Can a Baby Who Catnaps Be Well Rested

Information technology happens to all parents, right? We lay our baby down to sleep, and then side by side…WAAAAAHHH. Your baby woke early from a catnap. The baby monitor is lighting up, letting yous know that your infant'southward nap is apparently over. Darn, a catnap!! You have tried everything and are coming up empty when you attempt to find solutions for your child's cat naps.

Parenting is weird because we hold our babies so tightly and swear through the snuggles that we will never put them downward. So seconds subsequently after putting them in their crib for what we optimistically hope volition be more than a true cat nap, when nosotros have moved over to finish a chore or start-up Netflix, (because let's be honest, the surest way to accept your baby wake early on due to catnaps is to go comfortable) your babe wakes-up and lets you know she is officially a catnaper. Nosotros love our babies, but the catnapping is causing mamas and caregivers grey hairs everywhere.

In fact, many days, parents everywhere are like, I surrender. She volition sleep when she's older. What tin can I do to help my catnapping baby?  Have you lot had these same desperate thoughts? I know I did. I'd bet that you lot totally get information technology. That'southward why I am sharing the solutions I fall back on when my client's children need nap support. These are my become-to's when I begin troubleshooting sporadic naptimes, and I hope they help you experience re-inspired to solve your baby'south naptime trials today.

What do yous consider a brusque nap?

Hither's the deal, I would consider catnaps anything less than 45-l minutes. Have you ever heard of the 45 minute intruder (peradventure you lot "Babywise" mamas are enlightened of this term)? This is a mutual slumber intermission that happens when your child struggles to connect between sleep cycles. Nosotros all accept various stages of sleep and during naps our body can enter into lighter stages of rest which tin crusade brief awakenings. As worn out adults, we normally stir in our sleep lightly so roll back over to keep sleeping. Your child however is far more excited virtually the world around them. A brief waking for them might mean PLAY Fourth dimension. Simply, mommy knows best – any nap nether 45-50 minutes is LESS THAN IDEAL.

Are short naps bad for my baby?

When I consult with families, I first endeavor to understand their household sleep goals. I rarely try to place bug that my clients haven't discussed as a business concern. Tin you approximate what I am going to say? I have never had a family who wants their baby to go on taking catnaps all day. That is absurd – information technology's evident that a infant who only takes brusque snoozes does not wake-up restored. These babies often wake-up cranky and evidently tired even so. I hateful, wouldn't y'all exist cranky if y'all couldn't get adequate residue?

Short naps can fuel unusual sleeping patterns for the remainder of the twenty-four hour period. And ( selfishly!!) these tiny naps don't allow mama much opportunity to get anything personal done.

Do babies grow out of taking catnaps?

Aye, at that place are some instances where babies tin outgrow the "catnap" stage. Newborns are NOTORIOUS CATNAPERS.  In fact, h ave you always heard of cluster feeding? Kelly Bonyata (BS, IBCLC) suggests ( hither) that cluster feedings more often than not happen in the later part of the day, effectually dinnertime. These additional evening feedings can aid your infant fill upwardly their nutritional tank. Ms. Bonyata suggests that these top-off feeds might encourage longer stretches of sleep at night. And lots of feeding, ways your little catnapper is up off-and-on all evening, snacking before bedtime.

So, in guild to feed well during the mean solar day, your newborn might exist waking often to fill his or her caloric tank. This is an important office of your newborn'due south survival machinery. The more than your newborn wakes to eat, the sturdier he becomes. Can you see why catnaps might be adept in this case? If your newborn slept all solar day and rarely woke to eat, then you would have a trouble on your hands. Or at best, would be awake even more at night offer the fill-up milk buffet.

'Will it be like this forever?" HECK NO! Your newborn should somewhen start to gain weight steadily and effectually 5-6 months y'all can wait for your baby's naps to start condign more than predictable . I can hear you newborn mamas maxim information technology already – "but wait, does that hateful I merely give up?" No, your newborn yet needs a lot of sleep!! This only ways that if your newborn is waking-up less than 45 minutes into a nap, then you should encourage him/her to get back to sleep.

Take heart, you have a perfectly normal newborn. Fighting your newborn's propensity for short naps will simply lead to discouragement. Instead, embrace the development of your kid and utilize the opportunity to sneak into the room and snuggle your sweet baby. The dishes can wait, at least for an hour or two.

For parents of newborns needing sleep guidance, I take a newborn slumber consultation package to assistance. I consult with y'all i-on-one and show you methods to calmly encourage your babe towards good for you sleep – and I use this time to remind you that newborn catnappers are NORMAL.

And at this signal yous are all thinking - okay lady, get to the point..."How do I encourage my baby to terminate taking catnaps??!"

Ahem, well here goes...

1) Ensure baby is sleeping soundly at night.

