Cat naps

Having a baby that cat naps can be a struggle.

It can leave you exhausted and may seem like your baby is not establishing a good, solid sleep pattern.

Not all babies will sleep the same.

Every baby is different and this includes their individual sleep patterns.

A cat nap is if your baby has short naps, up to 45 minutes. Some babies may even sleep as short as 20-30 minutes and wake.

A cat nap means that a child is not quite finishing their sleep cycle and wakes.

If  you attempt to get your baby back to sleep when they initially wake and it doesn’t appear you will have any success in getting them back to sleep know you are not alone.

It can often be problematic to get a baby back to sleep and resettle them. It takes a lot of perseverance and time.

They may feel rather recharged even after such a short nap.

As a baby grows and develops their sleep needs and sleep routine will change.

You may not be stuck in what may feel like the cat nap hell forever.

However, there are steps you can take to assist in overcoming the cat nap cycle.

• Persevere with trying to get them back to sleep. This will generally only have success if you have been able to catch them as they wake as the more you can do this more often the faster you will be able to get them back to sleep.
• Understand your baby’s cues and their need for sleep. If a baby is overtired then they may not sleep well and just cat nap.
• Take note of their routine. Some babies sleep less naps for longer periods whilst other babies sleep shorter naps but may have more of them.
• Try to keep the routine once you have found one that works best for your baby as much as possible. Routine is very important. Of course, this requires flexibility. It needs to be achievable. A routine is not possible to followed rigidly.
• If need be rethink the routine for sleep. If you assist your baby to go to sleep such as a pat or a rock to sleep then when they are tired and cranky and wake they may not know how to go back to sleep by themselves. Perhaps finding ways that help your baby to self settle or self soothe to lead them into being able to go back to sleep on their own if they do wake up after a short nap.
• Look at the environment. Do they sleep differently at night to day or are they a cat napper all the time. If the answer is either then you look at where they are going to sleep. Ask yourself such questions as are there too many distractions? Is it too light? Is it too noisy or alternatively too quiet? In general babies rest best in the same environment for the day and the night.
• Depending upon their age perhaps start thinking about whether it is time to drop a nap. If they are going down and constantly waking early from the afternoon nap then they may be moving from two naps to one and getting their overall sleep needs in the one nap. This will generally mean that the one nap is longer. Children start to change their day time sleep habits around 12-18 months and go to one sleep per day.
• The same then can apply in the younger age between 3-6 months if your baby’s napping three times a day. Babies are typically ready to drop down to two naps at this age. Although your baby will be sleeping slightly less overall once she makes this transition, her remaining naps will likely be longer as well.
• Be aware of how the period of time your baby has been awake between sleeps. This ties in with being alert to their sleepy cues as well.