Short Naps
There is nothing worse than getting baby down for their nap, snuggling up in bed yourself to catch up on some much needed shut eye or latest episode of Below Deck, if you’re me and hearing baby on the monitor. Let’s face it, those 20-45 minute naps are devastating to us mamas who want a break for ourselves or need to catch up on other tasks.
If you have a cat napper on your hands (same girl), it’s likely developmentally appropriate. I know this is not what you want to hear, but day sleep doesn’t tend to consolidate until around 5-6 months or once baby is on a two nap schedule.
This doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to tweak some things and see if your precious babe can’t lengthen their nap.
Check the sleep environment and then check it again! Baby’s room should be dark, cool, and have a constant sound machine running. You want to ensure no light or noise is penetrating the room. This can cause an early wake up or for baby to fully wake up between sleep cycles.
Wake windows - keep your eye on wake windows and the clock. After the newborn phase, sleepy cues are less reliable. While wake windows aren’t set in stone, they are great guides to give you and age appropriate range to make sure baby isn’t going down for naps overtired or undertired. (Overtired looks like: difficult to get down or falls asleep quickly and is crying upon waking, whereas undertired babies take a while to fall asleep and wake up early but happy).
Full bellies sleep better. Baby could be waking out of hunger. Make sure to offer feeds frequently every 2-3 hours and ensure baby is staying awake for the duration of the feed.
Utilize a nap routine. Doesn’t have to be long, but having a consistent routine cues baby sleep and separation from you is approaching.
Does baby fall asleep independently? Aiding them to sleep can cause fragmented sleep as they may be searching for assistance to transition them to the next sleep cycle. Allow baby a few minutes to give them the opportunity to fall back asleep.
Want more help? Book a free discovery call with me so we can get baby and you sleeping better!
Best rest is coming,
Sydney