As parents, we love our children but that doesn’t mean we don’t love that much needed break we get when naptime rolls around. Even just that hour or two can make you feel recharged, give you a chance to catch up on some work, or even take a nap yourself because let’s face it, parenting is exhausting! Naps are great, unless your little one struggles to take them. If that’s the case, naps can quickly turn into a frustrating, defeating, battle. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Today we’re talking all about naps.
When taking a look into mastering naps, it’s important to look into night time sleep as well. If nighttime sleep is a struggle, chances are that naps are too. They are very dependent on each other and typically, good nighttime sleep comes before good naps. If you’re sleep training, start with nights as they’ll be much easier to master. While working on nights, get those naps in however you can; car rides, contact naps, stroller naps, etc. Once you’ve had some consistency in nighttime sleep, you can start working on naptime.
Now naps look different at all ages, depending on the child’s age and wake windows. As a child grows, they go from sleeping most of the day as newborns, to developing a pretty structured nap routine (usually around 5-6 months), to dropping down to one nap around 13-15 months and finally, the time parents typically dread the most, no naps which usually comes somewhere around 3 years old. We’re going to take a closer look at what naps can look like at each stage of your child’s life and some things you can do to help improve them.
Newborn (0-3ish months old):
When you first bring your baby home from the hospital, you’ll find them sleeping a lot and that is perfectly normal and necessary for their development. In those first few months your newborn needs about 16-20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. A true schedule most likely isn’t possible and everyday might look a little different. Which for those Type A parents (me!) that can be pretty challenging. Wake windows, or the time your baby is awake between naps, fall somewhere between 30-90 minutes. 30 minutes typically in those first few weeks and you should see them getting progressively longer as they get a bit older. Because their wake windows are so short, it may seem like by the time you change and feed them it’s time for sleep again and that is ok!
At this age naps shouldn’t always be in the “ideal” environment. They can take them with the lights on, TV on, vacuum going, people talking, etc. This will help them establish the difference between day and night much faster. You can contact nap (safely) and try for naps in the crib or bassinet whenever you feel up to it. But enjoy all the snuggles those first few weeks and remember, you can’t spoil a baby. A set nap schedule will come eventually, but for now try to enjoy the newborn phase and take every day as it comes.
3-5 months:
At this age naps should start to take more of a structured form but don’t worry if it doesn’t happen right away. Between 3-5 months wake windows are usually around 1.5-2 hours therefore most babies are having anywhere between 3-4 naps a day depending on the length of their naps. At this age anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours is considered a developmentally “normal” nap. Because of the nap variation at this age, each day may still look slightly different. However, this is the age where babies are typically ready to begin sleep training. If you decide to start, you can work on night sleep first and then use the same training method for naptime down the road.
6-12 months:
This is usually the time where naps really start to become longer and more consistent. Most babies are either on a 3 or 2 nap schedule with most being ready to drop down to 2 naps by 8 months. At this age the ideal wake time between naps falls between 2.5-4 hours and naps typically lengthen to around 1.5-2 hours long. At 6 months you should see wake windows around 2.5 hours and progressively getting longer each month. When you see your little one fighting that last nap or it’s becoming shorter and shorter, it usually means it’s time to lengthen the wake window and drop that 3rd nap. I don’t recommend letting your little one nap past that 2 hour mark at this age. A nap that is longer than 2 hours can negatively impact nighttime sleep. Between 6-12 months approximately 3-4 hours of daytime sleep with 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep is considered ideal.
13-24 months:
Soon after your baby’s first birthday you may notice that their second nap is getting quite short, they are boycotting it all together, or bedtime has become a struggle. If that’s the case, it usually means it’s time for 1 nap a day. During this age around 4.5-5.5 hours of wake time in between naps is considered normal. Their nap will typically fall somewhere around lunch time and last ideally between 2-3 hours. You may see that length decrease a little bit as they approach 24 months so enjoy the long nap while you can!
2.5-3 years old:
Now this is the time that most parents dread. Your child starts boycotting naps all together. It’s completely normal at this age as the 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep that they are getting is enough to get them through an entire day. However, a break from the stimulation in their day still might be needed. I am a big proponent of “quiet time.” When implemented with consistency and firm boundaries it can be really beneficial for toddlers. Quiet time can be 45 minutes to an hour of time where your toddler goes into bed, alone and just relaxes. You can turn the lights off, put the sound machine on, allow them to read books, play with stuffed animals, etc. but they must stay in their bed. If they fall asleep, that’s wonderful, although I wouldn’t let them sleep for more than 60-90 minutes at this age. And if they don’t fall asleep, that’s ok too. They just had an hour of calming, non-stimulated time where they can just relax from the day to day activities and you as a parent just had a much needed break! I find when implementing this it can eliminate a lot of those 4-5 o’clock tantrums you can see due to the long, overstimulating day.
Remember, a nap is a tool used to help both babies and their parents have a happier, better day. It should not be something stressful! Take each day as it comes and if sleep is something you’re struggling with, remember there are resources out there to help. Please feel free to reach out on Instagram @ezzzsleepwithem for more tips and any questions you may have!
