I have a 3 month old, and since she was 1 month old she has not had more than a 25 minute nap. She has 4-5 10-20 minute naps every day. I just wanted to know what I could do to lengthen her naps during the day.

While every baby has his or her own biological clock, there are strategies parents can try to modify sleep patterns. You might want to consider purchasing a copy of Elizabeth’s book, The No-Cry Nap Solution.

There is a very common question! Here is a short piece from The No-Cry Nap Solution that may be helpful.

Cat-Naps — Making Short Naps Longer
By Elizabeth Pantley, Author of The No-Cry Nap Solution

Is your child a cat-napper? Does your baby fall asleep being fed, while in a car seat, sling, rocker, or someone’s arms? When transferred to bed, does your baby then sleep 30 to 50 minutes? That’s the exact length of one sleep cycle. These factors combined define the main cause of mini-naps: an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep without aid – your baby wakes fully at the end of the first sleep cycle, resulting in a too-short nap. I refer to this problem as One-Cycle Sleep Syndrome (OCSS). This leads us to understand the reason that many babies are cat-nappers and also directs us to potential solutions.

Cycle-Blender Naps

One way to help your baby sleep longer is to put him for a nap in a setting that will lull him back to sleep when he wakes between sleep cycles. Cycle-Blender naps occur in slings, cradle-swings, rocking cradles, or baby hammocks. Any of these can help cat-nappers extend their sleep time because when Baby begins to awaken the rhythmic motion can lull him back to sleep.

You can also create a Cycle-Blender nap in a stroller. Take a daily walk outside (it’s good for both of you!) or bring your stroller in the house. Walk your baby until she falls asleep, and then park the stroller near you. If she starts to move about, resume walking or give her a bit of a bounce and jiggle.

Once your baby gets used to taking a longer nap in the stroller, you can make a transition to bed naps. Start by reducing the movement, rolling slower and for less time. After your baby is asleep, park the stroller, using the jiggle if she wakes mid-nap. Over time, let your baby fall asleep in the stationary stroller parked next to his crib, and when the nap habit is in place, change to naps in the crib.

Create a Sleep-Inducing Bedroom

To encourage longer naps, keep the sleeping room dark so bright light doesn’t keep him alert between sleep cycles. To soothe your child through sleep cycle changes, use white noise (a recording of nature sounds), or relaxing music. Keep this on all through naptime. This creates a sleep cue and will mask noises that can wake a child who is shifting through sleep cycles.

Build a Better Bed

To entice your baby to have a longer nap, recreate the crib into a cozier nest. Use softer sheets, such as flannel, plus a thicker, softer crib mattress pad. You can also warm the bed surface before naptime with a towel fresh from the dryer (remove this and test the surface before laying your baby down.)

Make the Bed a Familiar Place

Let your baby have several play sessions in his crib during waking hours. Stay with him, engage his interest and introduce a few new toys. Let him see you as a part of the crib experience so that he gets a happy feeling being there. This way, when he is put in his crib for naptime and wakes up mid-nap it won’t be a lonely, foreign place, but one that carries familiar memories of fun times with you. This can help him accept it as a safe place for sleep and allow him to fall back into slumber after that first sleep cycle.

Interpret Signs of Tiredness

If you put your child for a nap before he is tired, or when he is overtired he won’t sleep as well as when you hit that ideal just-tired moment. Observe your child for signs of tiredness, such as losing interest in toys, looking glazed, becoming cranky, or slumping in his seat. Put your child for a nap the moment you see any sign of fatigue. If you take note of the time that this occurs over a week you should see a pattern emerge. This can help you set up a daily nap schedule that suits your child’s tired times perfectly.

Gauge time spans between naps

In addition to signs of tiredness also watch to see how long your child has been awake. Children can only stay happily awake for a certain period of time until they receive a biological pull towards a nap. Once that “pull” begins your child becomes fatigued and his cheerful mood begins to deteriorate. Each child has unique sleep needs, but this chart shows the typical span of time a child can stay happily awake:

Age Awake time span
Newborn 1 – 2 hours
6 month old 2 – 3 hours
12 month old 3 – 4 hours
18 month old 4 – 6 hours
2 year old 5 – 7 hours
3 year old 6 – 8 hours
4 year old 6 – 12 hours

Keep in mind that children grow and change and their nap schedule should change with them. What’s perfect today may be different than what is perfect next month. Keep your eye on your baby and on the clock.

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From The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems by Elizabeth Pantley (McGraw-Hill, January 2009). Here is the link for information and more excerpts: http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/

My 5 1/2 month old son is a good sleeper at night, generally. He goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 most nights and will normally wake for feeding between 4 and 5am and then is up between 6:30 and 7:00am. He does sporadically ‘cry’ in the middle of the night, but typically not something his soother won’t fix (perhaps we need to stop accommodating this?) However, during the day he naps for 30 minute TOPS at a time.

I tried encouraging him, intercepting him before he fully wakes up, letting him cry and work itself out for a bit.. nothing works!

I read about how kids are supposed to have naturally developed their nap times (i.e. 9am and 1pm) but my son is nothing like that. He naps for 30 minutes and usually within 1.5-2.5 hours. I worry that he’s not getting enough sleep. There are times he wakes up and yawns and is still tired and I’ve even tried leaving him alone, but then other times, he’s all smiles and is fine for the duration til the next nap. Help! I don’t know what to do.

