet with friends, or take your older children to their activities and at the same time, encourage your baby to learn how to sleep in a space other than their crib.
For napping on the go, just try to get your baby to sleep any amount of time during the time you know they need a nap (this is where wake windows can be helpful). Cover the carseat or stroller with a light blanket or cover, to block out distractions and stimulation while you’re out. Bring a portable sound machine that cues sleep and blocks outside noise. All of these tools can help sleep come more easily for your little one while you’re on the go.
