Welcome to my latest blog post which should hopefully help you find the right balance of day time sleeps for your little one. Getting enough sleep in the day ensures that your little one is not overtired and then they will hopefully sleep for longer stretches at night. It seems strange but the better rested your little one is in the day, the better they sleep at night. Sleep breeds sleep!
So with this in mind, how much sleep should your little one be getting in the day, and how will the transition go if your little one isn’t sleeping enough?
The table below gives you an idea of how much sleep your little one needs in the day and how long they can stay awake for. Remember this is an average view of each age range, your baby may need slightly more or slightly less!
Awake windows
Awake windows are the maximum time that your baby should be able to stay awake for. With this knowledge, you can start to work towards either shortening or lengthening their wakeful windows and hopefully picking up their sleepy cues early. Early signs that your baby is getting tired can include disengagement, eye rubbing, pulling at ears and movement slowing down. When babies cry through tiredness, this is the last resort to tell you that they need a sleep!
Although it sounds easy, your baby may show some resistance to their new sleep times if you start to change what they are used to – this is completely normal as they are getting used to a little bit of change. Their nighttime sleep may well regress whilst you are concentrating on the day time naps, however, they will improve once they are settled into a new day time routine. Remaining consistent and responding to your baby when they need you will assist your baby through the change. Some babies can take a few weeks to adjust whereas other babies can adjust in under a week! Every baby is different and it’s not one size fits all when it comes to sleep.
If you are unhappy with how much sleep your little one is getting, I am here to help. Send me your sleepy questions on sleepbykate@gmail.com or head over to the Facebook or Instagram page @sleepbykate