You finally get your baby down for a nap only to have them wake up 30 minutes later. You’ve hardly had time for yourself, never mind the list of housework that needs to be done.
This a very common frustration that parents have with their baby’s sleep. Not to mention, babies need naps in order to be happy and to thrive.
Let’s look at 6 reasons why this is happening and what you can do to help.
1. Light
Sunlight and blue light (from phones, TV’s, tablets, etc.) stimulate cortisol production, which can make it difficult for your baby to fall asleep initially and can also cause a full wake up at the end of a sleep cycle (which is typically between 30-50 minutes for a baby). Hence, a short nap.
Try to keep your baby’s light exposure closer to the time they wake up and keep it down as much as possible when they’re getting ready for their next nap.
And make your baby’s room as dark as possible. Invest in some quality blackout blinds, or get creative by using tinfoil, garbage bags, or hanging a dark blanket over the window. Keeping your baby’s bedroom dark is a huge help in ensuring long, high-quality naps.
2. Melatonin
Melatonin is the hormone that helps our bodies wind down and get ready for sleep.
Unfortunately, melatonin production doesn’t fully kick in until nighttime for most people, including babies. That means that the body’s natural “sleep pressure” isn’t nearly as strong during the day as it is at night, which can hinder your little one’s ability to fall asleep quickly at naptime, and to stay asleep for long stretches.
So, we need to find some other ways of building up that sleep pressure. Getting your baby outdoors shortly after they wake up is a great way to do that. Although sunlight stimulates cortisol production, it also increases melatonin production in the evening, which will help baby get a good night’s sleep, and the better your baby sleeps at night, the easier it will be for them to sleep during the day.
And whenever possible, physical activity is a great way to promote better naps. So, get your little one moving around as much as possible. Try to schedule physical activities in the earlier parts of awake time rather than just before naptime. If your baby has just finished active play and you put them straight down for a nap, they’re likely still going to be too excited to fall asleep any time soon.
3. Noise
As you’re likely aware, loud noises can disturb your baby’s sleep. And when they get woken up after a short nap, they’ve relieved some of that sleep pressure we worked so hard to build while they were awake, and that’s going to make it even harder for them to get back to sleep.
Using a white noise machine in your baby’s room provides a constant background to help prevent any sudden and unexpected noises from waking your baby up.
Just remember to keep an eye on the volume level. White noise machines can get ridiculously loud, and it’s not recommended that babies be exposed to noise over 60 dB for extended periods of time.
4. Awake Windows
Putting your baby down for a nap too early can mean that not enough sleep pressure has built up to keep them sleeping long enough. And now your baby’s awake until that sleep pressure builds back up.
On the other hand, putting your baby down for a nap too late can mean that too much sleep pressure has built up, and they become overtired. And when your baby becomes overtired, their brain starts producing more cortisol, which, as you learned earlier, can make it difficult for them to fall asleep initially and can also cause a full wake up at the end of a sleep cycle (between about 30-50 minutes for babies).
So, make sure to use age-appropriate awake windows for your baby.
5. Hunger
I recommend following an Eat – Play – Sleep routine, where your baby has breastmilk or formula shortly after waking. This means that they’ll be alert, energetic, and able to eat until their tummy is full. Depending on the age of your baby, these feeds should be anywhere between 2 to 3.5 hours apart.
For some babies, as they start to get a little older and need more awake time between sleeps, they might start waking up prematurely from a nap due to hunger because too much time has passed since their last feed. This is most common around 5-6 months of age since now they’re awake for 2.5 to 3 hours between naps and may not be getting many (or any) calories from solid foods yet.
If this is the case, offer another feed before naptime, as long as it ends 20-30 minutes prior to sleep. And make sure to keep your baby awake during the feed to prevent any sort of feeding-to-sleep association.
6. Has Help Falling Asleep
All of these recommendations can help, but they’re nothing compared to the improvement you’ll see in your baby’s naps if they learn to fall asleep independently. So, if your little one’s still relying on things like feeding to sleep, rocking to sleep, or being held in order to take a daytime nap, that’s an important issue to address. By helping your baby learn their own skills for falling asleep, they’ll be able to string together two (or more) sleep cycles in a row for a nice, long, restorative nap.
Do you need to talk out your child’s naptime struggles with a sleep expert? Book your free, no-obligation Sleep Evaluation Call here.