Help! My Victual Won’t Nap!
So your mother, your cousins and your bestie all told you, “Don’t worry well-nigh losing sleep. You can nap when you put the victual down.” Surprise, surprise: your baby won’t nap. They fuss stuff put down, or they will only sleep for a few minutes. What now?
Here’s what a typical victual nap schedule looks like month-by-month, some worldwide reasons babies won’t nap, and what you can do.
In This Article:
- All Babies Are Different
- How Much Should Your Victual Be Napping?
- The Most Worldwide Reasons a Victual Won’t Nap
- How to Get When on Track With Naps
- Baby Won’t Nap? Time to Call the Pros!
All Babies Are Different
While you’re reading this article, remember that every victual is different. Some babies follow a “typical” nap schedule by the book. Others march (and cry!) to their own drum.
Your child’s naps may vary for a few key reasons (see “the Most Worldwide Reasons a Victual Won’t Nap,” below).
But most babies will follow this vital nap “evolution” during their first year…
How Much Should Your Victual Be Napping?
Newborns tend to sleep a lot. Plane colicky or wakeful newborn babies nap multiple times a day. It may take some time for these wake-feed-nap cycles to wilt evenly spaced.
After that time, naps will reduce in number. The length of time your victual naps will moreover transpiration during the last nine months of their first year.
- Newborn – 12 weeks: 16-18 hours/day of sleep, evenly wrenched up between feedings
- 4- 6 Months: 2-3 naps/day; 1-2 hours per nap
- 7 – 12 Months: 2 naps/day; 1-2 hours per nap
The Most Worldwide Reasons a Victual Won’t Nap
Your Victual is Learning a New Skill
When little ones are learning something new, like rolling over, crawling, or saying their first words, they may be increasingly wakeful. That’s considering just like you, a baby’s mind will go over the new skill repeatedly, trying to get it right.
This keeps babies in a state of slight overexcitement until the skill is mastered. Afterward, most babies reservation up on lost sleep with a week or two of longer naps.
Your Victual is Going Through a Growth Spurt
Many babies are fussier, eat more, and are increasingly wakeful just surpassing the parents or pediatrician notice a growth spurt.
While some babies sleep increasingly during times of velocious growth, others react by feeling “jumpy” or overstimulated.
Your Baby’s Routine Has Been Interrupted
If you’ve overly had trouble sleeping while on vacation (or when moving house or starting a new job), you know why an interrupted routine can interrupt your baby’s nap schedule.
Pay uneaten sustentation to your little one during times of change. Make sure you alimony to a bedtime routine as closely as possible, plane while on vacation.
Your Victual is Overtired
It’s true: babies who have overshot their regular nap time might have trouble falling unconsciousness later.
Your victual may need uneaten soothing surpassing nap time until this straightens out. However, try not to waddle or nurse your victual to full sleep, or they will uncork to depend on these steps in order to nap.
Your Victual is Ready to Transition to Shorter Naps
As you have once experienced, life rarely follows an word-for-word schedule like the one above. Babies don’t usually jump from three naps to two longer ones, for example. Things tend to be a little bumpy at first, with your baby’s soul trying to icon out what it needs at each age.
The key word here is transition. Naps may seem irregular for a while until a new, healthy nap schedule is reached.
Your Victual is Having Separation Anxiety
Separation uneasiness can rationalization your victual to want to have you in their vision at all times.
Comforting your child cheerfully and quietly is the way to go. Try to resist the urge to waddle your victual excessively surpassing nap times, or to lie lanugo with them to get them to sleep.
How to Get When on Track With Naps
DO:
- Stay as wifely and confident as possible. Victual will respond to your upset by thinking there really is something to be upset about.
- Nudge your victual toward healthy nap times, but be flexible until things straighten out.
- Pat your victual gently on the when if they cry when you put them down.
- Keep lights low. Use black-out blinds and pediatrician-approved white noise if these help.
- Get your victual up if they are sleeping well vastitude their nap time — say, 2.5 – 3 hours.
DON’T:
- Shame or scold your victual for not napping.
- Rock or nurse your victual until they are fully asleep.
- Pick your victual up without an word-for-word period of time (say, 1 hour) during times of transition.
- Keep victual up later at night to try to “make” them nap increasingly during the day.
Baby Won’t Nap? Time to Call the Pros!
If your baby won’t nap and you’re at your wit’s end, I’m here for you. I have helped thousands of families to teach their babies to get the rest they need.
Tried everything, but your victual won’t nap?
Contact me today!
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