Daytime Sleep or, Napping.

I am often told by parents that their baby does not sleep at all in the daytime. When I ask more questions it usually transpires that the infant does nap, but only under certain circumstances and only for very short periods.

This is can happen for one or more of these reasons;-

1) The parent does not recognise their child's "sleepy signals", so the infant is not given an opportunity to sleep.
2) When the signals are noted it takes too long to get baby settled so the infant goes from tired to second wind, or even to a state of hyper alertness, when there is no way this child will sleep.
3) Over stimulation results in a fretful baby who cannot settle.
4) The need to be held/rocked/patted/stroked or pushed in a stroller in order to achieve sleep.

What are "sleepy signals"?
Babies need sleep when they persistently yawn, rub their faces or pull their ears, close their eyes, or simply start to fuss. When you notice one or more of these sleepy signals you have a small window of opportunity to  get your child to nap successfully.

If your child does not settle within 15 to 20 minutes, and they start to wake fully, abandon this nap time and look for the next time these sleepy signs appear.

The other way to deal with this is to observe how long your child is "happily awake". As a newborn the "happily awake" period is usually long enough to be fed and changed, have a cuddle and then they are done. At 3-4 months a child may be happily awake and interacting for anywhere between an hour and an hour and three quarters. At the end of this period they need to rest and sleep. Knowing this can help you to develop a good routine.

What overstimulates a child?
All children need interaction with people. Plonking an infant on front of a television is not positive interaction. The television is fast changing and the short links are too fast for baby to follow. The changing light patterns which seem to attract them, are too speedy to follow, and tend to over excite the eyes and brain.

Lots of interaction with parents and adults, where the child is expected to take in a lot of handling and exchange can also be just too much. One to one is best to begin with. Any sounds which have big variations in volume and pitch can also be just too much, particularly if they continue for a long time.

Your child's favourite toy is a parent. Someone who will offer soothing conversations both verbal and non verbal. Until the infant can get their eyes to work together, (usually at about 2/3 months), it is difficult to focus for long periods. Strong contrasts are appealing because they are easier to see. Black on white, red on white for example.

Until the age of 2 or 3 years, every child needs some daytime sleep. The amount of sleep in the daytime depends on the age and stage of the child. Even a 4 year old who has had a busy day may opt to have a down time during which they will fall asleep for a short period.

To feel refreshed after a short sleep, it is usually necessary to have two complete sleep cycles. Infants will take a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour to achieve this, as they get older an hour and a half is a good nap, a two hour sleep is even better but a 15 to 20 minute sleep is too short to be useful.

There are a probably as many ways to achieve a good nap as there are babies. Each infant has one or more things which will help them to sleep. Once these have been identified they become useful tools in encouraging your little one to settle.

If you would like help to achieve good naps,  Contact us ;-info@Dream-Angus.com