Schedule / Routine
As I first time mom I remember looking down at my infant son, and thinking ‘I was told there would be more naps!’ He was a little guy just doing his own thing. Wide awake. Ready to go. Not a good napper in the slightest. In fact, I read all the newborn baby sleep tips in the world trying to figure his naps out.
Naps can involve a lot of troubleshooting to find out what works well for your child. Babies who struggle with short naps (50 minutes or less) typically struggle with transitioning from one sleep cycle to the next. That is because babies sleep in 45-50 minute sleep cycles, not 90 minute sleep cycles like adults.
If you are looking for baby sleep tips for naps to help your baby snooze longer, try these first! (Note find Part 2 – Baby Sleep Tips for Better Naps here)
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If possible, lay baby down very drowsy but awake.
This is my number one tip for improving sleep in any area. If you can teach your baby to fall asleep independently, then he will eventually be able to put himself back to sleep if he wakes mid-nap. If you’re your child struggles with sleep-cycle transitions, frequent waking will likely be a long-term issue unless the baby learns to fall asleep alone.
There are a variety of gentle methods to help your baby learn this important skill. I share my method in detail in For the Love of Sleep.
Routines and approximate schedules matter.
Create an approximate schedule for your baby’s naps and stick to it the majority of the time. The more consistent you are the more consistently your baby will sleep.
Did you know it’s easy to guess how long a baby will be awake before needing a rest simply by knowing their age? And did you know it’s easy to know how many naps a baby should take in one day simply based on age?
Organized and easy-to-follow, it’s all in a simple chart in For the Love of Sleep.
Choose a good pre-nap routine.
Using a pre-nap routine before every nap helps prepare the baby for sleep. It’s our way as parents to communicate to our baby that it is time to sleep. An example of a pre-nap routine could be
1.) Minimize stimulation 15 minutes pre-nap by playing quietly or reading a book
2.) Take baby to his room and prepare the room for sleep (i.e. close curtains, turn on white noise)
3.) Swaddle and prepare baby for sleep 4.) Snuggle, hugs, kisses and say your sleepy words (e.g. I love you. Have a good sleep).
Whatever you choose for your routine, do the same exact routine before each nap to cue the baby for sleep. Grab your baby routine cards here to start following a consistent routine today…
Ensure full feedings and clean diaper.
This may seem obvious, but eliminating hunger and a wet diaper before naps is often overlooked. Ensure your baby is staying awake enough to take a full meal during feeding times.
Encourage your baby to stay awake long enough to take a full feeding, especially if you are breastfeeding since the fatty, satiating hindmilk comes at the end. This will prevent waking mid-nap due to hunger. And of course, double check for a clean diaper just before starting a pre-nap routine.
Make sure baby isn’t staying awake too long.
If your baby is waking early from a nap, it’s possible he was kept awake too long. A baby becomes overtired very quickly, and an overtired baby is more likely to sleep less not more. For young babies, you will know he is tired when he shows his first sleep cue.
This means when you notice the first yawn or eye rub or fuss, it’s probably time to start preparing your baby for sleep. Young babies have a very short window, in which they will optimally fall asleep. Keep a close look out for the sleepy cues.
Keep the room dim for naps.
Making the room completely dark isn’t necessary. Using mini-blinds or curtains to sufficiently dim the room is enough to encourage the baby to sleep through light sleep and prolong naps.
Print your free baby sleep checklist!
This post comes with a free printable baby sleep checklist to help you support longer stretches of sleep for your baby! Plus, when you grab this printable, you’ll get instant access to my free 3-day baby sleep eCourse.
Download Your Free Printable
- Download the checklist. You’ll get the printable straight to your inbox, plus get my Free 3-Day Baby Sleep eCourse!
- Print. Any paper will do the trick, but card stock would be ideal.
- Place it on your refrigerator. Use it as a quick reference and don’t forget a thing!
Want more on baby sleep?
- My Top 10 Newborn Baby Sleep Tips To Help You Get More Sleep
- The Newborn Routine That Will Help Your Baby Fall Asleep Faster
- Top 7 Challenges + Solutions for Parenting a Newborn and Toddler
- 8 Infant Sleep Facts Every Parent Should Know
Resources for baby sleep:
I've created a free email series just for you! If you are struggling with finding a routine, rhythm or schedule, this email series will help you find one that will work for YOUR family. Yes, really. I've seen my sample routines work time and time again for parents. I know it can work for you too.
This free email series will help you:
- Free sample routines for your child
- Best morning routine tips and tricks your kids will actually follow
- All-time favorite parenting hacks for getting more cooperation at bedtime
- Step-by-step guide for using a printable daily schedule with kids
I’m so happy that you shared this! One of my little ones just cannot seem to get a good sleep! She’s awake a lot during the day, and when she goes to sleep at night, she sleeps throughout the night without a feeding. But, she wakes up every 30 mins to an hour wanting a pacifier. I think what you said about a baby having difficulty changing between sleep cycles may be her problem. Definitely going to give these tips a try! Thanks!
P.S. You should definitely go check out my latest post (And the Award Goes To…)! I think you’ll be surprised!
Thanks Chelsea! I’ll definitely check it out!
These are wonderful tips! My daughters were fantastic sleepers as infants, helped hugely, I think, by the fact that they had established sleeping schedules before they were released from the hospital.
Doesn’t sleep make all the difference, Sadia? We just love sleep in our house, and I’m thankful everyday we were able to help our son sleep well. Thanks for visiting!
I find that running a humidifier really helps. I think the background ambient noise is soothing.
