How to Lengthen Day sleep

The dreaded cat nap! Is it possible to lengthen my baby’s day sleep? is a frequent question I hear.

The answer can be yes… and it can be no! 

Basically see what your baby needs. Some may be quite happy to have a number of shorter sleeps in the day. Others very obviously need to have at least one longer sleep because of their behaviour.

If your baby is cranky or unhappy a lot of the time in the day it may be that he or she needs more sleep even if he or she is getting some sleep already.

Here are 3 tips to help lengthen your baby’s sleep time:

1. Catch early tired signs:

 If your baby is going to bed already overtired it is harder for him or her to get to sleep initially and then to stay asleep. This is because they feel yucky from being overtired.  Think about when you are overtired.  It  usually takes a long time to go to sleep, by time you do you feel even more cranky and frustrated because you just want to sleep.

2. Watch what,if any, sleep associations your  little one needs for sleep:

A sleep association is something your little one needs to go to sleep.  As adults we may have a favourite pillow, need a blanket on etc to sleep well.  These are all sleep associations that are helpful. If your baby has a sleep association that is not there when he or she comes into a light sleep, it may prevent him or her from going back to sleep in the next cycle. For example a young baby falling asleep with a dummy and then losing it.

3. Be persistent:

If you can see that your little one needs more sleep, keep at it. Your little one is too immature to decide this for him or herself.  This is where as a parent, it is up to you to seek out ideas, tips or strategies to help, to implement them and to stick with it. Your baby’s age will affect how long it will take to teach something new. A younger baby may not have habits ingrained as much as an older baby. It takes time to form a  new habit which is basically what we are doing. We are teaching something new.  A lot of parents give up too soon.  Keep at it and it will change.

Helping your baby to get more sleep will bring it’s own rewards.  Your baby will be so much happier. In addition you will enjoy him or her even more and you will feel happier that your little one is happier. Babies thrive when they are well rested.