Sleep is an essential tool in the hands of Mother nature. Not only does she use it to make her best creation- humans- healthier, sleep also serves as a means of promoting growth and development, especially in babies.
Most parents are not ignorant of this fact; so, since they want their children’s growth process to be aced up, sleep appears to be not just the cheapest, but also the most effective method of achieving this aim.
What you Should Know about Short Naps
If you’ve ever had a baby who finds it hard falling asleep but still jerks up after some 30 minutes of sleep, you can tell how frustrating that is. Really, short naps could be frustrating. So, what really is a short nap?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to the definition of a short nap, because, it is actually dependent on the baby. Some babies sleep for 45 minutes but wake up feeling refreshed while others feel cranky, tired and sleepy even after the 45-minute period. If your baby falls into the second category, there could be a problem- and you’ve got to map out ways of lengthening your baby’s naps.
Moving on, this article suggests helpful tips, that when applied, could serve as some form of remedy to the looming problems short naps present. However, it is noteworthy that for newborn babies, it is totally normal to take shorter naps until when they are 3-4 months old. Since they have shorter sleep cycles, and they do not learn how to consolidate sleep cycles from birth, it’s perfectly normal to have these kinds of catnaps.
Once your baby reaches about 5-6 months of age, it is time to begin quipping in some of these tips to lengthen your baby’s naps.
#Tip 1: Understand your Baby’s Sleep Pattern
Every human has their internal body clock, called circadian rhythms- and so do babies. The first step to getting your baby to nap for longer periods is grasping their own sleep rhythm, in relation to your wall clock.
How do you do this? Immediately your baby starts showing signs of tiredness such as yawning, frowning, disassociation from toys and other activities, rubbing of eyes…you should know it’s time for a nap. Act quickly by putting your child to rest.
This way, you begin understanding the periods of time your child needs sleep and secluding the child just around that time.
Since the major reason, most babies don’t have longer naps is because they have not learned the skill of sleeping through more than a sleep cycle, learning your baby’s internal clock would help you create a naptime schedule which further helps your baby consolidate two or more sleep cycles, and sleep for longer periods.
#Tip 2: Prevent Factors that Could Wake your Child
Babies could be overly sensitive to their environment at times- even while they are at sleep. Even though you can’t ensure total silence or create the ideal environment, control the little you can. Reduce the television volume, put your phone on vibrate, and keep the temperature moderate. To keep the temperature moderate and cool you can but the SleepPod by Eight Sleep which keeps your baby cool and sweat-free while sleeping.
Do not leave out the benefits of a good mattress. Luckily, several mattress companies, such as Casper now offer a Hybrid option on all of their beds. This means bye to pressure point pains in your baby. Such little precautions would prevent your child from waking up because of undue reasons.
#Tip 3: A Meal or Snack before Nap Time Could Help
Asides from sleep, food is also essential to your baby’s development. And not just that, food also affects your baby’s shut-eye periods. Even if your baby successfully dozes off, a growling tummy could jerk your child awake. So, fit a meal into the naptime schedule. If you are bootle-feeding your baby make sure that you are providing the appropriate baby formula to avoid stomach aches during the naps.
#Tip 4: Create a Balanced Ambience
Even though silence creates a serene environment that promotes sleep, noise isn’t all that evil. The last thing you would want to do is train your child’s sleep senses to work only in extremely quiet places. So, ensure there are some background noises while keeping them minimal.
This rule is also applicable to the amount of light in your baby’s room. A dim light and drawn curtains, rather than a completely dark environment would be most suitable.