4 Facts About Naps

Have you ever wondered why babies sleep so much during the day in the newborn phase? We know sleep is so important.  We feel it as an adult, but for some reason, we naturally have a more considerable emphasis on night sleep than day sleep.   What if I told you that skipping a nap was like skipping a meal?

    This is something my mentor repeated to me several times when we spoke about naps.  And you know, what?  It’s true.  Naps are so vitally important to a child’s development. My name is Mica. I am a certified sleep consultant and founder of Rested Mama, Happy Baby. I wanted to share with you these interesting facts about naps:

4 Facts About Naps

1. Naps are mentally and physically restorative:

    This is true for the first two naps of the day.  The first nap of the day is used for mental restoration, where memories and cognitive processing peak.   The second nap of the day is physically restorative and helps with gross motor skill development. 

2. Naps feed the body:

    Naps feed the body emotionally to avoid overtiredness.  As much as the first two naps are restorative, the rest of the naps, especially as newborns, become "sleep snacks" to help hold your child over until bedtime.

3. Naps vary:

    For newborns to infants (under 12 months of age), naps can vary from when a child is born to an infant and can take anywhere from one to four naps per day, which can last between 20 minutes and two hours. Research shows that taking a solid, long nap after learning or practicing something new, like rolling, can aid memory consolidation in infants.

4. Toddlers (1-2 years old) still need 1-2 hours of naps during the day:

    While napping starts to decrease in numbers during the day, toddlers still need 1-2 hours of naps during the day and still produce some great benefits for their growth. For example, studies found that not only did toddlers have improved language learning, but toddlers who still napped had an increased ability to self-regulate emotions and had better control over their behavior in contrast to toddlers who no longer napped.  

    Overall, napping can be crucial for a child’s physical, intellectual, and emotional development. Researchers have studied naps in children from infancy and found significant benefits. So while meals feed growth and feed the tummy, naps can feed the brain! So now that you know the benefits of down, why skip a nap if you wouldn’t skip a meal?

  Learn more about how we work with families to help their babies sleep 10+ hours at night without Cry-it-out or Ferber.  Join our free webinar!

Sleep is around the corner,

Rested Mama, Happy Baby Founder