I whole-heartedly agree with you, Rebecca!
I love the concept in theory. However, our baby will be starting daycare where they don’t have sound machines and have bright lights. Taking those out of the sleep routine, do you still feel the drowsy to sleep concept will work? Our daughter is 7 weeks old and we are very interested in a good nap schedule so we can spend quality time with our 3-year old son during the baby’s naps. Also, any suggestions on how to get the baby used to random outbursts from a toddler?
Hey Colleen! You’re right, these tips don’t fit every situation. If she’s going to daycare, they probably have a system they like to use and will stick to it. There’s a good chance they may encourage the babies to fall alseep drowsy but awake because they can’t tend to every baby at the same time. I’d love to hear about your experience and what they end up using as a method. I know there is a theory out there that babies exposed to a lot of noise while sleeping will sleep through anything. I personally believe that is a myth. Some kids are lighter sleepers and some are deep sleepers. If your baby is waking from random toddler outburts (I absolutely relate) the only thing I can recommend is to use white noise in the baby’s room, attempt to lull her back to sleep if she wakes, or allow her to get up and try again for a nap in an hour or two. I know this sounds overly simple, but do what works for you. Go with your gut. You have an awesome mother’s instinct, and in my experience, your gut feeling is usually what is right for your family.
Lauren
So I’m trying this and she’s able to put herself to sleep!!!. If I time it right, it’s quick and painless. If I’m a bit too early, it will take a few times of me going in and shushing and patting. Also doing this with bedtime and it’s helping in me being able to spend some time with my toddler before his bedtime. For anyone reading this, every baby is different and you need to find what works for your baby. Not sure if our first would have taken to this- he was a much more cuddly baby. With our second, she just didn’t seem like she wanted to be held and rocked which is why we tried this drowsy method.
I don’t think we’re completely there yet as there have been a few 20 minute naps and she won’t go back down. This makes for a very fussy eat and play time then we start the routine again. In your experience, how long will it take for baby to wake during sleep cycle changes and put self back to sleep? I can handle the 45 minute naps but the 20 minute ones are killers (and frustrating!). Oh, swaddling is still a must at 9 weeks for her with her reflexes and hoping that she’ll transition out of that before she goes to daycare (January 2). Thank you for your encouragement!
You are so welcome! I’m glad you are finding some successes. Sleep is a journey with many ups and downs. Keep working at it and you will get there 🙂
My son was pretty bad sleeper. I needed to rock him to sleep, feed him at night a few times for a long time and his naps lasted for 15-20 minutes. Because of so short naps he was tired and sleepy all day. My sister told me about the HWL method from ebook “How to teach a baby to fall asleep alone” by Susan Urban ( http://www.parental-love.com ). I was tired and didn’t know what to do so I decided to try it. After a very short time, it was 3 or 4 days, my son started to nap for much longer and he finally was well rested. We got rid of night feedings and he was able to fall asleep on his own without rocking. He even started to sleep in his own crib after 9 months of co-sleeping! Every parent should read this ebook. Only a dozen or so pages and such great results! Great help
Judith! This guide saved us! Thank you for mentioning it. Took us 4 days to teach our daughter to fall asleep on her own. Thank you so much, it made our life much easier!
Worked for us so quickly! thanks for saving us 🙂
It worked like a charm with us! I’ve looked and read quite a few on baby sleep and this is THE BOOK! practical, quick read, with all the info you need to know to get a baby to sleep, so helpful! a must for any new mama doesn’t even have to be your first!!!!
Our first child was not a great sleeper! This guide had awesome tips! I would recommend this book to all new moms!
That’s the guide I used lately! I really like how quick it was to have an effect. And without CIO – they say it’s impossible and with Susan Ubran it really is!
For us it was just 4 nights with this method and all the sleeping problems solved! And Ben is not an easy sleeper. Never was. This method is amazing.
But yes – we also have our pre-nap routine – that’s a good point!
My husband sent me this link, and I’m trying it out right away! Our 6-week old son slept BEAUTIFULLY the first 3 weeks of his life, and the last three weeks… have been rough. 😉 Does anyone have any advice on how to ease into the napping schedule? He falls asleep drowsy but wakes after about a half hour to an hour and thrashes around in his swaddle, grunting like he’s frustrated. He’s a kicker! 🙂 I’ve tried shushing him back to sleep, but it only lasts about 5 minutes at best when it works. Should I just end the nap there and start again with the next, or start the process over again, maybe- picking him up and lulling him back to drowsy? Thanks so much for any advice!
I’ve been looking all over the Internet for sleep help with my (almost) 6 month old son. He’s had horrible sleep regression/sleep issues for the last three months. Granted, when he was born, he was (and once in a while will still have bouts of) withdrawal symptoms from medication I had to take during pregnancy. These cause restlessness, difficulty sleeping, leg vramping, and sometimes light digestive issues. They’re pretty rare these days though. In addition to the regression and symptoms, he’s having a hell of a time teething and has had THOSE symptoms since literally two weeks old. All of these combined is making it IMPOSSIBLE to deal with his sleep habits.
I’ve tried everything I can find from cutting naps during the day, to the drowsy but awake thing, all the way through pre-selected routines and all kinds of sleep methods. Nothing is working.
Any advice for this sort of unique and definitely frustrating situation is welcomed!! 🙂
One of the few articles that has all the tips about baby naps. Great read. Thanks for the article. I also came across another website whattoexpect.com which has pregnancy-related articles. Hope this helps your readers too. 🙂