- When it comes to your baby dropping a nap,
timing is everything.
If you do it too early,
it can lead to your baby's sleep routine becoming disrupted.
And by the time that you figure out
that they're not yet ready,
it can be really hard to get them back on track.
Or if you do it too late,
then your baby's automatically gonna try
and do it themselves,
which can lead to a change
in their sleep patterns and routine,
and this will cause you a whole lot of frustration
and confusion.
So, it's important to get the timing right,
which is exactly what I'm gonna help you with
in this video.
The good news is there are some telltale signs
that you can look for to help you identify
if it is actually time to drop a nap.
So, let's talk about what those signs are.
The first sign you wanna look for is your baby's age.
Generally, babies go through nap transitions
around the same time.
So, typically, what you will see is zero to four-month-olds
will have five to four naps in a day
and they have them on demand.
Then, between four to six months of age,
they move to have from four naps a day to three naps a day.
And then at six to nine months of age,
they go from having three naps a day down to two.
Now, this is the most common nap transition
that parents first start to notice
because it's a bit tricky
and generally, the baby
is dropping that final nap of the day,
which is an afternoon nap.
And it's typically a catnap.
Then, between 12 to 18 months of age,
you will notice that your baby
is going to go from having two naps a day
down to one nap a day.
Typically, the average age they drop this nap
is around 15 months,
but they can drop it earlier or need to have that second nap
for a few months to come.
Then, they will have their final nap transition
between the age of two and a half to six years of age,
where they go from having one nap a day
to no naps a day.
If your little one falls between these age ranges
and you notice one of the following changes in their sleep,
then it does indicate that they might need to drop a nap.
But what's important to note
is that these changes in their sleep
need to happen for a minimum of two weeks.
We want it to become more of a trend
rather than just a small blip in their sleep.
If it is just a small change in their sleep patterns
that resolves after a few days or up to a week,
it's more likely that your baby
is going through a sleep regression,
or becoming sick,
or going through a developmental leap.
Now, it is important to know what developmental milestones
that you can expect along their first year of life.
So, do check out the free developmental checklist
in the description box below.
So, one sign that you might notice
is that your little one starts to find it difficult
to fall asleep at a usual nap time.
Now, this is the most common and obvious sign
that babies use to indicate that they need to drop a nap.
And what parents typically notice
is that when they place their baby down for a usual nap,
where they previously fell asleep really easily,
the baby starts to bite that sleep.
So, they might take longer to fall asleep
or they skip that sleep completely
no matter what the parent does
to try and get them to go to sleep.
Now, typically, this happens with the afternoon nap
and it's generally happening
because the baby does not yet have enough sleep pressure
to fall asleep.
So, basically, they're not tired enough.
Their wake windows have expanded
and they no longer need that nap.
Or you might notice that your little one
is finding it difficult to fall asleep
at their usual bedtime.
So, they're starting to push their bedtime
later and later into the evening.
So, they're starting to either play in the cart
for a long period of time before they fall asleep
or they're starting to protest.
Now, this isn't maybe an indication
that your little one needs to drop a nap
and that's purely because that last nap
that they're having in the day
is simply too close to their bedtime.
So, it's not allowing them enough wake time
to build up that sleep pressure required
to fall asleep at night.
Or you might notice that your little one
is starting to wake up earlier in the day.
So, previously you might've had a little one
who would sleep until 6:30 in the morning,
but is now waking at 5:00 in the morning,
ready to start the day.
Now, this is happening
because as your little one gets older,
the amount of sleep that they need
in a 24-hour period reduces.
But if they are retaining a daytime sleep,
then it's taking away from the nighttime sleep.
So, for example, if your little one
only needs 14 hours of sleep over a 24-hour period,
but they're having two lots of two-hour sleeps in the day,
so they're having four hours of naps.
Then, basically, they only need 10 hours of sleep
in the night to get this sleep requirement.
So, this means that they are going to start to wake earlier
because basically, they don't need to sleep anymore.
Or you might notice that your little one
is starting to have shorter naps than usual.
So, some babies who need to drop a nap
may actually keep that nap,
but start to shorten their nap as a result.
So, they might wake after 30 to 45 minutes
when they typically had one and a half hour naps.
And this is because they have enough sleep pressure
to fall asleep,
but they don't have enough sleep pressure
so they haven't been awake long enough
to join two sleep cycles.
So, they're not tired enough to stay asleep.
So, this indicates that they need a longer wake period
and they need to drop that nap.
Now, if you have identified that your little one
doesn't need to drop a nap
and they're not yet going through a sleep regression
or a developmental leap,
but they still have short naps,
then you wanna check out this video
where I talk about the reasons
why a baby may be having short naps,
and most importantly, how to fix it.
Remember to click on that free developmental checklist
in the description box below
and I will see you next week,
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
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