Today I'm sharing my short naps checklist with you! I recently received this question from one of my followers:

"Help! My 8 month old only takes 30 minutes naps! Her naps are always 30 minutes, right on the dot! How do I get past these short naps?"

I get this question a lot so I decided to create a checklist to help parents find the culprit of these short naps.

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#1 Is their napping environment ideal?

⇒Your child's room needs to be dark at nap time. And I mean REALLY dark! It should be as close to pitch black as you can make it. Light signals to their brain that it's time to be awake so we don't want to send those signals if we struggle with short naps.

It takes some effort to get their napping environment pitch black, but I promise, the pay off is worth it! One product that I highly recommend and personally use for blacking out a room is BlackoutEZ Window Covers.

 

⇒You're child needs continuous white noise playing while they nap. This not only helps to block out the daytime sounds within the house (putting dishes away, walking up the stairs, etc) but it also acts as a great buffer to block out sounds from outside the home (neighbor mowing the lawn, dog barking, etc).

White noise provides a continuous, non stimulating, sound that studies show us play a role in helping us fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and connect sleep cycles.

My go-to white noise company is Lectrofan. We own 4 different Lectrofan sound machines in my house! And you can read more about why white noise is a non-negotiable for good sleep here.

#2 Is your baby taking the correct number of naps for their age?

This is important for many reasons. The ideal number of naps for your child's age helps us to balance their sleep needs with their awake needs. If we are offering too few naps throughout the day, it's likely that your child is going into nap time overtired. This state of over tiredness can increase cortisol and adrenaline within their body which will lead to full wake ups after 1 sleep cycle and voila, you've got a short nap!

If we are offering too many naps throughout the day, it's likely that your child is going into nap time under tired. This means they haven't built up adequate sleep pressure to take a longer nap!

 

#3 Is the timing of your naps right?

Not only is the number of naps important, but the timing is as well. It's important to find the right amount of time for your child to be awake between each sleep. It may take some tweaking to get right but once you hit that sweet spot, you'll know!

For a month by month breakdown of nap needs, check out my Short Nap Guide. 

#4 Is it age appropriate for your baby to be taking short naps?

I find that short naps can be age-appropriate until 3-5 months. Definitely as a newborn, you can expect short naps and that is okay! If you've got a child who is 3+ months and you're still struggling with consistent short naps (45 minutes or less) then I'd say it's okay to start working on this checklist to troubleshoot.

#5 Does your child know how to fall asleep without help?

This is the most important piece because if your child is taking short naps, that means they are getting through 1 sleep cycle and then unable to connect to the next sleep cycle. It's totally normal for them to wake up briefly between sleep cycles.

But if they don't possess the skill to put themselves back to sleep without intervention (paci, nursing, rocking, being held, etc.) then they aren't going to be able to connect those nap cycles. If your child doesn't know how to fall asleep without help and you are struggling with short naps, you have 2 options:

1. Go in as soon as they wake from a short nap and help them right back to sleep with whatever you've found to be the most effective (nursing back to sleep, rocking to sleep, laying with them, etc.)
2. Or, you can take this opportunity to teach them the skill of independent sleep!