Baby Refuses to Nap?--Five Tips for Better Naps

Blog » Baby Refuses to Nap?—Five Tips for Better Naps

Baby Refuses to Nap?—Five Tips for Better Naps

Posted August 22, 2011

Naps are important. Most parents will agree that naps are not optional -- though it's hard to convince some babies of that! All young babies and toddlers require consolidated, refreshing daytime sleep just as they require good nighttime sleep. When a baby misses a nap or only takes cat-naps the result is a fussy, hard to settle baby who seems always hungry but may only want to suck it's way back to sleep for another cat-nap. Your toddler may become cranky, have a short fuse, and want to be carried constantly. The whole family's balance is affected when a baby won't nap or a toddler stays awake all day. Exhaustion for everyone!

Self-Regulation Think of your napping efforts as helping your baby learn to self-regulate. The ability to self-regulate is a lifetime skill. This skill enables babies, toddlers and children to know when they are hungry and know when they are full. Self-regulation means avoiding overstimulation, knowing when your body is tired, and knowing how to get oneself to sleep independently. It also allows a baby to learn to stay asleep for a refreshing length of time. Learning the art of self-regulate is hard work for some babies. Knowing the importance of this, however, will give parents the courage to step back -- and allow the child the privacy they need to master this skill.

Five Tips for Better Naps

Keep the bedroom cool. Room temperature for optimum sleep is 17-18'. Clever use of fans will help you maintain a cool temperature during naptimes.
Allow the child freedom to cry. Allow your baby/child the freedom to cry when she needs to, to get to sleep or get back to sleep. Crying is a very effective tool your baby uses to get rid of gas and to calm themselves.
Put your child down for a nap 15 minutes earlier than usual. Some babies become overtired very quickly without even yawning or rubbing eyes. They should already be in bed while they still feel good instead of waiting until the fussiness starts. This allows them to go to bed and then gradually come sleepy.
Have a short nap routine. Diaper change, read one book or sing one song while in the child's room, then put child to bed fully awake (not "drowsy but awake" as many books would recommend). Leave and stay out.
Leave your child in bed for most of two hours. Even if a wake-up happens, leave it up to your child to talk or cry in their effort to get back to sleep and finish off the nap.

If your baby or toddler continues to resist taking well-timed naps, I can help. Book a Telephone Counseling appointment with me in September. See available dates below.

Raymond Parenting Services

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Sleep from the Start (prenatal) Thursday September 1,
Sleep from Now On Tuesday, September 6
Setting Healthy Limits Tuesday, September 13 (Discipline seminar)

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Use this link to see available appointment times ($130/55 minute session, plus email follow-up)

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(3) comments

Filed under: Sleep

Comments

Kitty,
This blog couldn’t have come at a better time! My little one (9 weeks) can nap if I nap with her (I don’t help her other than being beside her), but if I put her down in her crib (alone) she will wake up after 30-40 minutes crying. The fact that she can do it beside me in my bed, she should be able to do it herself in her crib right?

Right! However, she may notice your absence and need to protest a while as she teaches herself to accomplish the same thing, on her own. If she wakes after 30 minutes, leave her be to settle herself back down. Keeping this up over time helps her learn.

-Kitty

By Sarah Heric on August 23, 2011

Im a big fan and a past client of telephone counseling (with my first) and your manuals. I really believe in what you preach.
My 12 week old wasn’t napping well so I felt it was time to let her go down awake with all of your standards in place.
1st nap she slept 45/cried for 45 min
2nd nap after 40 min awake time bc she was falling asleep she slept 30/cried 60min.
3rd nap after 30 min awake time bc she was falling asleep in my arms she cried for 45/slept 5/cried 45 more.
DO I CONTINUE, how can she still be awake? Is it corrent to put her back down so soon after feeding/awake time?

It sounds as if all these naps happened (or didn’t happen!) on he first day of nap training. Naps do take more time than nights, so perhaps if you continued the next day and the next, you would have seen some remarkable improvement. I hope so! Also, remember these same practices need to be applied at bedtime and all through the night at the same time as you do naps. One part of the day won’t work without the other.
-Kitty

By D. Hughes on September 1, 2011

I’m a big fan and a past client of telephone counseling (with my first) and your manuals. I really believe in what you preach.
My 12 week old wasn’t napping well so I felt it was time to let her go down awake with all of your standards in place.
1st nap she slept 45/cried for 45 min
2nd nap after 40 min awake time bc she was falling asleep she slept 30/cried 60min.
3rd nap after 30 min awake time bc she was falling asleep in my arms she cried for 45/slept 5/cried 45 more.
DO I CONTINUE, how can she still be awake? Is it corrent to put her back down so soon after feeding/awake time?

By D. Hughes on September 1, 2011

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Blog » Baby Refuses to Nap?—Five Tips for Better Naps