I know this sounds similar the "judgey" mom comment that comes upward in every play group. And hear me out, your worth as a parent does not come from how well your infant sleeps at night. Got information technology?! I wish I could look you in the eyes and make sure your soul believed that to be true….however, if your infant (6 months and older) is waking up during the nighttime, and so naps may not fall into place just yet. Sleep develops in stages and dark is (usually) the first step your babe volition make towards anticipated sleeping patterns. Of course, some babies don't ever play past the rules. If your babe is still very immature (nether 6 months) and waking-upward for night feedings, then catnaps are normal and to be expected still. Hang on mama, your time for mid-forenoon Netflix breaks will come soon enough.

2) Monitor your babe'south sleep schedule

Your baby might be undertired

When working with clients to institute foundational sleep patterns, I e'er ask them to show me their babe'south sleep log. When I begin to pour over these sleep reports, I often run across something stand-out in the baby'southward sleep schedule that gives me a inkling.

Now, as much as I believe a parent's instincts are always right, I notice that babies have a certain knack for confusing you almost their next naptime. You meet, around 4-6 months of historic period…if babies aren't given enough awake time, they Will TAKE A CATNAP. Yeah, yous heard me. Your baby woke up in the forenoon, so started to rub his eyes an hour subsequently. Yous have been conditioned to lookout your newborn for sleepy cues. So as any cautious parent would, you follow your instinct (and the advice you hear plastered everywhere online), then lay your baby down for a nap before he gets overtired. You are quick to offering a nap and, of grade, pat yourself on the back. Simply wait, thirty minutes later the discouragement sets-in. "Man, I was certain he was tired this time!" However, a baby's bodyclock can throw out some really confusing sleepy cues. A baby who is accepted to beingness laid down - with likewise short of an awake time - may yawn and rub his eyes, then fall comatose fairly easily, but….STAYING ASLEEP is a different story.

And for my biggest word of precaution......the morning nap fools ALMOST EVERYONE. Don't forget to keep your babe upwardly for the appropriate wake window.

Your baby might exist overtired

Okay, you think...now she'south desperatley covering ALL the options. What a thorough resources, right?! But, it could be the true reason your baby is waking early from a nap. I remember thinking equally a first time parent, "hmmmm, my baby woke early on from a nap. She must non be tired?" (< Do you detect that question marker at that place? I was clueless. I had no idea why my baby was waking early at the fourth dimension. It's okay not to take all the answers). So, you know what my I did? I kept her upward forever! Then it began, the Hamilton house catnap fiasco.

When babies are allowed to play too long in-between naps, their cortisol levels (yep, that's the stress hormone) start to rise. To keep things simple, this means your child becomes wired. You will about probable see your kid fight harder to get to slumber for the nap, and y'all will likely have a catnapping infant on your hands. As your child's hyped-upward body struggles to connect sleep cycles, their mid-nap waking begins and doesn't resolve in more than sleep. An inevitable catnap occours.

3) Keep track of when your baby eats.

You might exist wondering, "Could information technology be possible that my infant is waking-up from naps considering she is hungry?"

• I like for newborns to feed on-need whenever they are showing signs of hunger. Eating at least every ii-3 hours.
• Healthy babies who are iii-half-dozen months may start to stretch feedings to approximately 3-hr intervals during the day.
• For healthy babies half-dozen months and upward who begin solids, information technology is possible to alternating solids and milk feedings. Every 2 hours (or and then) might work, offer milk when your baby wakes-up and having a solid meal or snack sometime earlier going back to sleep once again.

Sometimes a *top-off feed or snack should exist offered correct before your baby goes downward to sleep, to ensure that his tum is nice and full before nap. If you are unsure which eating patterns you lot should follow during the day, information technology does vary by age. Since your infant goes through frequent developmental leaps, I help one-on-one with meal scheduling when clients book a baby sleep consultation.

*A quick suggestion about top-off feeds: try to go along your baby awake if y'all are offering a top-off canteen or nursing session before naps. That'south right, even a couple of minutes snoozing during a feeding like this can "take the edge" off your child's slumber drive. This can result in a couple of unlike bug, either a baby who fights going to sleep for nap, or, a baby who falls asleep beautifully, but takes (you lot guessed information technology) catnaps.

four) Identify what might be changing between "drift-off" and stirring.

This is one of the easiest solutions for me to explain, and yet it is the hardest modify for parents to make in their child'southward sleep routine, and understandably then. If your baby is falling asleep with something specific present, so it is possible they volition non exist able to fall back to slumber without that aforementioned "prop" once more.

Permit me provide an instance…Motion NAPS

If your infant falls comatose with movement, (ex. riding in the car) when your child hits a light stage of sleep (usually 45-50 minutes into their nap), he is likely to wake-upward and find any differences. You know, like when the car ignition turns off…your baby is probable to popular awake from a nap. Why? Because something changed.

