4 Reasons For Short Naps (And How to Fix Them)

Oh the dreaded short nap…

You’ve gotten your baby down for her nap, emptied the dishwasher, returned a few texts, switched the laundry and are juuuuust sitting down with your afternoon coffee and a book when you hear her wake. Another 30 minute nap? you think. “Why?”

What Counts As a Short Nap?

 A short nap is typically a nap that is less than 45 minutes. Most babies have sleep cycles that range from about 40-50 minutes. If you notice that your baby always wakes up exactly 43 minutes, 49 minutes, or 51 minutes after falling asleep, you know their individual sleep cycle length! Sometimes babies will only sleep 20-30 minutes for a nap, which is not even one full sleep cycle. Let’s learn about why this happens.

The Main Reasons for Short Naps (and their fixes)

Here is the thing about short naps, there are LOTS of reasons for them.  That’s what makes determining their cause so difficult! Here are a few top reasons:

1.      Your baby is not tired enough.

I know the internet loves to talk about overtiredness and adrenaline being the reason why babies don’t sleep well. It’s true that overtiredness can sometimes come into play. But, it can also be the opposite problem! Your baby might not be tired enough to take a full nap. How do you know which one? One clue is this – when your baby wakes after 30 minutes, are they waking up happy and ready to play, or are they crying and upset? If they are waking up cheerful after 30 minutes, they might need a longer wake window. If they are waking up fussy, they might need a shorter wake window or another schedule adjustment.

2.      Your baby is sleeping too long at night

Wait, what? Can a baby actually sleep too long at night? It is possible! If your baby is sleeping over 12 hours at night (even if they are still waking for feedings), then they might need some help shifting some of their “sleep budget” to the day time. Start here – establish a daily wake time. For many babies, a good daily wake time is around 6:30 or 7am. Some babies will wake to feed in the early morning hours and then go back to sleep until 9 or 10am. If this is you, adjust slowly 15-30 minutes at a time. Once you have a daily wake time, a nap routine may naturally fall into place. If it doesn’t, and you have questions, book a free consult here and we can troubleshoot the schedule together!

3.      Your baby can’t connect sleep cycles

This one is a biggie! If you’re rocking or feeding to sleep and it’s working for you, great! However, if your baby is waking after 30-45 minutes, it might be time to help them learn to fall asleep independently. Once they can fall asleep on their own, they can more easily transition between sleep cycles and take longer, more restorative day time naps. And, once they learn this skill, they will often wake less or not at all during the night! This is a big skill to learn, and many parents like to have some coaching on how to go about teaching this skill. It is really helpful to have a step by step plan and a sleep consultant to guide you through this process. I’m with you every step of the way! If you are done googling and wondering, go book a sleep package and we will get started ASAP! Many parents see big improvements in just a few days.

4.      Your baby is still very young

If your baby is younger than 12-16 weeks, they are still a newborn! It is totally normal for newborns to take 20-30 minute naps. You can of course begin to teach good sleep skills even in the newborn period, but don’t worry about your baby taking naps on a strict schedule. Some parents are very anxious to get into a good routine, and I understand that! However, if your baby is still in the 0-16 week range, give it some time. If you do want to learn how to begin to work toward a sleep routine, feel free to book a troubleshooting call and we can talk through it. If you’d like support throughout the newborn period, you can book my newborn package. I’ll walk you through laying a healthy foundation of sleep skills step by step!

 *Bonus Reason*

Sometimes, we actually WANT baby to sleep only 30-45 minutes. This is especially true if your baby is on a 3 nap schedule. Oftentimes, the third nap falls in the late afternoon or early evening. It’s usually best if this is a shorter power nap. It’s basically a bridge to get to bedtime! However, if ALL of your baby’s naps are only 30-45 minutes, you might need a few adjustments!

Need Some Help?

If you’re not sure where to begin, a mini coaching call is a great place to start. Many families greatly benefit from this one-time, 20 minute call. If you decide you want more in depth guidance, and want to book a full sleep package, I deduct the cost of your mini call! Please feel free to reach out to me anytime if you would like to know which of my services would be most beneficial to you.

Happy napping!