My 9 week old has been catnapping on and off since he was 4 weeks old. He has never been aided to sleep, is it that he needs more awake time? I am now keeping him up for about 2 hours. He sleeps all night as well.

Melanie, I would not be concerned about catnaps in a baby that is sleeping all night. As long as you baby is growing well and is content when awake, I would let him set his own sleep schedule.

Hello,

My almost 6 month old son is a wonderful sleeper at night. He’s asleep by 7:40 and wakes up in the morning around 7-7:30. I sometimes watch him in the monitor and he moves around, rolling from one position to another. But he’s asleep.

Naps are my problem. He’ll only nap about 45 minutes in the morning, maybe an hour if we are lucky. Then he goes down again in the afteroon, about two hours after his morning awakening when he starts to get tired and he wakes up 40 minutes into his nap. Sometimes I can rock him back to sleep or if I put him in the swing, he’s out for another hour or so. I’ve been putting him in his crib now for over 3 months for naps. And he’s been in his crib for nighttime sleep since one week of age.

Any suggestions on what to do when he wakes up 40 minutes into his nap. Should I try to get him back to sleep or just forget about it. I feel like I’ve been trying to get him back for over two months now and it doesn’t seem to be changing anything. Probably two days a week he’ll nap a solid two hours in the afternoon but that is a rare occassion.

Any thoughts, please send them my way.

My son is almost 6 months as well and will only nap for 30-45 min as well, and I have tried everything!!!! he sleeps pretty good at night moves alot and wakes for his sassy a few times, but is down by about 8 and up at 6 or 630…. He is a really happy baby other than teething! Hopefully as he gets older he will nap longer and get more of a schedule?!

My daughter is 10 weeks old. She sleeps great at night (7:30-6:00) with only a couple of night time wake ups for a feeding and will go right back to sleep. About an hour after waking up, she will take her morning nap for about 3-3 1/2 hours. After that, they only sleeping I can get her to do is 30 minute cat naps about every hour. Please help!! I don’t know how to help her. She also only wants to take her naps in her swing.

My son is almost 5 months old. He has a bedtime routine and sleeps great at night (8-7) with 1-2 wakings for a feeding. He falls asleep on his own at night and can put himself back to sleep at night. However, he is a horrible napper. He only naps between 30-45 minutes at a time and therefore requires 4-5 naps in a day! I know this is way too many naps for his age and want him to consolidate his sleep into 3 naps. If he were happy when he woke up from these naps, I would be totally fine with this. But, he wakes up crying very often. I can get him back to sleep by rocking him when he wakes up…but he won’t fall back asleep on his own (even though he knows how to fall asleep on his own!). Any suggestions?

My 4 month old son can sleep 8-11 hours at night. His night time routine is bath, breast, bottle (have to supplement) then bed. He then sleeps for night after being put down asleep. Also, he only naps for short 30-45 naps during day with an occasional 1-2 hour nap, inconsistently though. Also, he likes to really rest/sleep while nursing.

Lately, he’s started waking after bed and crying to sleep taking anywhere from 25 min to 2.5 hours to go back to sleep. Also he seems overtired a lot during day.

What should bedtime routine look like and how do you put a sleepy, yet not overtired child to nap??
Help!

It’s hard to give specific guidance without knowing more about your baby. Is he gaining weight appropriately? Has there been any change in your schedule that might be influencing his schedule? Is he exhibiting any signs of illness.

Bedtime routines vary depending on each family’s schedule. For some babies, bedtime is early evening and includes the bath, breast, bottle that you describe. For others, feeding comes first followed by bathing, rocking, singing so that babies learn to fall asleep without relying upon breastfeeding. Sometimes when babies go through growth spurts they awaken during the night to eat (this can last for several days or weeks before those babies return to their previous pattern of sleeping through the night). As babies get older and become more aware of their surroundings, they may have more difficulty going back to sleep after they awaken. Usually, you can calm your baby by rocking him or rubbing his back or tummy. A baby that is truly hungry will exhibit feeding cues such as sucking on fingers or fists and rooting (turning his head toward your breast and opening his mouth) and is unlikely to calm easily without being fed.

Every baby is different and routines often change along with the needs of the baby. Trust your instincts and watch your baby–if one approach doesn’t work, try another. There is no good, better, or best routine, only the routine that works tonight!

My 3 year old will still nap but some days it takes over an hour for him to settle down enough to fall asleep.

He wakes in the mornings between 6.30 and 7am and goes to school 5 days a week from 8.15 to 12.30. I start the nap process between 1 and 1.15. Most days, if he’s not asleep by 2.30, he comes downstairs. I’ve adopted the practice of not letting him sleep past 3.30 so that he’s ready for bed when we put him down (between 7.30 -8pm).

However, today he fell asleep at 3 (he got a late start on ‘quiet time’). I would still like to wake him at 3.30 but wonder if I’m doing more harm than good by waking him after only 30 minutes. What’s a good rule of thumb??

Also, is my policy of ‘giving up’ if he’s not asleep by 2.30 a good practice?

It sounds like the plan you have in place is working well, so I wouldn’t recommend any changes. I certainly support your policy of ‘giving up’ if he’s not asleep by 2:30. The fact that he doesn’t nap everyday suggests that he is transitioning toward giving up his nap altogether, but isn’t ready to abandon it quite yet. Waking him after a 30 minute nap sounds fine, as it allows you to maintain his nighttime routine.