Posts Tagged ‘infant nap’

In the beginning, your newborn sleeps most of the time and you don’t have to worry too much about naps. Your newborn’s sleep schedule and patterns are highly unpredictable, usually, so it’s hard to tell if she will have 5 naps or 8 on any given day. You’ve just given birth (or partnered the birth), so as long as she sorts out the difference between day and night, you probably won’t stress too much about it, unless she isn’t “sleeping like a baby.”

Once the fog lifts, you most likely want more predictability in your day and so you start focusing on getting your baby on a schedule and getting your baby to nap better, especially if your baby won’t nap. Just when you succeed, things change again and you wonder where you went wrong. It’s a good idea to know just when your baby will start to transition to fewer naps, so you know just how long you can enjoy good sleep before he changes on you again.

Here are your guidelines to the number of baby naps by age:

From 1-4 months, the number of naps your baby takes will be variable, but will hover around 4-5 naps per day, depending on how long his naps are and how long he can stay up between naps. By 3 or 4 months old, she will lean towards just 4 naps, rather than 5.

From 5-8 months, most babies will have three naps per day (though my son had four until after 7 months) . They will start to resist the fourth nap, no matter how tired they are. There are a few babies who will only have two naps at a very young age, but those naps are usually long.

From 9-15 or 18 months, on average, your baby will nap two times a day. Although many people believe most babies transition to one nap at 12 months, the average age is actually 15 to 18 months.

From 18 months to 4 years, toddlers will nap once a day. The age to transition away from all naps varies a lot, from 2 to 5+ years old.

You may want to view and bookmark our sample baby sleep and feeding schedules by age. And, if you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 40 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style. Or, join our Members Area packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, discounts, peer support, and more! It actually costs less to join than buying products separately! For those looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation with support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations.

Happy napping!

Naps can be challenging to get from your baby and sometimes it seems like he just won’t nap. Part of the reason your baby won’t nap is because day and night sleep are handled by two different parts of the brain. What your baby knows how to do at night doesn’t necessarily mean he will do the same thing during the day. Depending on how perceptive he is, the sunlight can keep him up or just playing with the smallest piece of lint in the crib. There is a whole lot of fun to miss during the day!

Another reason why your baby won’t nap is because the drive for your baby’s body to sleep at night is strongest. Our internal clocks strongly push us to sleep at night, but during the day, while our babies are sleepy and they do need to nap, the drive to sleep is not strong enough to make it easy for all babies. This is when it gets frustrating. You might try 45 minutes to get a 30 minute nap. And, you might do this 3 times a day!

When your baby won’t nap it’s most frustrating when she’s cranky because of the non-napping or when she refuses to sleep through the night because she’s so overtired come bedtime that she wakes up often at night, unable to settle. Though there are a few babies who appear to do fine without enough napping, naps are a key component of good night sleep, happy babies, and happy parents.

Most of the time, if your baby won’t nap, it can be solved by avoiding some mistakes that many parents make. Today, I begin offering a new free e-Book called 7 Common Napping Mistakes that discusses the 7 most common napping mistakes and what you can do about them. Just like my other free e-Book, 5 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night, this e-Book is completely free, with no obligation. To get your free copy, sign up here.