My name is Mica. I am a certified sleep consultant and founder of Rested Mama, Happy Baby. I help families on their journey to establish healthy sleep habits and get the whole family sleeping again!

The enemy of my sanity with a newborn...the CAT NAP.

   Short naps or cat naps are any nap that is under 1 hour.  Typically, these naps are 20 mins, 30 mins, or 45 mins long, and they are the plague of a tired and ‘want-to-be productive' mom.  When you add in the expectations of all this sleep they should be getting, I know personally, that is a recipe for a lot of time locked in your nursery, in the dark, trying to get your baby to nap, or babywearing ALL-DAY-LONG.  

   It can be exhausting and frustrating.  The one thing I must tell you, however, before you read on, is that this is very normal, and if you implement a good sleep foundation, it will be short-lived. In order to navigate through these short naps and determine what to do, review our checklist to help you troubleshoot.

7 Ways to avoid the CAT NAP

1. Is your child developmentally ready for a long nap?

   While you can teach independent sleep habits even as early as 8 weeks of age, children under 6 months of age are not fully biologically able to connect sleep cycles in the day consistently.  Does that mean every child under 6 months of age will have short naps?  NO.  But, they are more likely to have inconsistent naps and inconsistent nap lengths.  However, those of my families who have mastered independent sleep, have children who definitely exhibit longer naps earlier than 6 months. 

The Solution? 

   If your child is under 6 months, it’s best to allow your child to fall asleep on their own, without sleep associations, but when they are between cycles, help them connect them for a longer nap.  These cycles tend to be predictable as they develop this skill. 

2. Are there any underlying medical issues?

   Different issues like eczema, asthma, reflux, or any digestive issues can definitely impact a child from fully napping. 

The Solution? 

If you think your child falls into this category, speak to your pediatrician on the best way to resolve this to help get you on the way to longer naps.

3. Is your schedule inconsistent? 

  Yes, variation and putting TOO much weight on wake times, especially if your child is a cat-napper, can mean your schedule can change from one day to another.  Too many changes in your schedule - say more than a 15-30 minute variance across your naps - occurring every day doesn’t allow your child to get in the groove of what I call their “sleep wave.”  Catching the right wave, at the right time, so you can ride it out.

The Solution?  

   Get a log of your nap schedule and make sure you are trying to slowly balance your day with both a schedule and wake time ranges.  Give yourself 3-5 days and let your child settle into getting used to taking longer naps at those specific times to align their rhythm.

4. Is your environment inconsistent? 

   Falling asleep in different places and different times also doesn’t make for a good long sleep.  Make sure you’ve established a good and consistent routine and sleep space that assists in signaling to your little one that it’s time for a nap.  

The Solution?

   If you need to do a nap on the go (which, LIFE HAPPENS), then try to keep it as consistent as you can during that nap with white noise or darkening the stroller or the car seat.  Even better, if you can commit to at least one nap at home every day, this will help establish consistency.

5. Has your child had a full feed? 

   Make sure that your child’s schedule allows for a full tummy long enough to support a longer nap. This can be somewhere between 2-4 hours. 

The Solution?

Be careful not to use nursing as a method to help your child fall asleep, but ensure there is a feed close enough to your routine that you can ensure your child has a full belly!

6. Do you have the right sleep pressure?

   While I am not a proponent of keeping your child up too long, it is necessary for the right sleep pressure to build up which is where age-appropriate wake times are important. 

The Solution?

Download our free Wake Time Chart to help you identify the optimal wake time.

7. Does your child have a sleep association? 

   If you’ve found that you have most of these in place, but still see the catnap intruder, a sleep association can be the culprit of the short nap. Sleep associations are the most common reasons for short naps, where your child may be falling asleep with rocking, nursing, or babywearing, and then waking up the next cycle looking for what is missing.

The Solution?

   Pick a method and create a plan to implement a sleep strategy.  Our programs are designed to do just that, in order to have the right balance for optimal naps.   If you already have an independent sleeper and still have an issue with short naps, we also have resources just for you.

Ready for better sleep?! Watch our FREE webinar on the 4 main ingredients needed for consistent and consolidated sleep! Click on our homepage to register!

  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 Co-Founder