Our Napping Breakthrough

It's finally happened.  Today our little lady took a three hour nap!  The cherry on top was it was at the same time our son takes his afternoon nap.  I took time to clean out my closet!  It was really a surreal day.

With both children the days of sleeping all day went out the window at about six weeks of age.  From then it's a struggle until a day like today.  It starts out where the infant can't sleep any longer than 30 minutes.  A 30 minute nap isn't long enough for most babies to feel their best.  It takes the edge off their exhaustion but they need longer periods of sleep to feel rested and happy.  I don't recall the exact time which our son started taking longer naps, but our daughter is just barely three months.

My technique was once the baby was having trouble sleeping longer than 30 minutes in any location (I kept her out in her bassinet in the living room for the first few weeks), I started to put her down in her crib. I'd close the blinds, and swaddle her just as if she was going down for the night.  Both going down for a nap and going down for a nap started with pats and bounces until she dozed off.  Now both routines go swaddle and pacify.  Being able to put yourself to sleep is a very important skill for a baby, and once they have that down things get easier and easier.

The trick is knowing your baby's routine and knowing the signs of when they are tired before they have a breakdown.  For our three month old she is able to tolerate no more than two to three hours of awake time. So, I keep track of when she wakes up and around two hours from then she's either already a bit fussy, or she will be soon so I watch her.  I also don't nurse her to sleep for naps or bedtime.  I make sure she eats, and she's burped adequately before I try to put her down.  Sometimes her fussiness at hour two is just hunger and not exhaustion.

Lastly, napping during the day does not necessarily correlate with sleeping better at night.  Kids need naps to function.  Plus, the more they sleep the better it is on their fast growing body and brain.  Granted, a long nap just before bedtime can create a challenge for that evening, but a three hour nap in the afternoon might be just what they need.  Again, following a routine that includes monitored periods of awake time has worked the best for our kids.