Finding The Nap Sweet Spot Through The Madness

If you have been keeping up with me over the last few months you know I added a third and last baby to our family. I feel as though I blinked and she has just turned 7 months old, and now we are arriving to many milestones and more fun times. If I have not told you before baby number three is a GAME CHANGER! We know feel that our family is 100% complete, but becoming a family of 5 has had many adjustments along the way. 

One point I am still trying to work on and perfect is finding the nap sweet spot. Up until 6 months old I feel the naps can sometimes be hit or miss, especially having two other children, it is hard to work on the nap consistency being on the go so much for the older kids.

Sometimes it feels like a tricky high school calculus problem struggling to find the right answer. I am looking daily at figuring out the nap time, nap lengths, wake windows, being over or under tired, is she still on three naps a day or are we heading for the two-nap system, oh wait now she had 4 small cat naps a day. Can anyone else relate to the madness of naps? I help families daily working to find the right sleep equation to have their little ones sleep on the right track, but it does not mean that I do not go through the same trials and tribulations as my sweet families. 

I am constantly reminding myself to just breathe! It took 9 months to perfectly grow and develop these tiny little humans and finding their perfect sleep rhythm can take some time to adjust accordingly to fit each baby and child’s needs.

There are a few simple things you can do to help find that perfect nap sweet spot for your sweet little one. First, jot down daily some of the sleepy signs and cues you notice when baby is getting tired and ready for their nap. Many times once the baby has started to give these signs they can already be overly tired or to sleepy and can cause naps to be short or inconsistent. Next, if you have noted these signs for the next nap back up the nap time by about 15 minutes, see if you can get baby into the bed before they begin showing too many sleepy cues. Is baby not tired enough, are you trying to put them down too early and there is not enough sleep pressure built enough for baby to have a solid nap? Is baby too overstimulated for their nap, if the answer is yes, you should incorporate a mini nap routine to help calm and relax before entering into nap time mode. This way you will not have a baby that is overly stirred up and too stimulated right before nap time.

Being consistent and reading your baby and their cues is very important when trying to work on nap consistency. Keeping a daily log can be your best friend if you are working to find that one thread that may be throwing off your babies sweet spot for their nap.

I am always happy to chat and help, if your baby is having nap inconsistencies or struggling to find their nap sweet spot, I can help you find the perfect plan and strategies to get their naps on track. You can send me an email at kelley@serenitysleepers.com or checkout my websitewww.serenitysleepers.com