COMMON CONTRIBUTORS TO SHORT NAPS
Short naps can be such a pain point for parents
So how do we know when we should try to do something about it versus to simply go with the flow?
What can contribute to these constant short naps?
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AWAKE TIME
If your baby doesn’t have enough awake time, they might not require a long nap. They may wake up after one sleep cycle, appearing completely content and ready to get on with their day.
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TOO MUCH DAY SLEEP OR READY TO DROP A NAP
If a baby is getting too much daytime sleep or is ready to eliminate one of their naps, some or all of their naps may shorten. Regardless of how we adjust awake windows, they still seem to max out after a brief nap. If this is occurring and they are at an age where dropping a nap is appropriate, it might be time to consider it!
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NOT GETTING ENOUGH CALORIES IN AWAKE TIME
If your little one isn’t feeding well during their awake periods or is only snack feeding, they might struggle to go a full two hours without feeling hungry again, especially if their last feed offered was at the start of their awake window.
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HABITUAL
If your child is a habitual catnapper, rarely sleeping beyond one sleep cycle, and we consistently get them up when they wake, we may unintentionally reinforce their body clock to maintain this pattern of short sleeps.
5. SLEEP ASSOCIATION
Sleep associations can hinder your little ones ability to sleep for long periods. If they can't self settle. If your little one is reliant on some form of assistance to fall asleep, like rocking, feeding, bouncing or a dummy, this may be contributing, to your short naps. When they rely on something to fall asleep, it makes it difficult to stay asleep without the same assistance to go back to sleep between sleep cycles.
If your little one takes short naps throughout the day but sleeps soundly overnight, this might just be their natural rhythm. There’s no need to force longer naps if they are managing well and content with their overnight sleep. Sure, having more than 30 minutes to yourself would be wonderful, but if your natural catnapper is thriving, just embrace it, but if the catnaps are kicking your butt, then by all means you can start to help teach your bub how to resettle and consolidate those catnaps.
So how can we try to encourage longer naps if we know bubs needs it?
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Look at your little ones awake windows and check if they are firstly, age appropriate and secondly, have they been on the same awake window for a long time and maybe they’re ready for a slight increase
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If you’re close to a typical nap transition age and naps that were once going well are now short, it may be time to drop that nap! Our routines guide is amazing for troubleshooting this.
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If you have a little bub who is feeding often or at the start of their wake window, they may wake out of hunger. Giving a top up feed and resettling is ok! You can also try a quick top up feed before a nap (not too close to going down as we don’t want them to lose sleep pressure)
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Our body clocks establish a daily rhythm; if we continually get our little ones up after a short nap, we could be reinforcing their body clock to only take short naps. To break this pattern, try some resettling techniques with your little one to encourage them to go back to sleep (keeping in mind that all the above factors need to be in working for these resettles to be effective.
- By teaching them to self settle we can then work on teaching them to resettle and say bye bye catnaps. Our sleep guides have all the tips and tricks to get you started.
Need help with all of the above? Book in a consult with one of our team so we can work through it all with you and find what works for your bub!
