What To Do If Your Baby Wakes Up Early from a Nap
For most parents and caregivers, naptime is the time to either catch up on household chores, work, or even take a snooze along with the baby. But when the baby has a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, this can disrupt the entire flow of the house!
There are multiple reasons why your baby may be waking up early from a nap. They could be teething, sick, or simply not tired! Before you begin to pull your hair out from your baby taking short naps, keep reading to learn what to do to help them have a restful nap.
Why is My Baby Waking Up Early from Naps?
You finally get your baby down for their naptime, and they sleep MAYBE 20 minutes when their normal nap is at least an hour. I think it’s safe that all parents have been there! While this can happen occasionally out of the blue, if it continues to happen, there could be an underlying reason.
Here are a few common reasons babies tend to wake up early from their naps.
They’re Overtired
If you keep your baby awake longer than usual, that means they should sleep longer, right? Not necessarily! Many babies have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep if they are too tired. To avoid your baby becoming overtired, keep an eye out for their age range sleep windows and watch out for sleepy cues.
Developmental Milestones
As frustrating as it is for parents when their little one won’t sleep, it could be because they are learning new skills! When your baby is learning fun new skills such as babbling, rolling over, and crawling, they will not want to sleep. They want to stay awake as long as possible to practice these new skills!
Too Much Sleep
If your baby is getting too much sleep, they of course won’t be tired! As your baby gets older, you will notice that they require less sleep. This means that for a while, you will have to try different schedules to see what works for your baby!
At 12 months old, my daughter had already dropped down to one nap a day from noon-2pm, whereas my son at 12 months still requires two naps, one from 9am-10:30am and another from 1pm-2:30pm. Each baby is different so you will have to tweak their schedule to see what they need!
What To Do If Your Baby Wakes Up Early From Naps
If your baby continues to wake up early from nap times, this usually means that something in their environment or schedule needs to change. Here are some of the most common solutions for your baby waking up early from a nap:
Provide a comfortable sleep environment. If you don’t have them already try investing in blackout curtains, a sound machine, and a fan for your baby’s room. This will keep the room dark, cool, and cozy for your baby to easily drift off to sleep when it’s time.
Change their nap schedule. I mentioned this a little previously, but changing their naptime might be the reason behind them not sleeping! As your baby gets older, they will be ready to play more and sleep less, so you may have to push back their naptime.
Earlier bedtime. Just as you may have to adjust their nap times, you may have to adjust bedtime too! If you put your baby to bed later, this does not necessarily mean that they will sleep later. In my experience, both of my children wake up at roughly the same time every day, regardless of what time they go to bed.
Set a Schedule
Some parents and caregivers may find themself getting stressed that their little one isn’t sleeping and may wonder how daycares get babies to nap. Daycares use specific methods to encourage their littles to sleep! Here are some of the techniques that they use:
Daily routine. Most daycares have specific routines that are done at about the same time each day. This gives children, even babies, an idea of what to expect and when.
Sleep-friendly environment. They are sure to keep the lights off, with perhaps soft music or white noise playing in the background to encourage babies to sleep.
Swaddling and rocking techniques. Surely these daycare workers aren’t all born with a sixth sense of how babies work- right? They use methods such as swaddling, rocking, and rubbing foreheads to coax them into dreamland!
Watch for cues. Daycares keep an eye out for those prominent sleep cues. This could be eye-rubbing, yawning, losing interest in toys, and even red eyebrows! As soon as they see these cues, it’s time to spring into action before the baby becomes overtired.
Sleep after eating. Have you ever eaten a huge meal and felt like you could immediately take a nap? This happens with babies too! Scheduling naptime after feeding is the best way to help your baby go to sleep as they are lying down full and content.
Following even some of these techniques will help your baby fall asleep and stay asleep for their daily naptime.
Keep Track of Naps with Baby Connect
Sleep is important for babies. Babies require up to 16 hours of sleep per day to help their bodies grow, and their minds develop. Without regular napping, your baby may become sluggish and irritable.
If you find your baby waking up early from their naps, it may be time to do some investigating or make adjustments to their routine. Recording what methods you use and when your baby sleeps and wakes up is a great place to start! With Baby Connect, you can track your baby’s wake and sleep windows to help you figure out why your little one is waking up early from their much-needed rest time. Try it for free now!
