Does any of the following sound familiar?

• You’ve spent half an hour getting your baby down for a nap, only to have her wake up after 20 minutes of sleep.
• You’ve spent weeks (months!) trying to get your little one sleeping longer for naps, but nothing seems to work.
• Once in awhile, your baby gives you hope and sleeps longer than 45 minutes in one stretch – but this is inconsistent, and you’ve had a hard time pinning down exactly why they took that longer nap. (Or maybe they used to take long naps, but don’t anymore).

You know your baby could use more sleep – they’re tired and cranky when they wake up from their short nap. You could also use some extra time on your hands during the day, to do whatever it is you need to do.

First, I should explain short naps in the context of sleep science. Just like adults, little ones cycle through stages of light and deep sleep. Depending on their age and other factors, the length of each stage can vary from 20 minutes for young babies to 90 minutes for preschoolers. Little ones are more likely to wake up after one or a couple of sleep cycles, since they are transitioning through periods of lighter sleep. This is most true for kiddos who have not yet learned independent sleep skills (more on that later).

Part of my job involves thinking like a short-nap detective. I help parents figure out the root cause of short naps so we can use a targeted approach to make them longer.

Here’s a sneak peek into just a few of the sleep factors I analyze to help babies take longer naps:

Sleep Environment

One of the easiest and most basic places to start looking is in a little one’s bedroom (or wherever they sleep for naps). Sometimes parents think that babies should take their naps in sun-drenched rooms, with windows thrown open and doors ajar. There seems to be a fear that babies will “confuse” nighttime with daytime if they do otherwise. In fact, after a baby’s day/night confusion has resolved (typically by about 8 weeks old), babies will sleep best in a very dark room, with white noise running continuously during their naps. And I can assure you that they won’t go back to confusing their days with their nights, no matter how much you want to hang on to that squishy newborn phase.

Age & Stage

The methods that work for lengthening naps depend on how old your little one is and the developmental milestones they’ve reached and are working on.

As one example of this, a common observation from parents of babies who are just coming out of the newborn phase is that their little one is starting to sleep longer stretches overnight while also suddenly taking shorter naps. This is very normal at this age, and the approach we take with such a small baby is going to be totally different than the approach for a 7-month-old.

In addition, there are key developmental milestones that can affect sleep throughout a little one’s life. One developmental milestone that sometimes makes parents want to tear their hair out is pulling up to standing. This usually happens at around 10 months old, but can also happen earlier or later than that. Babies love practicing new skills during sleepy time, so you might see your baby continually standing and unable to lay themselves back down. The best thing to do in this case is to give your baby the opportunity to learn how to get back down themselves. I promise that giving them just a little less help each time will help them help themselves.

Schedule

When I say schedule, I really mean following a solid routine that includes age-appropriate wake times. Newborns can handle only about 45 minutes of awake time in one stretch, and this amount increases by about 15 minutes every month until they can handle about 4 hours of awake time by their first birthday (yes, these times include feeding and changing them). This awake time stays stable until closer to 18 months, when they can generally handle about 6 hours before nap and 4-5 hours after. Sometimes parents are happily surprised when just focusing on a baby’s optimal wake times is all that was really needed to lengthen their naps.

Another area to investigate is to make sure your baby is taking the appropriate number of naps per day. Babies are not ready to drop to 2 naps a day until between 6-9 months; and, not ready to drop to 1 nap a day until between 15-18 months old. If you try to transition a baby to fewer naps per day before they’re ready, you’ll be left with an overtired, cranky kiddo who is being forced to stay awake for much longer than they can handle. An overtired baby will not take long naps.

Activity Levels & Stimulation

The amount of activity and stimulation that your baby or toddler gets can also affect the length of their naps. Too much stimulation before a nap and/or rushing into the nap without a calming nap time routine might mean your little one will be too hyper to settle down to sleep. On the other hand, even if you’re following age-appropriate awake times, a baby who has not had enough outdoor air, light exposure and activity during the day might not be tired enough for their nap.

Also, a baby or toddler who spends most of their night getting broken, disruptive sleep will also be difficult to settle for naps. I’m sure it’s becoming obvious to you by now how this can all easily break down into a vicious cycle of sleepless nights and days.

Drooling & Pooping & Sniffling—Oh my!

This is all the extra fun you could never have dreamed up before having kids. Things like pooping during a nap; teething for what seems like weeks on end; snot-a-licious babes who are too congested to sleep; handling sleep while a neighbour’s dog barks incessantly; and, so much more!

Often, we just need to focus on trial-and-error creative solutions to these issues – like achieving a perfectly-timed lunch that won’t make your baby poop when it’s time to sleep.

Independent Sleep Skills

This is the stuff long naps are made of. If you’ve been working on everything else and still getting short naps, it’s time to take a look at how your baby is falling asleep. Are they doing it on their own? Or do they need your help – either a lot of it, or a little of it?

Sharpening up independent sleep skills can make a big difference when it comes to short naps. If your little one is consistently waking up at the end of their first sleep-cycle (typically at about the 45-minute mark) unable to get themselves back to sleep without you, that’s a sign it’s high time to work on this.

Is it possible to get longer naps without working on this? Yes, some babies will eventually be able to do this. But, it’s impossible to know how long it’ll take for them to work this out on their own and in the meantime, it’s unfair to expect long naps from them.

Resist the “Rush In” Urge

Almost as important as independent sleep skills, but often harder to stick to, is a consistent response from you that allows your little one the opportunity to lengthen their naps. If you’ve been throwing up your hands when your baby wakes up from their short nap and rushing in to get them out of their crib, you’re likely reinforcing that short nap.

In combination with tuning up their independent sleep skills, the best response is to wait it out a bit. If your baby is just fussing or exploring their crib, waiting even just a few extra minutes each time will give them some time and space to figure out how to get themselves back to sleep. Sometimes it seems like this approach “isn’t working”, but with time and consistency, this can work very well. But, without first focusing on independent sleep skills, your efforts might actually be futile.

Stay Flexible

One final note about naps. Just when you think you’ve got things under control and working for you, your baby starts to need more awake time – or starts going through one of those harrowing sleep regressions – or any number of different sleep disruptions start to creep in. If you’ve worked on all of the above and they’ve learned to lengthen their naps, though, consistency will be your key through times of change. Just stick to it, stay flexible, and those gloriously long naps will be back soon.