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By Luma Fawaz
Published on Invalid Date
4 minutes read
Babies and toddlers need daytime sleep to re-energize and sustain themselves until bedtime. Children are learning and discovering new things almost every minute of the day, making for a pretty overwhelming experience! Their brains and bodies need midday rest to recharge and recoup. And let’s be honest—mom could use a moment of quiet, too. In general, well-rested children learn better and are happier kids. And naps will actually help your toddlers and bigger kids get better nighttime sleep. It’s a myth that limiting daytime naps makes for longer and more peaceful nighttime sleep. In fact, keeping your kids up all day and completely tiring them out will usually backfire on you. Regardless of his or her age, if you put an overly exhausted child to bed, you are welcoming early morning risers and possibly a night filled with toddler-sized surprises. Sleep begets sleep begets sleep!
infants don’t have consistent naps. All you can do to ensure healthy sleep habits is to observe your babe’s hours awake. Make sure you don’t purposefully keep baby awake, and look for sleepy cues. Generally, the rule is not to keep baby awake more than 1.5 hours. But watch for your baby’s individual cues. Infants handle sleep differently from one another, and some can’t stay awake for more than an hour at a time. Sweet little bundles. Enjoy the time to catch up on your own needed rest, light housework, or bonding with your older children.
Your baby will start to have a more consistent schedule and the beginnings of organized sleep. Continue to observe sleepy signs to avoid starting a nap too late. Babies sometimes stir and wake at night, even without calling for mama. If he or she has had a disrupted night, sleepy signs might show throughout the day way before you expected them. Take your cues from babe.
Babies often take 3 naps a day and can stay awake for 2 hours at a time. Some babies take three 1-hour naps, while others take two long naps and a third cat nap. According to our biological rhythm, ideal naps at this age occur between 9 to 10 in the morning, and 12 to 2 in the early afternoon. If a third cat nap is desired, the time of day isn’t important; this nap is less restorative in nature and more about baby just trying to make it until bedtime.
It is best to have scheduled down time at some point during the day to help him or her unwind and re-energize.
Hopefully these thoughts will provide maximum rest and energy for your little tyke, as well as giving mom time to fold that massive pile of laundry on the bed. Happy napping!
Luma Fawaz is the mother of three lovely children ages 7, 5 years & a 9-month-old. She is first and foremost a mom! ...but professionally she has been for the last 14 years an Investment Consultant, Luma has an MBA with an emphasis in Finance and a BA degree in International relations and Political science (2001), from the Boston University. Long before she had her own children, Mrs. Fawaz was always interested in family/social therapy which she believed had to start with a well-rested family. Although her children are all now amazing sleepers, she recently found herself positioned to be giving advice and guidance to parents about sleeping, attachment parenting, and sleep routines and felt that some heightened training was in order. Luma is now a Family Sleep Institute certified child sleep consultant, and a member of the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants.
