Nap Tips for Any Age
Naps are tough. Period. Unless you are an adult and a nap is a treat, you will have nap struggles at some point with your child.
Here are some sleep tips that can improve naps at any age.
The Ideal Sleep Environment
Yeah – I say that all the time it’s THAT important. But are you using this strategy? I won’t get into all the nitty gritty here since I wrote a WHOLE blog post about the ideal sleep environment here. But below are the key elements to creating the ultimate space to promote sleep.
1. A DARK room. That room should look like it’s midnight even if it’s noon. Dark like you can’t see your hand 5 inches away from your face. Invest in blackout shades, purchase blackout curtains, throw up some inexpensive travel black out shades, use a garbage bag if you have to! Just get that room DARK.
One of the biggest sleep inhibitors is light. Light promotes wakefulness. It stimulates the brain. All the things we don’t want for a nap. At ANY age. Think about how much better YOU sleep in the dark vs. with a light on or sunlight creeping through the window. Really commit to the dark sleep space.
2. Sound Machine. You cannot expect a child to sleep through you making lunch, the laundry going, a phone conversation, etc. Providing white noise drowns out the everyday distractions that are happening outside those bedroom walls. Especially for infants and toddlers with FOMO. Using a sound machine from birth helps recreate the sounds of the womb and calms your newborn. I love and use this sound machine. It is a great grow-with-me sound machine/toddler clock/okay-to-wake clock. Unless you have a toddler who is experiencing fear of the dark/nightmares, etc, do not use any light from the sound machine. Just use a static or white noise setting.
I talk about toddler sleep as it relates to nightmares and the dark in this post if you want more information on how to handle fears.
3. Room Temperature. It might take some Goldilocks-ing to get this right, but a cooler sleep space between the temperatures of 68-72 degrees F are ideal. Keep things like sleep sacks and swaddles in mind when dressing your baby for a nap. And keep the clothes light, breathable and comfortable. Ain’t no one like sleeping in jeans. Get on the cozy clothes!
Sleep Props
If your child has a sleep association, it’s no secret you could have struggles during nap time.
Things like:
Pacifier
Swaddle
Dock-A-Tot
Motion to Sleep (rocking)
Feeding to Sleep
If your child needs any of these “props” to fall asleep, they could experience short naps and nap struggles. Your child will NEED these associations to fall asleep and stay asleep.
I talk about how to break sleep associations in detail in this post about beating short naps.
KEEP IN MIND: Babies 0-4 months of age usually need some assistance in falling asleep. Children 5-6 months might even need assistance to sleep for naps. But if your child is over 6 months old, and is struggling with a nap, consider if sleep props are actually getting in the way.
Basic Needs
No one likes to sleep on an empty stomach or in a soiled diaper. That is NOT comfortable.
The best way to make sure your child is ready for their nap is with a nap time routine. A shortened version of your bedtime routine, the nap time routine takes care of your child’s basic needs while signaling sleep. The nap time routine should take no more than 15 minutes.
Things like a feeding or serving a meal, a burp, a change of the diaper, proper sleep clothing, ideal room environment, etc takes care of your child’s basic needs and sets the stage for slumber.
Pooping in the crib for a toddler is a different story. I will tackle the poop in the crib in the toddler naps post!
Wake Windows
If your child is under the age of 6 months, you will use wake windows and sleepy cues almost exclusively to determine it is time for a nap. Children over the age of 6 months can start to follow a clock schedule. Although that is not to say that wake windows aren’t still important.
The chart below is a great guide for wake windows by age.
If you want to take a deeper look into wake windows and sleep schedules, check out my FREE guide all about sleep schedules for children AGES NEWBORN TO FOUR YEARS. It includes wake windows for every age PLUS sample sleep schedules!
Download my FREE Sleep Schedules Guide here.
Consistency
Another biggie in the sleep world. Consistency in every aspect. The time you put your child down for a nap, (or following timed wake windows by age) the order of steps in your nap time routine, the expectations around sleep (does baby nurse or rock to sleep?)
Consistency IS communication for a child at every age. Consistency creates boundaries, routines, and manages expectations.
You won’t be in nap jail forever – chained to the house because of impending naps and wake windows. In the grand scheme of things, nap jail is short lived. I get it, it’s the longest/shortest time of your life. But the benefits far outweigh the temporary frustration of following a nap schedule. Plus, you’re giving your child much needed restorative sleep to mentally and physically recover, grow, and repair.
I’m passionate about naps. Not only does it give parents some much needed free time to get tasks done, I know it provides children with a slew of other benefits, too. Plus, nap time just improves EVERYONE’S mood!
It’s important to remember that no matter if you are a stay at home parent or a working parent, you won’t always get perfection. My 2-year-old daughter has been a champion sleeper for naps and nighttime sleep since I sleep-trained her at 4 months. But it is not to say she never has a short nap. It’s not to say she doesn’t ever have a random night waking. I can tell you it is extremely rare and usually a sign of something going on… illness, teething, regression, travel. But perfection doesn’t exist. It’s okay to experience a short nap every now and then, that’s normal! But if you struggle daily with naps, the tips above can help you start to identify the culprit for your nap issues and begin to resolve them.
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