When she went to slumber, she was on her manner home from Target being rocked by the sway of the vehicle and the white dissonance of the road. When she woke up, she was parked in a dark garage and the auto was silent. Mom tried to conserve some gas, yeeessh woman. Are you with me yet? Your baby fell asleep with motion. She woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep when she noticed that the car was shut off. What an observant little gal!

Okay, that was an easy example, right? It isn't quite equally common for babies to be reliant on a automobile ride as their only "prop" for falling asleep. So, let me try a harder i. This is where I might lose yous.

Stick with me - THE PACIFIER.

Let'due south say your vi month onetime baby is used to falling comatose in the crib with a pacifier. Usually a few minutes into deep sleep those sweet picayune lips fall open and "thump" goes the pacifier on the mattress nearby. The problem? Your young babe likely does non have the skills when waking to search the crib, replace the pacifier independently, maturely recognize "Hey, I'1000 still tired so I improve not take a short nap!" And so, y'all know this adjacent role – the inevitable catnap!! Your infant cries for help. That pacifier was nowadays when your babe fell asleep, and at present she is upset considering she tin't get back to sleep without it.

Now, t his isn't me saying that its time to ditch the pacifier, at to the lowest degree non exactly. Nevertheless, if your baby has no other sleep associations that would help her get right back to sleep...this could be one of your catnap culprits. Don't shoot the messenger.

5) Inspect your baby's sleep environment.

Is the room too bright?

Did you know that daylight plays an important part of our sleep rhythm? The sun coming up in the forenoon cues our torso that morning has arrived, and dusk helps our body beginning secreting (isn't that such a pleasant word?) melatonin.

Melatonin is the hormone that is responsible for sending "sleepy signals" to our body. Lite stimulates our trunk and encourages wakefulness. This tin can be problematic however when light is creeping into your child'south bedroom during nighttime or naps. Your curious infant may exist stimulated by the light itself, but at that place is a whole world of interesting things for your curious babe to watch and explore around the room. That's correct, its time to put the handmade etsy mobile out-of-sight and merchandise it in for a applied set of blackness-out curtains.

As a dominion, your child'due south nursery should be "cavern dark". Instead, pull out a re-create of your favorite nursery book – I recommend goodnight moon, duh – and try to read it from a pes away. Can you lot see the outline of the book? If so, your baby's bedroom is not conducive to sleep. When the nursery is too bright, the risk for catnaps increases exponentially. Don't autumn into the trap of thinking that you will "spoil your baby" past darkening the room. Nope, become crazy with it!

How can yous darken your baby's nursery? Let me tell you my favorite budget friendly alternative for blackout curtains. Promise not to laugh at me. Put aluminum foil over the windows. Trust me, information technology works like a charm. You tin also become roller blinds (I like these ones from ikea). Toss out any nightlights in the room. Put blankets around the doorframe to go on hallway lights from bleeding into the nursery. (okay – I'll acknowledge, I accept done this. I'grand crazy near good for you sleep. I won't gauge you if you get crazy about preventing your baby's catnaps.)

How is the noise?

A white noise auto may help past drowning out some of the peak noises that occur throughout your home. Here is where I see mistakes happen...don't use any timer features that close your white-noise auto off.  Because, remember tip #four? The one about paying attention to avoiding changes during your child'southward nap? Well, if your baby falls comatose with white noise, she needs to wake-upwards to white dissonance. Keep the sound machine on constantly.

Is your infant comfortable?

Consider offering a sleepsack to your infant, if you haven't already done so. This option is condom for your child, helping avert entanglement in whatever blankets. This option also provides a comfort object for your infant to snuggle up to. Go along in mind that an ideal nursery temperature is betwixt 68-72 degrees. Do y'all know when my oldest girl took her first ever two-hour nap? It was when I put her downwards for a nap in a sleepsack for the first time. I don't this was a coincidence that she failed to take her usual catnap on this day.

6) Encourage your babe to connect sleep cycles.

In that location are a couple of different techniques available for encouraging babies to take longer naps. This is the gist of it – when your baby but takes a catnap, consider it your chore to encourage a longer nap. Now that you know catnapping is not ideal for your baby, then discover a loving fashion to help your baby connect those sleep cycles. If you have washed the piece of work to troubleshoot all of these hang-up spots mentioned higher up, then the side by side footstep might be guided sleep back up for your kid. My favorite option is a prissy snuggle "sesh" to assist your babe get some more zzzz's.

Ultimately, trust your parenting instincts. If your child is suffering from overtiredness, then it might be time to accept steps towards helping your infant improve sleep and resolve catnapping tendencies. Yet, at the end of the day, if you lot still aren't sure how to do it alone, I'g available to help and would dear to exist your babe's sleep consultant.

Tell me more in the comments. Practice you take a catnapping baby?!

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Source: https://www.slumberandswoon.com/catnap-baby-short-naps/