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All of us mothers know the importance of rest and baby naps and how much they are necessary for the good development of the little ones, but there are always doubts or even difficulties to regulate naps and maintain a healthy routine.
As a sleep consultant, I realize that one of the biggest difficulties for mothers is getting their little ones to get enough rest during the day. Often, we can adjust the night’s sleep with a certain ease, babies surprise, and when it comes to nap… it’s a real “dance”.
Today I wanted to give some tips on how to stretch these naps to the readers of the Changing Diapers, as nighttime sleep does not replace the rest that children need during the day until 3 years old. In addition, the morning nap has a different function than the afternoon, and babies usually only start napping after 18 months (many just before that). Snooze times vary widely among babies, but to be restorative, ideally, these naps should last at least 45 minutes. Short 15, 20-minute naps can make your baby angry, crying, and very stressed all day.
Let’s go to our tips
– Keep a routine for naps too. The baby needs security and understand that it is time to sleep. Taking an abbreviated nap (it doesn’t have to be anything so elaborate) that shows the baby that it’s time to rest, will decrease his anxiety, making your little one calmer to get to sleep;
– Respect your baby’s nap. We do not need to isolate the environment or stop doing everything while the baby sleeps, but many children are sensitive to noise and will not be able to relax if the environment in the house does not calm down a little. Loud conversations, vacuum cleaners or TV can disturb your baby’s nap.
– Make a diary and notice the time your baby is normally sleepy and try to adapt his routine to that time. They usually have a pattern. You shouldn’t take too long to put your baby to sleep or if it gets past the point, it may start to cry and take a long time to calm down.
– Try to help your child stay asleep. If he usually wakes up after 20 minutes, stay by his side and try to help him get some more sleep. See what calms your baby the most and use the right tool for him to go back to sleep: white noise, pat on the back, a caress on the head.
– The most important of all the tips: if nothing works, it may be that your baby is sleeping many hours during the night. That’s right! A baby who needs to sleep approximately 14 hours within 24 hours of the day, when he sleeps 12 hours at night, will not be able to sleep more than 2 hours throughout the day, and this is often little for him. Assess the amount of time your child sleeps at night because this is often the problem with your baby’s naps . In these cases, it is worthwhile to make some changes in the routine for your baby to sleep a little later or to wake up a little earlier. Everything will depend on how to structure the routine.
Naps are very important for your baby. Having a quality daytime sleep will make your baby calmer, in a good mood for activities and much less irritated. Try making your nap time enjoyable. The routine can be good for the baby and the parents. Patience and a lot of observation are necessary to guarantee a quality nap!
Michele Melão is an infant sleep consultant and baby planner certified by the International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals (IABPP) and International Maternity Institute (IMI), California, and is a partner at Maternitycoach.com.br – a consultancy specializing in various services for pregnant women and babies.
See also: Your Baby’s Naps – 6 Important Things Every Mother Should Know
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
