If you are a parent, chances are you have experienced short naps at some point or another! They can be exhausting and frustrating and can totally burn you out on contact naps. We have all been there! Many families struggle with short naps so do not feel like you are alone in this!
But why do they happen? There are five main reasons for short naps and in this blog post I will discuss each of them as well as their solutions.
Let’s dive in!
Cause #1 for short naps: Your Baby Is Younger Than 5-6 Months of Age
Okay…I know this is a very annoying answer, but short naps can be developmentally appropriate! Before 5-6 months of age, your baby’s wake windows (the time they are awake before they need to sleep again) might not be long enough for them to build up adequate sleep pressure for them to take a nap longer than one sleep cycle which is about 30-40 minutes. This is normal! Another reason is if your baby is taking four or more naps a day still, some short naps are normal for them to save sleep time for other naps.
Solution:
This doesn’t mean you can’t help your baby start lengthening naps! When they wake early, go in and try to soothe them back to sleep by offering shushing, your touch, gently jiggling them, etc. If this doesn’t work, you can help them extend naps by holding them for the rest of their nap. You can try to transfer back to the crib or bassinet once they are back asleep however this often isn’t successful because once a significant amount of sleep pressure has been relieved, babies aren’t super motivated to stay asleep when you put them back into their sleep space.
Ultimately if you have a younger baby waiting for them to get older, their wake windows to lengthen, and for them to transition to less naps might be what needs to happen for naps to lengthen.
Cause #2 for short naps: Their Day Time Schedule Needs Adjusting
Wake windows are the amount of time your baby is awake before they need to sleep again.
If you haven’t checked a wake window chart to see what the average windows are for your baby’s age, they could either need more or less time in any given wake window for their naps to be longer. Both an over tired (too long of a wake window) and an under tired (not long enough of a wake window) baby will not be able to fall asleep and stay asleep very easily!
Solution:
If your baby’s wake windows are not long enough, their naps will be short all day leading them to being pretty cranky! Parents may feel uneasy about extending wake windows when their naps are already short and they are in such a crabby mood all day. But their baby truly needs the bump in awake time for naps to lengthen. It isn’t unusual for babies to appear tired at their old wake windows. You may need to help them stretch to their new windows in the beginning of an increase by changing up the activities often, going outside, doing a “house tour”, etc.
On the other hand, if your baby’s windows are higher than the average for their age, they could be overtired which is causing the short nap! If your baby is extremely fussy and difficult to get down for the nap in the first place and then they wake up 20-30 minutes into the nap mad, this is a good sign they are overtired. Try decreasing to lower wake windows to help their naps improve!
Cause #3 for short naps: Dependent Sleep Props
The one prop that instantly comes to mind that can really cause fragmented naps is pacifiers! If your baby is falling asleep for their nap with their pacifier, when they rouse at the end of the first sleep cycle and their pacifier has fallen out of their mouth, they will call for you to come replace it! You might be able to sometimes go in and replace it and they will go back to sleep and other times they might just be up.
Solution:
The best solution for this is to stop offering the pacifier for sleep altogether. You can still use it for soothing during the day or for on the go naps when you really need to help them get to sleep.
Another option is to go into their room a few minutes before they usually wake and replace it to try to prevent them from waking and being able to transition right into the next cycle.
Cause #4 for short naps: Environment Needs To Be More Conducive To Sleep
In the early weeks of your baby’s life, they can nap easily in daylight with activities happening around them. However, as they start to come out of that sleepy newborn phase, babies (and everyone really!) have a much easier time falling asleep and staying asleep when their sleep environment is pitch dark (think as dark as a cave, so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face after your eyes adjust), the temperature is cool and comfortable, and there is white noise going to soothe them to sleep and block out any exterior noises that could wake them prematurely.
Solution:
Darkness is essential to helping babies fall asleep. It signals to their brains that it is time to sleep and it blocks out visual stimulation to help them settle. At the conclusion of one sleep cycle when they slightly wake, if there is any light peaking in, this could prohibit them from getting comfy and just connecting into the next sleep cycle.
If their room isn’t a comfortable temperature this could also make it difficult for them to fall asleep and sleep past one sleep cycle because they are simply too hot or too cold; both of which are uncomfortable!
If you don’t utilize white noise, you risk any loud cars passing by or household noises prematurely waking them.
Day time sleep is a lot lighter than night sleep. There is no sleepy hormones present helping them have that drive to go to sleep and sleep for a good chunk of time and they also don’t have a full day’s worth of awake time logged yet to fill their sleep pressure tank and motivate them to sleep. Optimizing their environment will give them the motivation to sleep longer than one sleep cycle!
Cause #5 for short naps: Baby Needs To Become More Independent With Sleep
If you have checked off all of the previous four causes for short naps, then you are left with your baby most likely needing to be more independent with sleep!
What this means is that they are going down for their nap in their own space without any assistance from you. This is an important piece to having naps elongate; if your baby is used to having a lot of help getting to sleep (this could look like feeding to sleep, rocking to sleep, you provide constant touch while they are in the crib, etc.) when they wake at the end of one sleep cycle they might be looking for this same assistance in getting back to sleep or they simply won’t fall back asleep because they have relieved enough sleep pressure to not be motivated to go back to sleep even if they really need more rest!
Solution:
Start implementing a sleep training method at bedtime first and then eventually for naps as well once they have a few nights under their belt. This will help them learn to fall asleep completely on their own so when they slightly awake after their first sleep cycle, they will feel comfortable rolling over, getting comfy, and falling back asleep during their nap.
If you're frustrated with the short nap situation and unsure of which reason to start working on with your little one, join our membership for personalized advice from certified sleep consultants without breaking the bank!
Author:
Hey there, I’m Kenedie! I am the owner of Full Bloom Sleep where I help families find better quality rest. Most importantly though I am a wife, a mom of two little ones (4 and 2 years old), a Christian, and a lifelong Alaskan!
My favorite thing about getting to help families in their sleep journey is that everyone’s situation and goals are unique to them. I enjoy getting to know each of them and tailor their sleep plan specifically to them to help them implement sustainable sleep habits in a way that feels good for them and empowering them with knowledge about their child’s sleep to give them confidence going forward after services.