“Amanda – If my baby has a short nap should I be helping them to extend it. Should they be taking long naps!?” – Great question — and you may be surprised by my answer..
NO you actually don’t HAVE to try and extend or help your baby or child nap longer. Not all babies or children take long naps (more than an hour) and there will definitely be times where extending a nap just isn’t necessary and can contribute to a baby sleeping TOO much in the day!
Times where I would NOT try and extend a nap:
- Baby wakes from a short nap, just calling out or happy – this is usually a rested baby. Just get up and get on with the day
- 3 – 5 Month stage – I would really assess whether your baby is sleeping too much by helping to extend their naps in this age range. Many babies in this stage will actually sleep better at night with 3 – 4 short naps then trying to extend them!
- In the late afternoon/evening time – sleep that happens in the evening is very deep and restorative sleep so typically we want this nap to be a cat nap 20 – 40 minutes usually works great in order to get to bedtime
Times where extending naps *may* be helpful BUT is also okay if you just move on with the day:
- Your baby wakes up miserable and falls back asleep as soon as they are assisted
- You are trying to make a nap transition and drop naps so are helping to elongate
All in all — short naps are quite normal; you don’t have to try and extend naps all day every day; some babies won’t even let you help them extend naps and this is OKAY!!
If you are looking for some support with helping solve your SHORT NAP challenges you can book a consult through my website here – SLEEP SUPPORT – and I will help you create a plan to get those naps on track!
