Naps

Naps can be the hardest part of sleep training. Naps usually bring stress to the parents and discourage them in their journey. I spend the majority of my time helping parents work through their doubts and the majority of those doubts come when nap training isn’t going as they planned.

Naps are hard because they take a long time to consolidate and they require A TON of consistency in order to get them to click.

Naps are harder because:

• Naps are erratic at first. One day your child may go down easy for naps and nap well while the next day they fight going down and cry or fuss for every nap. That can get exhausting quick.

• Less sleep drive. Sleep drive during the day is significantly less than at night. Our sleep cycles sync up with the rise and fall of the sun every day. When the natural sunlight hits our eyes it sends a signal to our brain to release cortisol to help wake up our bodies and to keep our bodies moving. So that sunlight during the day makes it harder for our bodies to relax. Hence, why it’s so important to have the appropriate sleep environment.

• Limited Time. We have 10-12 hours at night to help get our littles ones from protesting to sleeping so it’s easy to see success. However, to keep the day schedule on track we have to limit the amount of time we spend working on their naps (2 hours max).It’s possible the first three to seven days of nap training won’t yield any results. This lack of ‘success’ discourages parents.

• Naps happen after night sleep consolidates. You have to get their night sleep in a good position before you can expect naps to work.

• Parents don’t prioritize naps. It’s common for parents to think naps aren’t necessary and therefore they don’t put as much time and effort into nap training. Naps play a crucial role in how well your child will sleep at night as well as how they behave and adapt throughout the day.

Tips to consolidate naps:

• Make their room dark. To help offset that lower sleep drive we need to make sure their room is light-free. Light, even a little, can prevent your child from winding down and falling asleep.

• Limit your interaction. Remember, we have a much smaller window to work with so it’s important to make the most of our time. Sometimes a parent’s presence can make it harder for a child to fall asleep. Either they get excited each time you visit or they get more upset. If either of these happen it’s best to limit your interaction or eliminate it completely. This means you might need to leave your child to cry; don’t worry, crying does NOT cause any harm to your child. Check out the benefits of sleep training and the science tied to it.

• Consistency. Children, and all humans, crave consistency. It’s what gives us stability and security in this world. Children are constantly looking for a pattern or sequence. Once they can detect a pattern they start to feel secure. Consistency is key when working with children.

• A consistent nap schedule. That means they need to nap at the same time every day as much as you can make that happen. Children have times when they become naturally sleepy: 8:30/9 and 12/1. It’s called their biological nap times. Try aiming for these times everyday. Sometimes we can’t because life happens (dr. appointments, traveling, daycare, etc) but it’s important to prioritize naps as much as you can. 

• A Consistent waketime and bedtime. Setting a consistent wake time helps keep our day schedule on track. And when our day schedule is on track we can be assured our bedtime will stay on track as well. Consistency also helps our bodies naturally get tired. 

• Expect a minimum of 2 weeks. Depending on age and the strength of their sleep associations it can take up to 4 weeks before naps consolidate. When parents have the appropriate expectations they are less likely to get discouraged or abandon the plan.