So you've been watching your baby's wake windows and sleepy cues, you're doing your best to put them down in their 'sweet spot', but what happens once you've put them down, and they weren't ready?
What do you do then?
Don't worry, I've totally done this too!
Okay, but now you have a screaming baby who is clearly not tired...
Once you realize that they maybe were under tired, go ahead and get them up!
Go back to your living area and let them play for a bit, can be anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on your baby's age.
This will help them build up sleep pressure (that sleepy feeling), and be ready to try to nap again.
30 minutes later you're noticing sleepy cues again and you go and do your nap routine again (book and sleep sack), then to the crib!
Give your baby about 30 minutes to try to fall asleep again, and if after this amount of time they aren't sleeping, then get them up and go for a motion nap (car, stroller, carrier).
A motion nap can be short (30-45 minutes, which is a daytime sleep cycle) and that's okay! It got them some sleep which is what they needed.
You can always try again for the next naptime (and consider adding 20-30 minutes of awake time)
Or if it's the last nap of the day, you can always move bedtime up by 30 minutes if your baby is really tired.
What's an 'early bedtime'?
About 6-630 pm is what I consider an early bedtime.
Why early bedtime?
I find that a 6 pm nap tends to be challenging for most families, so doing an early bedtime helps your baby get more sleep and reduces evening crankiness.
Are you having trouble with naps no matter the wake window you're using?
I work with families 1:1 to help them solve their sleep issues.
I recently worked with a family who was doing sleep training on their own and were having some success, except with that first nap.
Their baby was crying +++ and they seemingly couldn't get the timing right.
After working together we were able to get their baby to go down easily for all his naps, and sleep longer than an hour!
Success!
If you're interested in learning more, hit the button below to get in touch!
Here for you,
Melody Patton
